U.S. Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT) and U.S. Deputy Agriculture Secretary Torres Small have been touring Connecticut’s farms to highlight improvements financed by federal grants.
Scott and Becky Papoosha own Running Brook Farm in Killingworth, which grows plants and herbs. They were awarded $437,000 from the Renewable Energy for America Program for two energy projects.
“We’re really proud of the fact that these grants enabled us to install a solar array as well as upgrade our lighting so that we are pretty much completely energy self-sufficient,” Papoosha said. “And the grants enabled us to run off-grid, because we also heat our building with firewood.”
“So, it’s been tremendous in both cost savings as well. We feel like we‘re building the business in a way that’s in partnership with the community resources and the land and all of our environmental goals.”
Courtney said the REAP program has undergone major financial changes recently.
“When we passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which the president just persistently kept at, if you really step back and look at the climate change part of that legislation, $40 billion is set aside for agriculture,” Courtney said. “I mean that is an eye-watering amount, and now, the REAP Program, instead of being oversubscribed, is basically in a place to go out and promote and market this program.”
Connecticut has around 5,000 farms that contribute $4 billion to the local economy. Energy costs are one of the biggest expenditures for the industry.
