LOUISVILLE, Ky. (October 23, 2014) — Providing Louisville communities and families access to nutritious, locally grown food is a big job, but Farm Credit Mid-America and its partners are up to the task. Farm Credit Mid-America, the Louisville-based agricultural lending cooperative, along with the City of Louisville, YouthBuild and Kentucky State University (KSU), have joined forces to create and launch the Thorobred Nutrition Kitchen. This mobile kitchen is designed to:

• Provide nutrition and healthy cooking education to communities and families;
• Improve food access with fresh produce and ready-made, healthy meals; and
• Support the local food economy.

Through local food grant monies, KSU built the traveling trailer/kitchen, and funded a full-time position to manage the vending unit and research ways to better reach areas that lack healthy, nutritious food options. KSU is also sourcing local and regional food from its network of Kentucky farmers.

With its $50,000 donation, Farm Credit purchased the truck that will transport the trailer to community locations.

“The availability of healthy food is the foundation of strong communities. We are proud to support a new way for Louisvillians to access fresh, nutritious, locally grown food,” said Bill Johnson, president and chief executive officer, Farm Credit Mid-America. “Projects like the Thorobred Nutrition Kitchen connect consumers with local food producers, which brings greater transparency to where food comes from and offers visibility into what ‘farm-to-fork’ really means.”

Other partner organizations are:

• City of Louisville: Mayor Greg Fischer’s Healthy Hometown initiative supports providing healthy and nutritious food options to Louisville communities.
• YouthBuild: Through YouthBuild, which now has a nutrition track, young people gain valuable leadership skills while learning and working in occupational jobs, such as helping staff the Thorobred Nutrition Kitchen.

The Thorobred Nutrition Kitchen is just one of several projects Farm Credit supports that connect consumers to locally grown food. Others include farmers markets and urban agriculture projects throughout Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

About Farm Credit Mid-America
Farm Credit Mid-America is a financial services cooperative serving the credit needs of farmers, agribusinesses and rural residents across Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee for nearly a century. Backed by the strength of nearly 100,000 customers and $20 billion in assets, Farm Credit Mid-America provides loans for real estate, operating, equipment, housing and related services such as crop insurance, and vehicle, equipment and building leases. For more information, call 1-800-444-FARM or visit them on the web at www.e-farmcredit.com.