In the summer of 2024, Charlottesville’s Bellair Farm — a historic local farm with a focus on sustainable agriculture and community connection — was approved for a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
In anticipation of the grant, the farm’s owners increased worker wages and expanded benefits like overtime pay and sick leave, Farm Manager Michelle McKenzie told Charlottesville Tomorrow.
But months later, a federal funding change upended those plans, leaving the farm uncertain whether the money would materialize…