The Farm on Central is starting a mobile farm stand to bring fresh, highly nutritious food from their farm directly to their SW Ohio community year-round.
Funded on 07/23/2021
The Kilpatrick family wants to grow your food. They run an 8-acre urban farm in Southwest Ohio and believe that food plays a central role in sustaining a healthy, thriving community. The Farm on Central produces vegetables, mushrooms, horticulture, and woody ornamentals - yet it’s also a space for farmers to learn about regenerative practices, acquire new skills and techniques, and form meaningful connections and friendships. After many years of searching, the Kilpatrick family purchased the land for The Farm on Central in 2020. In the past year they’ve installed greenhouses and hoop houses, cover-cropped to improve soil health, and built out a mushroom house, cooler, and a wash-and-pack facility. They sell a wide variety of nutritious produce, mushrooms, teas and more online, and are opening a new mobile farm store to have greater versatility in bringing exceptional farm goods directly to customers in their area.
The Farm on Central’s loan from Steward will primarily be used to fund the buildout of a mobile farm stand--a converted transit bus with a two-door cooler, electrical infrastructure, air conditioning, and an outdoor canopy, allowing them to bring fresh farm goods directly to the hands of customers. In addition, a portion of the loan will fund a walk-in cooler for produce storage before it goes to market, extending summer storage of tomatoes and optimizing the storage of winter squash and sweet potatoes from November to April.
Farming is more than just an occupation for Michael Kilpatrick and his family, it’s a way to ensure that only fresh, healthy food is served on their own kitchen table. They champion growing highly nutritious foods produced in lockstep with the natural environment, and practice this by:
WOW!! Our community is Amazing!! Thanks so much to everyone who helped fund our loan and everyone who expressed interest!!
We fully funded the entire loan through our local community in just 5 days!!
We feel so encouraged by the excitement of our community and the contant stream of community members that frequent the bus.
We'll be adding the updates to the bus soon, and want to involve you in the design of the bus wrap! So you will be hearing from us soon!!
Mobile Farm Stand--$16,439: This includes the purchase of a transit bus, upgrading it into a mobile farm stand equipped with coolers, lighting, shelving, and an outdoor canopy.
Walk in Cooler--$2,561: This includes the equipment needed to convert an insulated storage box into a walk in cooler.
Total Budget: $19,000
This loan will be made to MS Innovation, an Ohio limited liability company doing business as The Farm on Central, which grows and sells fresh produce for their local community.
This loan will fund the purchase of a mobile farm stand and a walk-in cooler, allowing The Farm on Central to bring fresh farm goods directly to their consumers.
The total loan amount is $19,000 which will assist The Farm on Central in growing and expanding their business.
This loan is set at an 8% interest rate, with a 60 month term, and fully amortized monthly payments beginning 3 months after funds are disbursed.
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