U.S. Department of Agriculture: Community Food Projects

The primary goals of the Community Food Projects (CFP) competitive grant program are to:

• Meet the food needs of low-income individuals through food distribution, community outreach to assist in participation in Federally assisted nutrition programs, or improving access to food as part of a comprehensive service.
• Increase the self-reliance of communities in providing for the food needs of the communities.
• Promote comprehensive responses to local food access, farm, and nutrition issues.
• Meet specific state, local or neighborhood food and agricultural needs including needs relating to: equipment necessary for the efficient operation of a project; planning for long-term solutions; or the creation of innovative marketing activities that mutually benefit agricultural producers and low-income consumers.

Community Food Projects are intended to bring together stakeholders from the distinct parts of the food system and to foster understanding of national food security trends and how they might improve local food systems.

There are two types of grants under this program:

• Community Food Projects (CFP): Examples of CFPs include, but are not limited to, community gardens with market stands, value chain projects, food hubs, farmers’ markets, farm-to-institutions projects, and marketing and consumer cooperatives. All projects must involve low-income participants.
• Planning Projects (PP): Examples of PPs include, but are not limited to, community food assessments, coordination of collaboration development plan, GIS analysis, food sovereignty study, and farm-to-institution exploration. All projects must involve low-income participants.

Amount: $8,640,000 is available. Amounts vary by project type:

• CFP awards may be up to $125,000 for a single year but may not exceed more than $400,000 over a period of four years.
• PP awards may be up to $35,000 for the entire project period proposed, which may be up to three years.

Eligibility: Public food program service providers, tribal organizations, or private nonprofit entities. See the RFP for additional eligibility requirements related to experience.

Link: https://nifa.usda.gov/funding-opportunity/community-food-projects-cfp-competitive-grants-program

Note: There will be a webinar for potential applicants on October 13, 2016 at 12:00 MST. Adobe Connect link: http://nifa-connect.nifa.usda.gov/cfp2017/.

This post was filed under: