Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program

Providing grants to develop community food projects in low-income areas

This program supports the development of community food projects designed to meet the food needs of low-income people; to increase the self-reliance of communities in providing for their own needs; and to promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm, and nutrition issues. It also supports efforts to meet specific state, local, or neighborhood food and agriculture needs for improving and developing infrastructure; planning for long-term solutions; or creating innovative marketing activities that mutually benefit agricultural producers and low-income consumers.

Other objectives of the program are to: develop linkages between two or more sectors of the food system; support the development of entrepreneurial projects; develop innovative linkages between the for-profit and nonprofit food sectors; and encourage long-term planning activities and multi-system, inter-agency collaboration.

A match of 50 percent non-federal support of the project (dollar for dollar) is required during the term of the grant. The non-federal share may be provided through payment in cash or in-kind contributions in the form of fairly evaluated facilities, equipment, or services. The non-federal share may be derived from state or local governments, or from private sources.

Project Examples
Some projects funded since 1996:

In its first year, the Garden City Harvest Project initiated by Missoula Nutrition Resources in Missoula, MT, put 6 acres of undeveloped land into production for gardens and community supported agriculture (CSA) projects that helped supply food to 165 households and 57,000 pounds of produce to low-income families and emergency feeding organizations. The project also implemented an ecological agriculture program for 50 University of Montana students.
CFP funding for the Rural Development Center in Salinas, CA, aided more than 100 farmers with training and technical support, permitted 30 families to begin gardening, helped start a farmers’ market serving farm worker households, brought 100 households into a community supported agriculture project, involved 90 students in a school gardening effort, and established a broadly representative Food Policy Council.
Nearly two dozen low-income families received fresh produce through a subsidized community supported agriculture (CSA) effort operated by the Practical Farmers of Iowa in Boone, IA. In addition, with CFP support, the project initiated a farmers’ market in downtown Ames, helped producers broker “All Iowa Grown” meals at hotels and conference centers, offered nutrition education and community gardening opportunities for children and adults, and organized a local food system conference that has become an annual event.
A total of 85 youth received instruction in organic production, composting, planting, and insect identification as part of the Youth Farm and Market Project in St. Paul, MN. The training for urban farming, along with visits to a rural farm camp, helped youth gain experience in marketing produce from local farmers through public schools, a restaurant, and a delicatessen. Youth also took home fresh produce to increase consumption of organic vegetables, and received cooking lessons from a professional chef on how to use them.

Application and Financial Information
Each year the Community Food Projects program guidelines are published on the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension website at www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/funding.cfm. The program also maintains a list of people who will be notified by e-mail about the start of the solicitation period. You may ask to be placed on this email notification list by calling or e-mailing etuckermanty@csrees.usda.gov.

All proposal guidelines and submission deadlines are outlined in the Request for Applications. Formal proposals are submitted to the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) of USDA. Grant awards are announced within 90 to 180 days from the deadline for submission of proposals.

Proposals are reviewed by CSREES staff members with the assistance and advice of peer specialists and are evaluated on the basis of multiple criteria including the project’s ability to:

Help facilitate low-income people in the proposed community to provide for their own food needs
Promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm, and nutrition needs
Become self-sustaining once federal funding ends

Also reviewed will be the organizational and staff qualifications and experience of the sponsoring organization and the extent to which the proposed project contributes to:

Developing linkages between two or more sectors of the food system
Supporting the development of entrepreneurial projects
Developing innovative linkages between the for-profit and nonprofit food sectors
Encouraging long-term planning activities and multi-system, interagency approaches
Incorporating linkages to one or more ongoing USDA themes or initiatives referred to in the program guidelines and/or annual proposal solicitation

Proposals must also indicate that projects have the dollar-for-dollar match from non-federal sources that are required for this program. Projects may be funded for 1 to 3 years. Past grants have ranged from $10,000 to $250,000. In fiscal year 2002, the Community Food Project Competitive Grants Program was funded at $5 million. It is anticipated that it will be funded at $5 million each year through fiscal year 2007.

Eligibility, Uses, and Restrictions
Proposals may be submitted by private nonprofit entities for projects that benefit low-income people. Because projects must promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm, and nutrition issues, applicants are encouraged to seek and create partnerships among public, private nonprofit and private for-profit organizations or firms.

To be further eligible for a grant, a private nonprofit applicant must meet three mandatory requirements:

Have experience in the area of:
- Community food work, particularly concerning small and medium-sized farms, including the provision of food to people in low-income communities and the development of new markets in low-income communities for agricultural producers
- Job training and business development activities in low-income communities;
Demonstrate competency to implement a project, provide fiscal accountability and oversight, collect data, and prepare reports and other appropriate documentation
Demonstrate a willingness to share information with researchers, practitioners, and other interested parties

Community food projects are intended to take a comprehensive approach to developing long-term solutions that help to ensure food security in communities by linking the food sector to community development, economic opportunity, and environmental enhancement. Comprehensive solutions may include elements such as:

Improved access to high quality, affordable food among low-income households
Support for local food systems, from urban gardening to local farms that provide high quality fresh food, ideally with minimal adverse environmental impact
Expanded economic opportunities for community residents through local business or other economic development, improved employment opportunities, job training, youth apprenticeship, school-to-work transition, and the like

Any solution proposed must address community food needs.

Contact
Dr. Elizabeth Tuckermanty, Program Director
National Program Office
USDA-CSREES, Stop 2241
Washington, DC 20250-2241
Phone: (202) 205-0241
E-mail: etuckermanty@csrees.usda.gov

Internet
www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/funding.cfm

Last Updated January 24, 2005