Deadline: 30-Oct-23
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is currently accepting applications for the Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program.
Purpose and Priorities
- The CFPCGP is designed 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; and
- Promote comprehensive responses to local food, food access, farm, and nutrition issues; or
- 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.
- The CFPCGP is intended to bring together stakeholders from distinct parts of the food system and to foster understanding of national food security trends and how they might improve local food systems. Understanding that people with low incomes experience disproportionate access to healthy foods, projects should address food and nutrition security, particularly among the nation’s most vulnerable populations. Nutrition security is defined as having consistent access, availability, and affordability of foods and beverages that promote well-being. Applications from organizations that address food insecurity in rural, tribal, and underserved communities are encouraged.
Project Types
In FY 2024, CFPCGP will fund two project types:
- Planning Projects (PP): The purpose is to provide early-stage investment in new, startup projects or to invest in completing project plans toward the improvement of community food security in keeping with the primary goals of the CFPCGP. Planning Projects are to focus on a defined community and describe in detail the activities and outcomes of the planning project. The PP is to prepare a plan for a successful Community Food Project in keeping with the purpose of CFP program goals. Therefore, the PP is expected to model all aspects of the Community Food Projects.
- Community Food Projects (CFP) Grant: The purpose is to seek solutions over the longer term rather than focusing on short-term food relief. They will seek comprehensive solutions to problems across all levels of the food system from farmer to consumer. Community food projects should not be designed to merely support individual food pantries, farmers markets, community gardens or other established projects. Rather, the community food projects should build on these experiences and encourage innovative long-term solutions to food and nutrition security. A successful project should be sustainable beyond government and matching funding. CFP should be designed to become self-supporting (or have a sustainable funding source) and expand or prove to be a replicable model. Funding can support the development of such long-term projects or to accelerate or expand the work of a project.
Funding Information
The amount available for the CFPCGP in FY 2024 is approximately $4,800,000. USDA is not committed to fund any particular application or to make a specific number of awards.
- Planning Project (PP)
- Average award is $25,000 for 12-36 months.
- Maximum award is $35,000 over 12-36 months.
- Community Food Project
- The minimum award is $125,000 over 12 months and maximum award is $400,000 over 48 months.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for a grant under CFPCGP, a public food program service provider, a tribal organization, or a private nonprofit entity, including gleaners, must:
- have experience in the area of:
- community food work, particularly concerning small and medium-sized farms, including the provision of food to people in communities with low incomes and the development of new markets in communities with low incomes for agricultural producers;
- job training and business development activities for food-related activities in communities with low incomes; or
- efforts to reduce food insecurity in the community, including food distribution, improving access to services, or coordinating services and programs;
- demonstrate competency to implement a project, provide fiscal accountability, collect data, and prepare reports and other necessary documentation;
- demonstrate a willingness to share information with researchers, practitioners, and other interested parties; and
- collaborate with one or more local partner organizations using one or more action steps proposed by congress to achieve a “hunger-free communities’ goal.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.