Food Infrastructure Grant Program in Canada

Deadline: 15-Dec-21

The United Way British Columbia (UWBC) has announced Food Infrastructure Grant Program to address the unique food access and availability challenges of rural, remote and Indigenous communities.

This one-time Food Infrastructure Grant will fund the development, implementation, or improvement of food infrastructure to support year-round, long-term procurement, storage and distribution of fresh, traditional, and other food and enhance community well-being.

Streams

There will be two funding streams available. United Way British Columbia encourages each applicant to include projects that respond to their unique community need.
- Food Access Grant Stream
  - Focus: To procure, recover, transport, and/or store fresh and other foods.
  - Examples of eligible capital expenses:
    - Transportation improvements (e.g. trucks, vans, cold containers, etc.)
    - Equipment to receive and store food (e.g. fridge, freezer, shelving, pallet jacks, carts, etc.)
  - Examples of eligible operational expenses:
    - Diversifying food procurement (e.g. supporting relationships with agriculture, wholesale, and retail)
    - Recovering fresh food that would otherwise be wasted from retailers, businesses, farms, small producers
- Food Relocalization Grant Stream
  - Focus: To grow, harvest, forage, procure and/or process local and traditional food.
  - Examples of eligible capital expenses:
    - Solutions for sustainable growing (e.g. greenhouses, seed libraries, garden boxes, etc.)
    - Equipment to harvest, process and/or preserve food in traditional ways (e.g. smoking, canning, curing, etc.)
  - Examples of eligible capital expenses:
    - Sharing knowledge about growing, harvesting or processing food (e.g. workshops, skill sharing, etc.)
    - Revitalizing traditional foodways and/or procuring traditional food locally or in partnership with other communities

Funding Information

This one-time funding grant is available to support year-round, long-term infrastructure to support sustainable food access solutions in remote, rural and Indigenous communities across BC.
- $5,000-$20,000 can be applied for by a single applicant, OR
- $5,000- $30,000 can be applied for in a co-application between multiple groups.
- All funds must be expended – and activities completed – by March 31, 2022.
- Reporting will include a Midterm Report and Final Summary Report.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants:
- Food Infrastructure Grants are available to any community food-based organization/group located in remote, rural and/or Indigenous communities providing food access programming and services.
- This includes:
- All charitable organizations as well as other non-profit and grassroots organizations,
- BC First Nations Band or Tribal Council.
Application details should include:
- A new project or program
- An existing project or program that is expanding
- An existing project or program with funding expiring within the Food Infrastructure Grant timeframe which has clear deliverables, meets the criteria; and needs funding to continue.