The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has extended the deadline for the Request for Applications (RFA) for funding for Regional Food Business Centers to December 15, 2022. USDA has issued an updated RFA pdf and application documents to clarify the role types of Lead Applicant, Key Partners, Project Team and Collaborators, as seen above, and document requirements. Updates to the RFA were designed to answer common questions and clarify what is expected in the application. The Frequently Asked Questions are now available in Spanish and Hmong. Applicants who have already begun writing their applications should review the updated RFA and make any revisions that may be necessary.
Applications must be submitted electronically through www.grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 15, 2022. To receive funding, the applications will undergo an administrative review to ensure the proposed activities fulfill the purpose of Regional Food Business Centers. Applications received after this deadline will not be considered for funding.
USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is offering virtual workshops for agricultural producers during the RMA Roadshow on Nov. 15, and Dec. 13. The webinars are especially geared to specialty crop, organic, urban, and direct market producers, and stakeholders to learn about the latest updates and improvements to the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) and the Micro Farm insurance options. These workshops for agricultural producers will be hosted via Microsoft Teams to explain important insurance options available. The Roadshows will include RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger and other team members to highlight important improvements to Whole-Farm and Micro Farm and answer questions about these insurance options.
Information about new in-person events are on the website and include meetings in Washington, Florida, and Connecticut. For more information on these events, past session recordings, and future meetings visit the RMA Roadshow webpage.
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Each month, we’re highlighting the work of Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion grant recipients.
 La Montañita Food Co-op
La Montañita Food Co-op is New Mexico’s largest community-owned and operated natural foods market and cooperative located in the cities of Albuquerque, Gallup, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. When the co-op began sourcing more local food to meet customer demand at the turn of the century, they became highly aware of the challenges faced by local producers. After launching the La Montañita Cooperative Distribution Center in 2007, they noticed an additional need for food safety training among the growing community. La Montañita applied for and received a Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) grant in 2017 for $496,228 to conduct production planning and product development for existing value chains, expand food safety training and traceability systems, and establish GroupGAP networks in the region. Learn more about their efforts with state value chain systems and long-term investment at the link below.
 Native American Heritage Month – Seeds of Success Spotlight
This November, we are highlighting two Seeds of Success stories for Native American Heritage Month. These organizations have reached indigenous communities by working to improve local food access and development.
The Santa Fe Community Foundation received a Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) implementation grant in 2016 to support local and native food production while increasing access to food-insecure communities in New Mexico. MoGro, their Mobile Grocery project, grew their locally sourced goods market and provided access and affordability to a range of customers. When working with tribal nations and groups, they found that flexibility was key. Meeting native growers where they are and investing in relationships before assessing farmers’ needs was important to their community and the successes of both producers and consumers.
Lessons Learned: Take time with relationships and trust-building. Do not assume that all situations with native growers will be the same.
The Center for Southwest Culture (CSC) received a Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) grant in 2018 to help Indigenous and Hispanic communities recruit new farmers and implement 40 training workshops on topics such as marketing strategies, food processing, and organic certification. Their resulting increase in local food sales and economic stability allowed many Indigenous and Hispanic farmers to remain on their land instead of seeking alternative employment in urban centers. While many farmers might not always ask for help, CSC found through this education process that consistent outreach provides them with the opportunity to ask questions and resolve long-term issues.
Lessons Learned: Established relationships are stronger than a formal agreement. Maintain open communication and regular outreach.
Read about these and more stories through USDA’s Seeds of Success website, or explore the LAMP Map Navigator to find more Local Agriculture Market Program data.
USDA Food Systems Transformation Resources for Organic
USDA recently published a recorded webinar that provides a broad overview of USDA investments in the Food System Transformation (FST) Framework available to the organic community. The webinar highlights programs administered by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and USDA Rural Development that support developing local and regional food supply chains.
The webinar—AMS Transforming the US Food System through Grants, Cooperative Agreements, Technical Assistance, and Other Resources—is now available in the USDA Organic Integrity Learning Center and can be accessed within the NOP 998: NOP Presentations Course.
Visit the USDA Organic Integrity Learning Center (OILC) to see the presentation and additional resources. Need a Learning Center account? Visit the Organic Training webpage.
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LRFS Resilience Webinar Livestream
Over the past two years, the USDA AMS Covid Recovery and Resilience Project has been working hard to distill key lessons learned from sectors across the food systems in response to the pandemic.
Join us for the final webinar in the Local and Regional Food System Recovery and Resilience Webinar Series on December 2nd at 12:00 p.m. ET.
The four action teams - Resiliency Playbook, Data and Metrics, the Network of Networks, and the Consumer Food Insights - will share key deliverables and next steps. Project leadership will reflect on how this project and project efforts can help inform LRFS supply innovations and programs in the future.
Visit the Local and Regional Food Systems Response to Covid-19 Webinar page to sign up and view past webinar recordings.
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Farm to Food Assistance Survey
To better understand the farm to food assistance market channel and the various models, challenges, and impact it presents for farmers and communities, the Wallace Center created the first national Farm to Food Assistance survey, in collaboration with Duke World Food Policy Center and a panel of community-based advisors running these programs. The information collected through the survey will help practitioners, policymakers, and funders better understand what is working to enable capacity building and strengthening of farm to food assistance market channels. This survey is made possible with support from a 2021 USDA Local Foods Promotion Program grant.
The survey has been extended and will be open through December 2. Survey participants will be entered in a raffle to win $250. The Wallace Center also hosts a monthly Community of Practice call for people managing these programs to share best practices, connect with peers doing similar work, and hone their skills. Calls take place the second Thursday of the month at 12pm PT/3pm ET. Register here to join a future call. Contact Ellie Bomstein, Project Manager, for more information.
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Funding for a variety of eligible entities
FSA’s Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program
Application Due Date: November 18, 2022 (*Extended*)
The USDA is making up to $300 million available for the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program through this funding opportunity. USDA is committed to funding projects that support a diverse set of farmers, ranchers, forest landowners, and operators (producers) on the edge of viability, moving them from surviving to thriving as they address core barriers to attain land, capital, and market access. USDA will achieve this goal by funding cooperative agreements or grants to organizations that will develop and run programs that are designed to align with and respond to land, capital, and market access needs of the target audience while concurrently providing wraparound technical assistance to ensure that program participants have the information, training, and customized support they require. For more information, frequently asked questions, and factsheets, visit the Farm Service Agency website.
RD’s Intermediary Lending Program
Application Due Date: Quarterly (December 31, March 31, June 30)
The Intermediary Lending Program provides 1 percent low-interest loans to local lenders or “intermediaries” that re-lend to businesses to improve economic conditions and create jobs in rural communities. USDA is offering priority points to projects that advance key priorities under the Biden-Harris Administration to help communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, advance equity, and combat climate change. Learn more about RD’s Intermediary Lending Program on their webpage.
RD's Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program
Application Due Date: Applications accepted until funds are exhausted
The USDA RD Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program is a part of USDA's Build Back Better (BBB) initiative, authorized by the American Rescue Plan. This program guarantees loans of up to $40 million for qualified lenders to finance food systems projects, specifically for the start-up or expansion of activities in the middle of the food supply chain. The program will support new investments in infrastructure for food aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storage, transportation, wholesaling, and distribution. Learn more on the Rural Development webpage.
USDA Regional Food Business Centers
Application Due Date: December 15, 2022 (*Extended*)
The USDA AMS requests applications for the USDA Regional Food Business Centers (Regional Food Centers). The Regional Food Centers will serve as the cornerstone of USDA’s development of local and regional supply chains. They will offer coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building support to small and mid-sized food and farm businesses, with the goal of creating a more resilient, diverse, and competitive food system. AMS will award cooperative agreements to regionally based partners to support USDA’s work on regional food supply chains. Visit the Regional Food Business Centers Program website for more information and updated Request for Application.
Capacity Building Grants for Non-Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture Program
Application Due Date: December 01, 2022
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is designated as the lead federal agency that supports higher education in the food and agricultural sciences. In this context, NIFA has specific responsibility to initiate and support projects to strengthen higher education teaching programs in the food and agricultural sciences. The purpose of this program is to assist NLGCA Institutions in maintaining and expanding their capacity to conduct education, research, outreach/extension and integrated activities relating to agriculture, renewable resources, and other similar disciplines. Find out more about their application on their page at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program
Application Due Date: December 8, 2022
The purpose of the Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program is to increase the knowledge of agricultural science and improve the nutritional health of children. The program’s goal is to increase the capacity for food, gardens, and nutrition education within host organizations or entities, such as school cafeterias and classrooms, while fostering higher levels of community engagement between farms and school systems by bringing together stakeholders from distinct parts of the food system. The initiative is part of a broader effort to not only increase access to school meals for low-income children, but also to dramatically improve their quality. Visit the Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program website to learn more.
FY23 Farm to School Grant
Application Due Date: Jan 06, 2023
Each year $5 million is provided to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support grants, technical assistance, and other activities related to USDA’s Farm to School Program. Additional funding for the Farm to School Program was made available from the FY 2018 through FY 2022 agriculture appropriations acts and, as a result, USDA expects to award approximately $12 million under this solicitation. As mandated by the National School Lunch Act, selected grant projects are limited to no more than $100,000 each. However, in anticipation of authority to provide grants of up to $500,000 in the FY 2023 agriculture appropriations, USDA will consider proposals of up to $500,000 from state agencies or other eligible organizations proposing projects that are multi-state or national in scope. The USDA Farm to School Grant Program is administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Community Food Systems Division (CFSD). For more information visit the Resource for Farm to School Grant Applicants page.
Specialty Crop Research Initiative Pre-Applications
Application Due Date: Jan 12, 2023
The purpose of the SCRI program is to address the critical needs of the specialty crop industry by awarding grants to support research and extension that address key challenges of national, regional, and multi-state importance in sustaining all components of food and agriculture, including conventional and organic food production systems. Visit the Specialty Crop Research Initiative website for application details.
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