Northeast and Southern SARE now Requesting Proposals for Sustainable Community Grants

Northeast and Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) programs are requesting proposals for their Sustainable Community Grant Programs. Community nonprofits, Cooperative Extension, local governments, Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) councils, educational institutions, planning boards, farming cooperatives, and incorporated citizens groups are all eligible to apply.

Through its Sustainable Community Grants program, SARE hopes to reconnect rural revitalization and farming. Projects should bring together farmers, local government, citizens, community nonprofits, extension, civic and environmental organizations, and others who contribute to community vitality.  Projects should also support appropriate growth, improved quality of life, a cleaner environment, and farm diversity and profitability.

Community Grants can address diverse issues, including:
• Land use
• Nutrition
• Employment
• Markets
• Education
• Farm labor
• Public policy and
• Environmental quality

This year, the Sustainable Community Grants Program has been expanded, thanks to a partnership with the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and the Regional Rural Development Centers of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES).  In the Northeast region, The Appalachian Initiative supports sustainable agriculture through grants that add value to farm products or that explore alternative renewable energy.  Projects submitted under this category should be technically sound, entrepreneurial, appropriate to the county or community, and draw on local farm resources.  Projects should also have the potential to create new jobs, income streams, and markets in the agricultural sector. This grant is only available to eligible applicants in West Virginia and selected counties in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York.  In Ohio, see the Ohio Appalachian Initiative.

In the Southern region, applicants for funding for The Appalachian Initiative should focus on projects that develop the assets of the Southern Appalachian Region. In identifying the advantages of the Region, applicants should identify from among four broad opportunities for development —leveraging cultural assets, natural assets, community assets, and structural assets.  Applicants should detail how their projects will offer unique avenues for crafting new enterprises and injecting vitality into Appalachian communities. Projects with an agriculture-energy focus are also encouraged.  Sustainable Community Grant applications for both regions are due November 28th.

About SARE
Since 1988, SARE has helped advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide grants program.  The program, administered by  CSREES and USDA, funds projects and conducts outreach designed to improve agricultural systems and natural resources.

NRCS field office professionals frequently collaborate on SARE-funded projects and are valuable partners to the SARE program.  NRCS staff serve on SARE’s national Operations Committee, on regional Administrative Councils, on State committees and are actively engaged as technical advisers and collaborators on SARE-funded research grants around the U.S.

For more information, visit the SARE website or for more information about the regional SARE programs, click on the region area of the map below.

Your contact is Diana Friedman, SARE research associate, at 301-504-6422.