About the Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program

The USDA's Community Food Projects (CFP) Competitive Grants Program provides the major funding source for community-based food and agriculture projects nationwide.

The Request for Applications for 2009 will likely be released around mid- or late February, with grant applications due 60 days later. If you'd like to be notified when the Request for Applications is released, contact Liz Tuckermanty () to be added to their email list.

The 2008 CFP Request for Applications is still available here, and can be used for planning a proposal for 2009, since generally it changes very little from year to year. Note that the Letter of Intent process will be eliminated in 2009, so all applicants will need to submit a full proposal to be considered for funding.

Electronic submission of proposals will be required again in 2009. Because this process can take up to two months and will soon be required for all federal grants, applicants who are not already registered are strongly encouraged to start the process as soon as possible at www.grants.gov. More information and technical support contacts are available online at: www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/funding.cfm. Also, download CFSC's Electronic Submissions Advisory (doc) for important tips.

Looking for help with your CFP grant application?

Read about One-on-One Assistance to CFP grant applicants.

Read CFSC's written guides to developing a letter of intent or a proposal for the CFP Program:

• 2008 Community Food Projects Planning Guide (42 pages, pdf format)
• Guidance for Preparing Letters of Intent (8 pages, Word format)
• Guidance for Preparing Planning Project Proposals (6 pages, Word format)
• Electronic Submissions Advisory (Word format - the 2009 update will be posted soon.)

CFP program background

The CFP program is administered by the Cooperative State Research Extension and Education Services (CSREES) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It supports projects that:

• help meet the food needs of low-income people,
• increase the self-reliance of communities in providing for their own food needs, and
• promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm, and nutrition issues, and/or…
• meet specific State, local, or neighborhood food and agriculture needs for infrastructure improvement and development, long-term planning, or the creation of innovative marketing activities that mutually benefit agricultural producers and low-income consumers.

Funding preference is given to projects that develop linkages between two or more sectors of the food system, support the development of entrepreneurial projects, involve public and for-profit as well as nonprofit entities, and promote multi-system, interagency approaches with multi-stakeholder collaborations that build the long-term capacity of communities to address their food and agricultural problems. Funds will also be available for training and technical assistance (T&TA) on a regional and national basis.

Only private non-profit organizations are eligible to receive CFP funds directly, but collaborations with public and private, for-profit entities are recommended. Applications will be evaluated by reviewers from the food security community. Applicants may request up to $300,000 for projects of up to three years' duration. CFP funds requested must be matched dollar for dollar with non-federal resources. Projects should be planned to use a one-time infusion of federal funds to become self-sustaining.

For more information, see the USDA Community Food Projects website, or contact CFP program staff Liz Tuckermanty at (202) 205-0241 or or Katrena Hanks at (202) 401-5286 or .

Examples of Successful Community Food Project Proposals

The following CFP proposals were all highly rated by reviewers. Thanks to these grantees for generously sharing their proposals in order to assist future CFP grant applicants.

The Intersn@ck Café, submitted by The Lower Eastside Girls Club (in New York City) in 2006 (regular CFP proposal, in Word format).

Growing Urban Food Connections, submitted by the Southern Progress Corporation (in Birmingham) in 2006 (regular CFP proposal, in Word format).

East Hollywood Farmer's Market, submitted by the Thai Community Development Center in 2006 (planning project proposal, in Word format).

Toledo Food Assessment and Planning Project, submitted by Toledo Area Ministries in 2006 (planning project proposal, in Word format).

Connecting Agricultural Producers and Low-Income Consumers: Tacoma Farmers Market CSA Feasibility Study, submitted by Cascade Land Conservancy (in Washington State) in 2006 (planning project proposal, in PDF format): Project Summary, Project Description.

Get Fresh! The Central Coast Local Food Network, submitted by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (in California) in 2005 (regular CFP proposal, in Word format).

Profiles of Community Food Projects

The USDA Community Food Projects website includes summaries of funded projects.

The Food Security Learning Center includes a searchable database of CFP projects.

Project profiles from the Learning Center (organized by state) are available here.

Healthy Food Healthy Communities: A Decade of Community Food Projects in Action
This 26-page document, published in 2007, highlights the advances in community food security made through the CFP grant program. It includes full profiles of eight projects, lists all 240 grant recipients since 1996, and contains basic information on how to apply for a grant. (If you are unable to access this PDF file, contact the CFSC Office Manager to request a hard copy.)

A Guide to Community Food Projects (pdf)
This 19-page guide features case studies of seven diverse and innovative projects funded by the CFP program. It also includes basic information about the program and sources for more information.