USDA Announces $37 Million in Grants Available to Local and Regional Food Systems

Date
March 09, 2020

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service today announced the availability of $37 million in competitive grant funding under the 2018 Farm Bill’s Local Agricultural Marketing Program (LAMP). These grants support the development, coordination and expansion of direct producer-to-consumer marketing, local and regional food markets and enterprises and value-added agricultural products.

There is $27 million available through the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) and $10 million available through the newly established Regional Foods System Partnership (RFSP) program.

This is the first grant cycle for the RFSP. This program funds projects that connect public and private resources to plan and develop local or regional food systems with the goal of increasing access to and availability of locally and regionally produced agricultural products.

FMLFPP is administered in two components:

FMLFPP and RFSP require cost share or matching funds in an amount equal to 25 percent of the total federal portion of the grant. Additionally, applicants may use up to $6,500 of the amount requested in their application for upgrades to equipment to improve food safety. Eligible applicants must be in a state, or American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Applications must be submitted electronically through www.grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due dates established in the respective request for applications.

For more information about grant eligibility and previously funded projects, visit the AMS Grants webpage.

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