INTRODUCTION
This guide was prepared by the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) to assist prospective applicants for the fiscal year 2011 Community Food Projects (CFP) funding cycle. The announcement for these funds is titled Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program: Fiscal Year 2011 Request for Applications (RFA). It is available at: http://www.nifa.usda.gov/fo/communityfoodprojects.cfm
This guide is designed as a companion document to the RFA, to help potential applicants:
- Determine eligibility to apply for CFP funds
- Understand and incorporate program concepts and terminology
- Plan projects that promote food security in and help meet the food needs of low-income communities
- Develop a competitive application for CFP funds
This document is based on an earlier edition written by Hugh Joseph, but has been reorganized and greatly condensed. It still contains all the essential points, and the guidance has changed very little. However, it contains significantly less detail on some topics (especially application evaluation criteria and writing outcome-focused proposals). So, CFSC is keeping the spring 2009 version of this guide posted for those who may want this additional information:
http://www.nacaa.net/cfp_help.html#cfp_guide
CFSC has also developed two brief guidance documents covering the electronic submissions process and Planning Projects. These guides are posted separately on the CFSC website at:
http://www.nacaa.net/cfp_help.html .
Disclaimer:
Applicants must carefully review the RFA themselves for guidance in preparing an application. This guide is not a substitute for the RFA nor does it discuss all the requirements of the RFA. The authors of this guide are familiar with the CFP, have reviewed the 2011 RFA, and have done their best to assure the accuracy of the information provided, but neither they nor the CFSC are responsible for errors or
omissions in the enclosed guidance. Applicants should always rely on the RFA for final language regarding the preparation of proposals. Finally, the recommendations in this guide do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) or the Department’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
CFP PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The Community Food Projects program supports projects that will meet the food needs of low-income individuals, increase the self-reliance of communities to meet their own food needs, promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm, and nutrition issues, and address specific state, local, and neighborhood food needs. Projects are geared toward increasing a low-income community’s capacity to produce, process, and/or market food for its residents.
Improved access to high quality foods may be accomplished in many ways, such as by promoting food assistance programs or by starting a farmers’ market. But these activities alone will not substantially help targeted participants become more self-reliant or food secure over the long term. Most winning proposals are multi-faceted and incorporate education, training, and/or entrepreneurial activities to enhance basic programs and provide opportunities for participants that increase skills, incomes, and/or
employment.