Thursday, October 20th 2016
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the availability of up to $16.7 million in competitive grant funding to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables by families and households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The funding will be awarded to eligible nonprofits and governmental organizations through the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) Grant Program, administered by USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. INI is a joint program between NIFA and USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, which oversees SNAP and is responsible for evaluating the impact of the variety of types of incentive programs being deployed by FINIgrantees. The program brings together stakeholders from different parts of the national food system to improve the nutrition and health status of SNAP households. Since 2015, NIFA has invested $48.3 million to support the work of 58 organizations in 33 states and the District of Columbia through FINI. Applications may be submitted by eligible government agencies and nonprofit organizations in three categories: pilot projects requesting less than $100,000 over one year, multi-year community-based projects requesting less than $500,000 over no more than four years, and multi-year large-scale projects requesting $500,000 or more over no more than four years. All FINI projects must operate through authorized SNAP retailers and agree to participate in the FINI comprehensive program evaluation. Applications are due by Dec. 12, 2016.