Grant Opportunities for Food System Organizations and Businesses

Grant Opportunities for Food Assistance & Non-profit Partners

• Maryland Food and Agricultural Resiliency Mechanism Grant Program: The Maryland Department of Agriculture is encouraging Maryland food banks and charitable emergency food providers to apply for a new competitive grant through the Maryland Food and Agricultural Resiliency Mechanism Grant Program. The grant application is now open and the deadline to apply is September 30, 2023. In order to be eligible for the grant, nonprofits must be registered with Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation and be in good standing to do business in Maryland. An official W-9 form will be required along with 990’s. To apply, visit the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s website or Maryland OneStop. For questions, please reach out to Karen Fedor at localfood@maryland.gov.
• Clean Water Montgomery Grants Program accepting proposals: Montgomery County nonprofit organizations, including local watershed groups, homeowner and community associations, faith-based organizations, service and civic groups, may be eligible for grants ranging from $40,000 to $100,000 from the Clean Water Montgomery Grant Program.  To learn more, register for the pre-application workshop, or review the request for proposals, click here or contact Kathy Somoza at 410-974-2941, extension 120. See the press release for additional program details.  Applications are due no later than 4 pm on Thursday, November 16.

• The W. K. Kellogg Foundation — Accepts healthy kids and community/civic engagement grant applications throughout the year with no submission deadline.

• Nonprofit, Interest Free, Micro Bridge Loan Account (NIMBL) — This interest-free, micro bridge loan program and fund supports the operations of nonprofit entities. The program is administered by the Maryland Nonprofit Development Center and the Maryland Department of Commerce. The program provides short-term financing support to qualifying nonprofit entities between the award date of a government contract and the actual receipt date of those awarded funds. Application accepted on a rolling, first-come, first-served basis.

Grant Opportunities for Food Businesses & Farms:

• Grant Applications Now Open for Maryland Food and Agricultural Resiliency Mechanism Grant Program :The Maryland Department of Agriculture is encouraging Maryland food banks and charitable emergency food providers to apply for a new competitive grant through the Maryland Food and Agricultural Resiliency Mechanism Grant Program. The grant application is now open and the deadline to apply is September 30, 2023.
• Support Grants for Montgomery County Businesses Affected by Purple Line ConstructionMontgomery County will be offering funding support for independently owned and operated businesses with 20 or fewer employees impacted by the Purple Line construction through Phase III of its Purple Line Light rail grants program. Applications for Phase III grants will be accepted through Sept. 30. The application is available at http://Montgomerycountymd.gov/business. Businesses are encouraged to apply, even if they do not have all this information readily available. The County’s Business Center staff will assist all businesses throughout the process to ensure every eligible business receives this support. The Maryland Department of Commerce is providing the funds to help businesses that have been impacted by the longer than anticipated construction process.
• Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program: The CFPCGP is intended to bring together stakeholders from distinct parts of the food system and to foster understanding of national food security trends and how they might improve local food systems. Understanding that low-income individuals experience disproportionate access to healthy foods, projects are to address food and nutrition insecurity, particularly among our nation’s most vulnerable populations. Nutrition Security is defined as having consistent access, availability, and affordability of foods and beverages that promote well-being. Communities that are partially or fully located in Opportunity Zones are particularly encouraged to apply. Click here for more information. Application deadline:
  Monday, October 30, 2023
• The HFFI Local and Regional Healthy Food Financing Partnerships Program (HFFI Partnerships Program) is a new grant program under the expanded America’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative : To learn more and apply, click here. Application deadline: November 3, 2023
• SeedMoney: Community gardens, community farms, school gardens or food bank gardens that could use a year-end funding boost, the annual SeedMoney Challenge is accepting applications through November 12th. This year, there are over 400 grants of $100 to $1000 available here: https://donate.seedmoney.org/ Any nonprofit farm or garden project located anywhere in the world can apply. We expect about 550 to participate this year. All campaigns launch on November 15 and conclude on December 15. Participating projects keep 100% of what they raise along with any challenge grant funding they are about to secure. Learn more and apply here: https://donate.seedmoney.org/
• USDA FSA Grant to support GAP Certification and other Food Safety Expenses: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reminds specialty crop producers of available assistance to help cover certain costs of complying with regulatory and market-driven food safety certification requirements. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will accept applications for 2023 costs from Feb. 1, 2023, to Jan. 31, 2024.
• USDA FSA Microloans: Loans of up to $50,000 for down payment on land, buildings, projects, equipment, and several other approved uses. For farmer land owners and also for farm operators (non-owners).
• MARBIDCO Grants: Several grant programs to apply to, for cold storage, aggregation, urban ag, and more! Typically with a match.
• Farm Storage Facility Loan Program: The Farm Storage Facility Loan Program (FSFL) provides low-interest financing so producers can build or upgrade facilities to store commodities. Eligible commodities include grains, oilseeds, peanuts, pulse crops, hay, honey, renewable biomass commodities, fruits and vegetables, floriculture, hops, maple sap, milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, eggs, meat/poultry (unprocessed), rye and aquaculture. Eligible facility types include grain bins, hay barns, bulk tanks, and facilities for cold storage. Drying and handling and storage equipment is also eligible, including storage and handling trucks. Eligible facilities and equipment may be new or used, permanently affixed or portable. Since its inception in May 2000, more than 33,000 loans have been issued for on-farm storage, increasing storage capacity by 900 million bushels.FSFL is an excellent financing program for on-farm storage and handling for small and mid-sized farms, and for new farmers. Loan terms vary from 3 to 12 years. The maximum loan amount for storage facilities is $500,000. The maximum loan amount for storage and handling trucks is $100,000. In 2016 FSA introduced a new loan category, the microloan, for loans with an aggregate balance up to $50,000. Microloans offer a 5 percent down payment requirement, compared to a 15 percent down payment for a regular FSFL, and waive the regular three-year production history requirement.