The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) invites new and existing community food hubs to apply for a grant to help increase purchasing of local, sustainable, and equitably produced food by schools and other institutions.
Donor Name: California Department of Food and Agriculture
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/14/2025
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 5 Years
Details:
California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Farm to Community Food Hubs Program has up to $13.75 million available to award in competitive grants for organizations developing and expanding community food hubs in California. Up to ten percent of the funding will be set aside for California Native American Tribes and Tribal-led nonprofit organizations.
This new grant program was established to pilot investments in (1) planning activities and (2) food aggregation and distribution infrastructure and operational costs needed for community food hubs to increase purchasing of local, environmentally sustainable, climate smart, and equitably produced food by schools and other institutions. These investments aim to build a better food system economy, support the local farming and indigenous food production economies, accelerate climate adaptation and resilience, and employ food system workers with fair wages and working conditions.
Program Priorities
This competitive grant program will fund community food hub projects that:
- Serve California food producers, such as farmers, ranchers, seafood harvesters, and California Native American Tribes, Tribal members, or Native American people using Indigenous food production practices
- Prioritize serving California food producers that represent at least one of the following:
- Operate on 500 acres or less
- Are cooperatively owned
- Are using sustainable, climate smart, or regenerative agriculture practices or production systems;
- Socially disadvantaged food producer
- Veteran food producer
- Beginning food producer
- Limited resource food producer
- Disabled food producer
- Prioritize distributing California food to public institutions and nonprofit organizations, with an emphasis on public schools, food banks, and other food distribution nonprofit organizations serving low-income communities in the region
- Cultivate financial sustainability via strategies that help cover long-term costs.
Funding Information
- Track 1 Planning
- Award amount: $50,000 – $250,000
- Track 2 Infrastructure and Operations
- Award amount: $350,000 – $2 million.
Grant Period
- Track 1 Planning
- Grant term: up to 24 months
- Track 2 Infrastructure and Operations
- Grant term: 60 months.
Eligibility Criteria
The following entities based in and operating in California that will conduct planning for a new community food hub or developed community food hub:
- Food and agriculture-related business
- Nonprofit organization
- California public school district
- California County Office of Education
- Cooperative business
- Certified B Corporation
- California Native American Tribe (both federally-recognized and nonfederally-recognized Tribes)
- Tribal school (such as those administered through the Bureau of Indian Education)
- Tribal colleges
- Tribal-led nonprofit organization
- Resource Conservation District
- University of California, California State University, and other public institutions of higher education.
For more information, visit CDFA.
