The Food and Nutrition Service requests applications for the Healthy Fluid Milk Incentives (HFMI) Cooperative Agreement Projects for 2023 to support projects to increase the purchase of fluid milk among low-income consumers participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by providing incentives at the point of purchase.
Donor Name: Food and Nutrition Service
State: All States
County: All Counties
Territory: Guam and U.S. Virgin Islands
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 09/05/2023
Size of the Grant: $4,000,000
Grant Duration: 55 months
Details:
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), authorized under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended, is the cornerstone of the Nation’s nutrition assistance safety net. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) certifies low-income Americans to participate in the program and authorizes and monitors retailers to accept SNAP benefits for eligible food products. Currently, around 40 million low-income Americans receive SNAP benefits, and more than 250,000 retailers are authorized to accept SNAP benefits.
The 2023 Healthy Fluid Milk Incentives grant will continue developing and testing methods to increase the purchase and consumption of qualifying fluid milk by SNAP households by providing them an incentive at the point of purchase at authorized retailer locations in additional regions. Prior HFMI projects mainly tested the impact of dollar-for-dollar paper coupon incentives, while a small set of retailers tested the delivery of a dollar-for-dollar coupon delivered electronically through a retailer’s loyalty accounts or as an automatic discount at the point of purchase.
Purpose
The primary purpose of the HFMI project is to develop and test methods to increase the purchase and consumption of qualifying fluid milk by SNAP households by providing them an incentive at the point of purchase at authorized retailer locations. “Qualifying fluid milk” includes all varieties of pasteurized cow’s milk that is without flavoring or sweeteners, is consistent with the most recent dietary recommendations, is packaged in liquid form, and contains vitamins A and D at levels consistent with the Food and Drug Administration, State, and local standards for fluid milk.
Objectives
- Increase the purchase and consumption of qualifying fluid milk by SNAP households by providing a financial incentive at the point of purchase using EBT integration or automatic discounts.
- Partner with selected SNAP-authorized retailer(s) to operate the point of purchase incentive solution in compliance with all relevant SNAP regulations and requirements.
- Communicate and promote HFMI incentive availability and information to SNAP households.
- Provide training and technical support to participating SNAP-authorized retailer(s) in administering the incentives
- Facilitate participation in the HFMI evaluation through data collection and sharing.
- Provide education on the nutritional value of cow’s milk in accordance with the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans and in relation to the availability of HFMI incentives at the participating locations.
Funding Information
- The total funding amount available for FNS to support this program in 2023 is $4,000,000.
- Anticipated period of performance (start and end date of the award): September 2023 – March 31, 2028.
Eligibility Criteria
The following are eligible entities, which are described in more detail below:
- Governmental entities.
- All non-profit organizations (must include their 501(c)(3) determination letter issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).) A government entity is a State, local, territory, or tribal agency.
- A nonprofit entity is any organization or institution with IRS 501(c) status or accredited institutions of higher education, where no part of the net earnings benefits any private shareholder or individual. All applicant organizations must be domestic entities and shall be owned, operated, and located within the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, Guam, or the United States Virgin Islands. All applicants must demonstrate in their application that they are a domestic entity and either a government agency or a 501(c) non-profit organization.
- Each eligible applicant may only submit one application in response to this grant solicitation. Suspended or debarred organizations are ineligible to apply. In addition, applicants must meet the following requirements: have experience in: efforts to reduce food insecurity in the community, including food distribution, improving access to services, or coordinating services and programs; or experience with the SNAP program; demonstrated competency to implement a project, provide fiscal accountability, collect data, and prepare reports and other necessary documentation; and possess a demonstrated willingness to share information with researchers, evaluators, practitioners, and other interested parties, including a plan for dissemination of results to stakeholders.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
