Grants to strengthen Food and Agricultural Supply Chain Resiliency in Wisconsin

The Wisconsin LFPA (WI-LFPA) Community Partner Grant is made possible by the USDA Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Cooperative Agreement with Wisconsin.

Donor Name: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection (WDATCP)

State: Wisconsin

County: All Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 11/22/2023

Size of the Grant: Up to $300,000

Grant Duration: 1 year

Details:

The purpose of the WI-LFPA program is to strengthen food and agricultural supply chain resiliency, support Wisconsin farmers, and distribute fresh nutritious foods to underserved communities.

The WI-LFPA program achieves this purpose in the overarching goals below:

Support local producers and processors by building and expanding economic opportunities.
Broaden and strengthen partnerships with local producers and processors with food distribution partners and local food networks, including non-profits, to ensure distribution of fresh and nutritious foods in rural, remote, or underserved communities.

The Wisconsin Local Food Purchase Assistance (WI LFPA) Program is made possible by the United States Department of Agriculture’s LFPA Cooperative Agreement with Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) partners with the Marbleseed, the Wisconsin Farmers Union (WFU), and the Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative (WFHC) to create and implement the WI LFPA program.

The Wisconsin LFPA (WI-LFPA) Community Partner Grant is made possible by the USDA Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Cooperative Agreement with Wisconsin.

Priorities

This grant will fund projects that purchase food sourced from multiple Wisconsin producers and then aggregate and distribute that food to area hunger relief access points (ex. food pantries) at no cost to the receiving organization or community members. Food purchased with WI LFPA funds and provided by the program may not be used for sales of any kind. These funds are for implementation of food procurement and distribution projects with defined partnerships.

This grant program prioritizes projects that:

Procure local food from socially disadvantaged producers and processors.
Distribute local food in the same community where it was grown, raised or processed to support local food supply chain networks.
Distribute local food to underserved communities not normally served through traditional food distribution networks.
Distribute food to underserved communities in the most food insecure counties

Funding Information

A total of $1,500,000 is available and will be awarded through a competitive grant process.
Grant awards can range from $30,000 up to $300,000.
Projects must be completed and funds expended within one year after the contract is signed by DATCP.

Eligible Expenses

Including but not limited to:

Salaries/wages and fringe benefits
Rental or leasing of equipment
Procurement of fresh or minimally processed food for human consumption grown, raised and minimally processed in Wisconsin by Wisconsin producers or processors.
Supplies, meaning tangible personal property other than that meeting the definition of equipment above. A computing device is considered a supply if its per-unit acquisition cost is $5,000 or less regardless of the length of its useful life. (e.g. coolers, totes, labels, software, etc.
Food distribution and storage costs, including subcontracts with food aggregators/distributors.
Travel: vehicle rental or mileage reimbursement for project related activities, including food distribution.
Expenses for relevant educational events that support the success of the grant project.

Eligibility Criteria