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SACRAMENTO, February 12, 2025 – The California Department of Food and Agriculture Office of Farm to Fork (CDFA-F2F) announces it is seeking grant applications for the new Farm to Community Food Hubs Program. Applications must be submitted with all required materials to cafoodhubs@cdfa.ca.gov no later than 5 p.m. PDT April 14, 2025. The application materials are available at https://cafarmtofork.cdfa.ca.gov/F2CFHP.html.
The Farm to Community Food Hubs Program will award up to $13.75 million in competitive grants for organizations developing and expanding new and existing community food hubs to increase the purchasing of local, climate-smart and nutritious foods by schools and other institutions in California. Up to 10 percent of the available funding will be set aside for projects led by California Native American Tribes and Tribal-led nonprofit organizations.
Two funding tracks are available: Track 1 Planning grants will fund planning activities. Track 2 Infrastructure and Operations grants will fund food aggregation and distribution infrastructure and operational costs. 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.
Between February 20 and April 11, CDFA-F2F will provide feedback on draft application materials for up to 20 applicants that identify as: California Native American Tribes (both federally and non-federally recognized); Tribal-led nonprofit organizations; food producer businesses/organizations with 50% or more of owners identifying as at least one of the following: beginning food producer, limited resource food producer, veteran food producer, socially disadvantaged food producer, or disabled food producer. Visit https://cafarmtofork.cdfa.ca.gov/F2CFHP.html for details on how to request this assistance.
Additional CDFA-F2F outreach about this Farm to Community Food Hubs Program grant solicitation includes:
- A public virtual Application Information Session at 10 a.m. PST, Wednesday, February 19, 2025 | Register here.
- Public virtual “application office hours” to share more information about the program and assist applicants with questions:
4 p.m. PST Tuesday, February 25, 2025 | Register here
12 p.m. PDT Tuesday, March 11, 2025 | Register here
9:30 a.m. PDT Wednesday, March 26, 2025 | Register here
11 a.m. PDT Tuesday, April 1, 2025 |Register here
12 p.m. PDT Thursday, April 10, 2025 | Register here
The Farm to Community Food Hubs Program’s development was guided by a Farm to Community Food Hubs Working Group, as well as comments received via email, online survey and three public webinars during the grant program’s public comment period in fall 2024. This new initiative builds on CDFA’s investments in food hubs through its Farm to School Incubator Grant Program, Healthy Refrigeration Grant Program, California Specialty Crop Grant Program and California Resilient Food Systems Initiative Program. Learn more at https://cafarmtofork.cdfa.ca.gov/F2CFHP.html.
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