SACRAMENTO, September 4 – The California Department of Food and Agriculture Office of Farm to Fork (CDFA-F2F) is awarding $13.75 million through its new Farm to Community Food Hubs Grant Program to 12 nonprofits, Tribal-led organizations, farmers, and other organizations to plan for or implement and expand community food hubs throughout the state. 

A food hub is a business or organization that aggregates, distributes, and markets food products from local and regional producers to meet demand from wholesale, retail, and institutional buyers. Food hubs provide a business and logistics structure that helps small- and mid-scale farmers reach larger markets, improving healthy food access and supporting the local economy.

The grant program received one-time funding for investments in organizations to develop new and expand existing community food hubs to support local farming and indigenous food production, to accelerate climate adaptation and resilience, and to employ food system workers with fair wages and working conditions.

Five planning grants (Track 1) will support organizations to develop feasibility studies, business strategies, logistics and distribution systems, as well as plans to evaluate new food hubs while scaling up emerging operations. These projects will examine opportunities in Colusa, Fresno, Modoc, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Tuolumne and Yolo counties.

Seven implementation grants (Track 2) will support food aggregation, distribution infrastructure, and operating costs for five years, kickstarting new and emerging operations and supporting the expansion of existing food hubs. All projects will strengthen market access for California food producers and prioritize public institutions and nonprofit buyers like K-12 public schools, food banks, food-is-medicine programs, and programs operated by California Native American Tribes. Track 2 award recipients are expected to partner with at least 159 California food producers, of which 98 percent use sustainable, climate-smart or regenerative practices; 97 percent operate on 500 acres or less; and 71 percent are considered socially disadvantaged. 

CDFA-F2F received 165 applications representing more than $148 million in project proposals. With $13.75 million available for grants, the program was oversubscribed by almost 11 times more than the available amount.

Awards include more than $2.2 million for Tribal-led organizations, exceeding the goal to award at least 10 percent of funding for California Native American Tribes and Tribal-led nonprofit organizations.

Visit the Farm to Community Food Hubs Grant Program webpage to read awarded project summaries and view an interactive awards map.