Iowa Farm to School Newsletter

Application is now open: Apply here!
Local Food Makes Cents: For Iowa Kids and Farmers Grant

The "Local Food Makes Cents" grant application is now open! The application will close at 8 p.m. on January 31, 2021. The Local Food Makes Cents: For Iowa Kids and Farmers grant will offer a total of $43,000 to eligible early care and education centers and home providers participating in the CACFP to purchase local foods from Iowa farmers, food hubs and farmers markets. Review information about the program, the application and a recording of an informational webinar online here. Apply here by January 31!

1. Webinar: "What is Good Data?" - Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) Online Farmer Programs
January 6 // 1:30pm
CISA's Winter Workshops for Farmers begins with a basic financial management
and analysis class that will set the stage for more in-depth program
opportunities from January through March. In this workshop, we'll talk about "good data", all the things you need to take into consideration as you get ready to analyze your business and make decisions for growth. The webinar will cover:
1) Different types of recordkeeping systems
2) How to organize your financial transactions so you can get the information
you need to make decisions
3) A framework to think about numbers as you get ready to do seasonal
planning.
Register here.
2. Webinar: Head Start: Providing Food and Nutrition Services During COVID-19
January 13 // 1-2:30pm ET
Food insecurity has worsened during the pandemic. The number of children in households struggling with food insecurity has more than tripled. As the pandemic continues, we encourage programs to take advantage of available flexibilities to ensure children’s nutritional needs are being met. Join the Office of Head Start for a webinar on best practices to combat food insecurity during COVID-19. It will feature experts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety. Register here.
3. Save the Date: 5th Annual National Day of Racial Healing
January 19, 2021
On Tues., Jan. 19, 2021, W.K. Kellogg Foundation invites you to join them for the 5th annual National Day of Racial Healing. The day will be centered around experiences rooted in truth-telling that lead to racial healing for a more just and equitable future. It’s a day for authentic dialogues, so people can start to see and hear each other. A day to share our stories, to recognize our shared humanity, so we can come together and transform the world around us. This year, Baratunde Thurston is the host, and you'll be joined by leading advocates, musicians, artists and others, who are taking action to help heal our communities. Learn more about WKKF’s YouTube premiere event for the National Day of Racial Healing and RSVP today.
4. USDA 2501 Stakeholder Feedback Session
January 25 // 1pm ET
USDA's Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement (OPPE) has announced the rescheduled stakeholder listening session on the 2501 program. This listening session was originally scheduled for this fall, but rescheduled for January 25th from 1:00 - 3:00 pm ET. Section 2501 funding was established to assist producers of color, in response to legal decisions on USDA's history of discrimination. The listening session is a chance for producers who fall in this category, or those who serve them, to give feedback on how programs to serve "socially disadvantaged" farmers and ranchers are doing. The 2018 Farm Bill requires USDA to solicit input from stakeholders annually on the program, and given all of the frustration and disappointments with the administration of the program this year, it will be important for folks to attend and share their feedback directly to USDA - especially as a new Administration steps in and is deciding priorities for the coming year (and beyond). National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition published an analysis of this year's 2501 (& CCP) grants.
5. Innovations in State Policy and Implications for Local and Regional Food Sectors
January 25 // 1pm ET
Join the Local Food System Response to COVID, a project of the USDA and University of Kentucky (and others, on the 3rd Monday of each month for a facilitated cross-sectoral discussion on topics including customer retention and engagement, emergency food, cooperative business models, state policies and consumer behavior. Register and view past recordings.
6. 2021 Iowa State University Community Food Systems Annual Event (Virtual)
February 12
This year’s event will focus on Retail and Leadership Within Community Food Systems, lifting up best practices around the nation in all community food systems areas. Come learn, engage, and discuss ways to promote community engagement, collective action, and food systems projects. Register for the conference here. Cost is $20. Registration closes Feb. 5.
7. Webinar Recording: From Erasure to Resilience: The Future of Food Security and Food Sovereignty in Indian Country
For thousands of years before European contact, indigenous peoples enjoyed self-sufficiency and self-determination. After land seizures and forced relocations many Tribes lost the ability to sustain themselves. Colonialism, structural racism and failed US federal policies have led to Native Americans suffering some of the highest rates of poverty, food insecurity, and diet-related diseases. The ongoing Native-led efforts to achieve food security and food sovereignty across Indian Country are and have always been urgent in a post-colonial world – and recent events have thrown that need into stark relief and brought the priorities of Indian Country into the national conversation. Watch this panel discussion featuring advocates who defy the persistence of Native invisibility, harness the resilience of Tribal Nations today, and lift up the promise of Native food systems and agriculture. Watch here.

1. Disparity to Parity Project Seeks Prosperity for All
Calling for an end to more than 50 years of unjust farm policies and economic disparity, a diverse coalition of family farmers, grassroots advocates, and food system researchers have announced a project featuring policy reforms needed to build an equitable food system. The Disparity to Parity project advocates substantive policy solutions to ensure living wages for all food producers; access to arable land, especially for Black, Indigenous, migrant, and other historically disadvantaged farmers; protected rights for farm and food workers; and a secure national food supply available to everyone. The project will release additional policy recommendations and videos in early 2021, culminating in a virtual briefing for Members of Congress in late spring. Posted essays highlight parity-based solutions to redress the failures in our food system that were magnified during a year of COVID-19 and extreme weather events. Learn more.
2. Evaluating Food Hubs: Reporting on a Participatory Action Project
Food hubs have great potential to address some of our food system challenges. But how are these businesses and organizations measuring their impacts? Check out this new JAFSCD article that explores some of the challenges and opportunities of food hub evaluation.
3. Food Policy Networks Project 6th Annual Photo Contest
Deadline: January 15
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future’s (CLF) Food Policy Networks (FPN) project’s annual photo contest is back! In lieu of topic categories this year, CLF is making a listicle (think BuzzFeed or Bored Panda): All the Food Things, 2020. What image would you include in a list of what your food systems work has looked like in 2020? We know everyone is on video calls these days, but we welcome a variety of photos—from the field, farmers markets, supermarkets, and beyond. What has changed in your local food system? Is your food council supporting a food delivery program? How are local farms re-structuring operations? Has your council testified on behalf of a bill virtually this year? Pictures with masks are welcome! Learn more.
4. "Power of Community Food Systems” Storytelling Publication
Get inspired through this multimedia piece brought to you by the Wallace Center through a collaboration with Ecotrust, Dream of Wild Health, Lake County Community Development Corporation, and Real Food Media that explores how individuals and organizations are harnessing the #powerofcommunityfoodsystems to foster resilience, self-determination, connection, and liberation in the COVID-19 era. Explore the stories here!

1. 2021 Farm to School Grant Request for Application
Deadline: January 8
The fiscal year (FY) 2021 Farm to School Grant Program Request for Applications (RFA) is now available! The solicitation officially opened October 16th, 2020, and will remain open until 11:59pm ET on January 8th, 2021. FNS seeks to award up to $10 million this fiscal year. New for FY 2021, institutions operating the Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program at non-school based sites are included in the definition of eligible schools and may apply for funding.
2. Young Farmer Grant Program 2021 Applications
Deadline: January 15
In 2020 The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) launched a new grant program to help young and beginning farmers and ranchers start up and grow their businesses. Thanks to support from Chipotle Young Farmers is offering $5,000 grants to 50 young farmers and ranchers across the country. Young Farmer Grants can be used to support everyday needs from infrastructure projects, operating costs, and professional development, to off-farm expenses like childcare, housing, and student loan debt. The funds could also be used to get that extra boost to start up a new operation. Learn more and apply.
3. 2021 Gro More Good Grassroots Grant
Deadline: February 5
The 2021 Gro More Good Grassroots Grant presented by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation and KidsGardening is designed to bring the life-enhancing benefits of gardens to communities across the United States. Awards provide funding for the development of new and expansion of existing youth garden programs and greenspaces serving 15 or more youth. The Gro More Good Grassroots Grant is open to all nonprofit and tax exempt organizations (including schools) in the United States and US Territories. This year, 175 grants worth a collective total of $100,000 will be awarded. 150 grant recipients will be awarded a check for $500 to support their initiatives, and 25 programs will receive a check for $1,000. Learn more here.
4. The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program
Deadline: March 16, 2021
USDA NIFA requests applications for the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) to support and evaluate projects intended to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables by low-income consumers participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by providing incentives at the point of purchase through nutrition incentive grants; and to demonstrate and evaluate the improvement of dietary health through increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, reduced individual and household food insecurity, and reduced healthcare usage and associated costs through produce prescription grants. Applications are due March 16, 2021. Learn more here.
5. FY21/22 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) RFA
Deadline: March 25, 2021 and March 24, 2022
The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) provides funds to support education, mentoring, and technical assistance initiatives for beginning farmers and ranchers. Deadline is March 25, 2021 for FY21 projects and March 24, 2022 for FY22 projects. Max grants are $600,000 (3 years) for both standard and EET grants. USDA will hold a stakeholder webinar on January 27th at 1:00pm CT for applicants who have any questions about the RFA. Details on page 4 of the RFA. Learn more and apply.
6. Community Food Projects (CFP) Competitive Grants Program
Deadline: May 4, 2021
USDA's NIFA's CFP intends to solicit applications and fund two types of grants: (1) Community Food Projects (CFP) and (2) Planning Projects (PP). The purpose of the CFP is to support the development of projects with a one-time infusion of federal dollars to make such projects self-sustaining. CFPs are designed to create community-based food projects with objectives, activities and outcomes that are in alignment with Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program (CFPCGP) primary goals. The purpose of a Planning Project (PP) is to complete a plan toward the improvement of community food security in keeping with the primary goals of the CFPCGP. Learn more here.

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