Food brochure

Resources

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here are several organizations that focus on food security and related issues. These are good resources for ideas, technical assistance and examples of successful community food projects.

Consider joining the Alaska Food Policy Council, a statewide organization that serves as an information resource on local and state food systems. The AFPC is open to anyone. Its mission is to improve food systems for all Alaskans.

Alaska Food Policy Council: Web accessible at www. hss.state.ak.us/dph/chronic/nutrition/. Join the AFPC listserv to receive updates and information on Alaskarelated food security issues; AFPC also maintains a web blog. For more information on the AFPC, contact Diane Peck, Alaska DHSS Division of Public Health by e-mail at diane.peck@alaska.gov or by phone at 907-269-8447.

Community Food Security Coalition: In addition to covering a number of food-security issues, the CFSC

has produced several publications and toolkits that are useful in the development of community food projects.

Of particular help are the evaluation methods (Whole Measures for Community Food Systems) developed specifically for CFPs. Visit www.foodsecurity.org or call 503-954-2970.

Funding projects that improve people’s access to affordable, healthy and culturally appropriate food

USDA Community Food Projects

WHY Hunger: A national group that focuses on ending hunger and poverty through building community self-reliance and self-determination, WHY Hunger is an excellent source of information on food security and related issues. They maintain up-to-date statistics on hunger both in the United States and internationally. They also operate a national hunger hotline (1-866-3HUNGRY). Spend some time touring their website for information and contacts useful for community food planning and project development.

Visit www.whyhunger.org or call 1-800-5HUNGRY (1-800-548-6479).

For more information, contact Mara Bacsujlaky, Community Development Agent, at 907-474-5741 or mara.bacsujlaky@alaska.edu or call 1-877-520-5211 • www.uaf.edu/ces UAF is an AA/EO employer and educational institution.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Award No. 2009-33800-19620.

Developing a Community Food Project is not easy and takes a significant amount of advanced planning and effort

Building community capacity in food security and food sovereignty

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he USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program (CFPCGP) is a nationwide program established to increase food security and food self-reliance in low-income communities. The program funds projects that improve people’s access to affordable, healthy and culturally appropriate food. Applications are scored by a review panel, which rates proposals according

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to an established criteria set. Innovative projects that include a number of partners and collaborators, address long-term program sustainability and incorporate a number of food-related components (for example, food production, distribution and marketing) are more likely to be funded than those that focus solely on one component, like developing or increasing the size of a community garden.

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The grant program encourages innovation and creative approaches to decreasing food insecurity. Projects that include several collaborators, integrate generations, and establish new linkages between different food sectors are more competitive than ones that do not.

Develop a community food project well in advance of the grant deadline The Community Food Projects program is housed under the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Requests for Applications (RFAs) are annually released by the CFPCGP in midfall (typically October), with an application deadline somewhere between midNovember and late December.

Developing a Community Food Project is not easy — it takes a significant amount of advanced planning and

effort to identify and secure partners and the required dollar-for-dollar, nonfederal match. Getting an early start in project and application development (six to 12 months prior to the RFA release) is not only advisable, it is more likely to result in a project that is achievable and competitive for funding on a national level.

Within the CFPCGP there are two types of grant awards: Planning Projects and Community Food Projects. While each has its own restrictions and guidelines, both grant applications require that (1) the primary participants and beneficiaries of a proposed project are members of a low-income community; (2) the applicant is a registered nonprofit organization (i.e., has 501(c)3 status); and (3) the applicant provides third-party letters and documentation verifying the dollar-for-dollar nonfederal match.

Planning Project awards are for comprehensive projects that seek to evaluate a community’s food needs and/or explore a community’s assets, challenges and opportunities related to local food security.

Planning projects may be up to three years in length — there is a maximum award level of $25,000 for the entire project budget. These awards can be used to conduct community food security surveys and execute other planning and community outreach efforts that may be needed prior to the development and application for a Community Food Project grant.

Community Food Project awards, by contrast, have a much higher project maximum, usually around

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$300,000 over a three-year project term. These awards fund integrated projects that approach the issue of a low-income community’s food security in a holistic way and demonstrate long-term sustainability. CFP awards are intended to provide start-up funds for a project that, at the end of three years, will be selfsustaining.

Alaska communities and organizations that are interested in this grant program face some unique challenges in project development. Remote rural

communities tend to have decreased food security (for example, from high transportation costs for imported food, high fuel costs and reduced fish and wildlife resources), yet they lack the infrastructure and diversified partner base that are important elements in a competitive community food project. However, creative thinking and leveraging and pooling resources among several remote communities are strategies that could be used to positively enhance local food security and result in a fundable community food project.

Some examples of potential CFPs for remote rural communities are: • A village food cooperative that supports and increases both local subsistence and small-scale agricultural activities.

• A partnership between a village and its school district to use local subsistence and locally grown foods in school lunches. Such a project could also include a greenhouse/school garden based at the village school. Recruiting elders to work with youth in the garden and adding local produce to elder lunches could be additional components.

• Collaboration among a few villages to develop a regional community food plan. One village could house a large greenhouse, another could raise poultry for eggs and meat, a third might create a small-scale business making jams and jellies from local berries. All products could be could be marketed through village stores and cooperatives.

There are many other aspects to food procurement, production and distribution that could be included. The grant program encourages innovation and creative approaches to decreasing food insecurity. Projects that include several collaborators, integrate generations and establish new linkages between different food sectors are more competitive than ones that do not.

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