US: $21 million announced for projects that connect families to healthy food

A $21 million infusion of funds through the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives (FINI) Program will help families in need of nutrition assistance to receive the services and outreach they need.

Authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, FINI is a competitive grant program that helps low-income families participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to purchase more fresh fruits and vegetables. FINI projects do this by providing cash incentives that increase SNAP users’ purchasing power, which both increases families’ access to fresh, healthy food, and also expands the customer base of local farmers.

This C-Town Supermarket in Hartford, CT connects more SNAP users with healthy foods thanks to Wholesome Wave’s “SNAP UP” Program. Photo credit: Wholesome Wave.

Earlier this week, USDA released their fourth Request for Applications (RFA) for FINI projects that support and incentivize the purchase of fruits and vegetable by families and households participating in the SNAP program. The deadline to submit proposals December 13, 2017 at 5:00pm Eastern Standard Time. Proposals should be submitted online via http://www.grants.gov/.

Since 2015, FINI has awarded $48.2 million in funding to projects nationwide; $100 million in total funds has been allocated for the program between 2014 and 2018. FINI is jointly administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and Food and Nutrition Service.

Read more at NSAC