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The California Department of Food and Agriculture is accepting grant applications for the new Farm to Community Food Hubs Program for organizations developing and expanding community food hubs in California. This program will offer two funding tracks. Track 1: Planning grants will range from $50,000 to $250,000. Track 2: Infrastructure and Operations grants will range from $350,000 to $2 million. No match is required. Applications are due by April 14, 2025.

What is the purpose of the Farm to Community Food Hubs Program?

The Farm to Community Food Hubs Program aims to incentivize the creation and permanency of public-serving aggregation and distribution enterprises (i.e., community food hubs) by investing in planning activities and piloting investments in the capital aggregation and distribution infrastructure needed to:

• Increase purchasing of local, environmentally sustainable, climate-smart, and equitably produced food by schools and other institutions;
• 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.

Who is eligible to apply?

The following entities are eligible for this grant opportunity: nonprofit organizations; California public school districts; Tribal schools (such as those administered through the Bureau of Indian Education); Tribal colleges; California County Offices of Education; cooperative businesses; food and agriculture-related businesses; Certified B Corporations; California Native American Tribes; Tribal-led nonprofit organizations; Resource Conservation Districts; University of California, California State University, and other public institutions of higher education.

Only entities establishing or expanding new community food hubs and expanding developed community food hubs are eligible to apply to this grant program.

What are the requirements for this program? 

For the purposes of this grant program, community food hub projects must:

• Prioritize, to the greatest extent possible, purchasing food from and serving California food producers that meet at least one of the following criteria: (1) operate on 500 acres or less; (2) are cooperatively owned; (3) are using sustainable or climate-smart agriculture practices or production systems; (4) who are socially disadvantaged; (5) who are veterans; (6) who are disabled; (7) who are beginning food producers; or (8) who are limited resource food producers.
• Prioritize, to the greatest extent possible, selling food products from California food producers to public institutions and/or nonprofit organizations, with primary emphasis on public schools, food banks, and other food distribution nonprofit organizations serving low-income communities in the region. Distribution of the food products may be contracted to a value-added intermediary, such as a produce, grain, meat, or seafood processor, if the food products are ultimately provided on a prioritized basis to public institutions and/or nonprofit organizations.
• Ensure, where feasible, that the food producers are following all necessary laws, rules, and regulations, including labor and environmental requirements.

What are the specific characteristics of each program funding track?

Each funding track and its specific requirements, including award amounts and project durations, are described below. 

Track 1: Planning

Track 1 will fund a variety of entities to develop one or more plans to (1) support a new community food hub or (2) expand the capacity of a developed food hub. Eligible award amounts range from $50,000 to $250,000 with a grant term up to 24 months (estimated term is October 2025 – October 2027).

A few examples of eligible project activities include:

• Food system assessments for how to improve aggregation and distribution capacity to increase the sale of local/regional California food products;
• Business plans related to processing, aggregating, storing, distributing, and marketing regional food products, including value-added products or recovered food products; and
• Feasibility studies assisting with supply chain partner planning, to analyze market potential, capacity, and potential competitors and partners in the region.

See a full list of eligible project activities in the Request for Applications linked below.

Track 2: Infrastructure and Operations

Track 2 will fund a variety of entities to cover infrastructure and operating costs that (1) establish operations or expand capacity for a new community food hub or (2) expand capacity of a developed community food hub. Award amounts range from $350,000 to $2 million with a grant term of up to 60 months (estimated grant term is October 2025 – October 2030).

A few examples of eligible project activities include:

• Implementing business and operational plans to initiate or expand capacity of a community food hub to sell to private institutions (e.g. for-profit grocery retail), public institutions, and/or nonprofit organization buyers;
• Purchasing land, designing, and constructing community food hub facilities, such as warehouses or food processing facilities, to increase sales of local/regional food products;
• Increasing storage, food processing, transportation, and/or food recovery capacity to increase sales of local/regional food products; and
• Initiating, coordinating, and/or expanding sales to buyers, prioritizing public institutions and nonprofit organizations.

See a full list of eligible project activities in the Request for Applications linked below.

What is the application timeline?

Grant applications are due by 5pm on April 14, 2025.

Awards are anticipated to be announced by June 2025 with the grant term commencing in the Fall of 2025.

The full Request for Applications can be found here.

For more information on this grant opportunity or how to apply with Morrison’s assistance, please contact the Morrison Grants Team by email at grants@morrisonco.net or call us at 530-893-4764.