Blog

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now accepting applications for the Food Safety Outreach (FSO) competitive grants program. Approximately $9.6 million is available in funding with applications due April 1, 2021.

1. Community Outreach Projects will support the development of new food safety education and outreach programs in local niche- and hard to reach communities (previously known as Pilot Projects) and expand upon existing food safety education and outreach programs that address the needs of small, specialized audiences whose education needs have not previously been adequately addressed.
2. Collaborative Education and Training Projects will support the development of multi-county, state-wide or multi-state programs.

Regional Center Projects will support the infrastructure of the program by coordinating information within and among the four regions to ensure that best practices for FSMA-related training, education, and technical assistance within local communities are translated to a national audience.

• The Cooperative Extension Service for a U.S. state or territory;
• Non-government organizations and/or community-based organizations;
• Organizations representing owners and operators of farms, small food processors, or small fruit and vegetable merchant wholesalers that has a commitment to public health and expertise in administering programs that contribute to food safety;
• Federal, state, local, or tribal agencies;
• An institution of higher education (as defined in Section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)) or a foundation maintained by an institution of higher education;
• A collaboration of two or more eligible entities.

1. Community Outreach Projects enable the development of new programs and allow existing programs to broaden their scope by reaching out to a larger number of participants, or expand the programs to new and broader audiences. In addition, Community Outreach Projects enable existing education and training curricula and other resources to be modified to ensure that they are consistent with FSMA guidelines and that they meet the needs of expanded audiences. New audiences should include those from a variety of agricultural production and processing systems.
2. Collaborative Education and Training Projects will support collaborations among states not necessarily located within the same regions, but having common food safety concerns, or addressing common commodities. Potential applicants must have an established track record of working with target audiences, and must be capable of developing and modifying food safety training curricula to meet new FSMA rules for a variety of agricultural production and processing systems.
3. Regional Center Projects will ensure that there is continued education and training for a cadre of regional FSMA trainers and continue to provide trainings for both growers and processors. Further, the Regional Center projects will focus on development of implementation plans for extending technical assistance to the targeted audiences of farmers, processors and vendors in the respective regions. Regional centers must partner with 1890, 1994, ANNH, HSACUs and/or community-based organizations serving socially-disadvantaged populations within their region. The implementation plan must include collaborations with non-governmental and community-based organizations with an established track record of working with target audiences. Implementation plans must address efforts to develop and modify food safety training curricula to meet FSMA rules for a variety of agricultural production and processing systems. In addition, the implementation plan must include a continuity plan to seamlessly coordinate with currently active Regional Centers to avoid gaps in collaboration and communication across the region.

1. Community Outreach Projects (award requests: $80,000 - $150,000) - An additional $150,000 may be requested for Collaborative Engagement Supplements, for a total budget request of up to $300,000.
2. Collaborative Education and Training Projects (awards request: $200,000 - $400,000) - An additional $150,000 may be requested for Collaborative Engagement Supplements, for a total budget request of up to $550,000.
3. Regional Centers (awards requests: $800,000; an additional $200,000 may be requested for (1) Lead Regional Center for a total budget request of up to $1,000,000).

The Request for Applications can be found here.

For more information on this grant 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.