[Community_garden] Community Food Projects grant request has been released

[Betsy Johnson]

COMMUNITY FOOD PROJECTS (CFP) GRANTS -
The Request for Applications for 2007 is out!

The Community Food Projects (CFP) Competitive Grants Program is a major
funding source for community-based food and agriculture projects in the U.S.
Approximately $4.6 million in funds will be available in 2007. The Request
for Applications (RFA) was released on January 12.  Initial letters of
intent are due by February 13 (by email).   Based on a review of these
letters, some applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal, due by
April 13.  The procedures are detailed in the CFP Request for Applications,
which is available at the grants.gov website as follows:
 http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=12255&mode=VIEW.

The initial Letters of Intent (LOI) will be submitted by regular email, but
those invited to submit a full proposal will need to go through a
complicated electronic submission process.  Because this process can take up
to two months or more and will soon be required for all federal grants,
applicants not already registered are strongly encouraged to start the
registration process as soon as possible at http://www.grants.gov.

More information and technical support contacts are available online at:
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/funding.cfm

The CFP Program supports projects that:

-Help meet the food needs of low-income people,
-Increase the self-reliance of communities in providing for their own food
needs,
-Promote comprehensive responses to local food, farm, and nutrition issues,
and
-Meet specific state, local, or neighborhood food and agriculture needs for
infrastructure improvement and development, long-term planning, or the
creation of innovative marketing activities that mutually benefit
agricultural producers and low-income consumers