2020 FARM Fund: Scaling up production for 2020 growing season, and beyond

— from Learner Limbach for SJC Food System Team,  OICF, Ag Guild, Orcas Food Co-op, WSU Extension, ARC, SJC Health Dept —

SJC FARM Fund and Community Emergency Response Fund through Orcas Island Community Foundation are partnering to address the COVID-19 crisis by directing resources to producers to support immediate scaling up of production for the 2020 growing season. With funding provided by OICF, a first round of funding is available to Orcas and Waldron Island farmers. We are actively seeking funds in order to replicate this pilot program for other islands (San Juan, Lopez, Shaw) as soon as resources are available.

ELIGIBILITY

1. Projects for this round of funding must be based on Orcas or Waldron Island.
2. Applicant must be an active working farm business.
3. Proposals must be within the grant range of $500 and $60,000.
4. Projects must be ready to begin (“shovel-ready”) at the time of award (May 6th, 2020) and must result in increased food production this growing season.

CRITERIA

**While we welcome proposals for projects that address any of the goals listed below, during this initial round, funding priority will be given to projects that address food access and food insecurity goals.

1. Food Access and Food Insecurity: Increase community access to healthy, local food; possible avenues may include increasing the availability and consistency of locally produced food for:
   1. Food Access organizations: greatly subsidized or free food for Orcas Island Food Bank, Senior Center, local schools
   2. Direct-to-consumer: subsidizing cost of goods and/or CSA shares; accepting EBT, Veggie Rx, or Senior/WIC FMNP checks at farm stands, etc
   3. Standard marketing channels participating in local food incentive programs: Fresh Bucks/Market Bucks/Veggie Rx sales at grocery stores, Food Hub, and/or farmers market
2. Collaboration: Increase coordination and collaboration among local farms/food producers (e.g. planned growing coordination, group buying for inputs).
3. Stewardship: build soil health and increase production of nutrient-dense food through ecological and socially responsible stewardship of our farmland.
4. Infrastructure: Invest in infrastructure to increase capacity for local farms, which can include fencing, irrigation and cultivation of new land, cool/cold/dry storage, hoop houses, harvest equipment, and innovative technology.

TIMELINE

• April 24, 2020 – Request for Proposals
• May 1, 2020 – Application process closes
• May 6, 2020 – Awards announced, grants distributed
• 60 days after project completion- Project Reports Due

BACKGROUND

The FARM (Food, Agriculture, Relationships, Markets) Fund was created in 2015 to support innovative projects that strengthen and develop local, sustainable agriculture in San Juan County and increase availability of healthy, local food.

In line with the long-range goal to shift management of the FARM Fund to a neutral third party, the Orcas Food Co-op is transitioning management of the program to the Ag Guild. The FARM Fund will continue to work with community partners to identify gaps in San Juan County’s food system and provide critical capital to farmers, distributors and producers in order to meet those needs.

This grant process supports building the capacity of San Juan County’s farms to make more local food available to our communities during this COVID19 crisis, and beyond.

The FARM Fund Grant Committee is committed to the principles of good grant-making,due diligence, and applying an equitable and transparent process Grants are only made for projects that are well-conceived and likely to be successful in meeting the above stated goals. First Round grants are only made for projects that are able to begin immediately and that will positively impact the 2020 growing season.

For more information or to apply contact Caitlin Leck at foodsystem.sjc@gmail.com