The Metro Chicago Good Food Purchasing Initiative (GFPI) Community Fund supports systemically marginalized local farmers and food businesses in increasing community food access within the Metro Chicago Region. This initiative emphasizes aligning with the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) values, which include promoting equity, sustainability, fair labor, humane practices, and nutrition. The grant application deadline is November 11, 2024.

Grants between $40,000 and $80,000 will be awarded to eligible farmers, food businesses, and organizations to help expand their capacity to provide GFPP-aligned food products to public meal programs, community meal sites, and institutions. Recipients may also receive technical support, including one-on-one counseling, language interpretation, and other application resources. This flexible funding aims to alleviate barriers faced by marginalized groups and build a more equitable food system in the Metro Chicago area.

Eligible applicants include farmers such as small to midsize rural, urban, indoor, and outdoor growers striving toward GFPP values, and food organizations and businesses including local food processors, manufacturers, service providers, distributors, and aggregators that adhere to GFPP principles and need financial or technical support to enhance their access to institutional and community meal programs.

Applicants must demonstrate a commitment to supplying community meal sites, public meal programs, or institutions such as schools, hospitals, food banks, libraries, and senior centers. They must show collaborative efforts with other mission-aligned organizations to strengthen the local food system and have operations based in Illinois or within a 250-mile radius of Chicago (500 miles for meat, poultry, and seafood). Applicants must also focus on serving Suburban Cook County and/or the Metro Chicago area.

Funding priorities include projects that build awareness of local food systems, increase access to GFPP-aligned foods, and foster partnerships within the community. Applicants must be legal entities such as privately owned, cooperative, or nonprofit organizations. Special attention is given to systemically marginalized groups, which include those facing exclusion due to race, ethnicity, gender, disability, or socioeconomic status.

The grant supports projects like capital improvements to enhance facilities or equipment to align with GFPP goals, marketing and outreach to promote awareness of GFPP values, and technical assistance to develop strategies for better access to institutional buyers or community food sites. For more information, including eligibility details and application instructions, visit the Metro Chicago Good Food Purchasing Initiative website.