Food Safety Grants for Ag-Infrastructure Businesses

ANNOUNCEMENT: GRANT OPPORTUNITY FOR FOOD SAFETY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS AND BUSINESSES.

$47,000 in funding available on a competitive basis!

Deadline for applications: July 31, 2013

Eligible entities: Business or cooperatives. Nonprofits and municipalities are not eligible.

Eligible uses of funds: Construction, equipment, or other investments that directly enhance food safety practices.

Thanks to funding from a private foundation, the Vermont Farm Viability Program is able to provide grants of up to $20,000 to assist agricultural infrastructure businesses in Vermont with the implementation of food safety investments. Our goal is to encourage ongoing business planning by food system businesses and enhance the development of agricultural and local food infrastructure in Vermont.

To qualify, the business must:

• Be undertaking a project that improves their food safety practices
• Be primarily involved in the processing, storage, marketing, and/or distribution of local agricultural products;
• Be located (preferably headquartered) in Vermont;
• Be providing services to, or aggregating products from, at least five VT farm businesses; and
• Have a business plan that meets our Program’s business plan guidelines and that supports the project for which funding is requested.