Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program

The Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) is a component of the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP). FMLFPP supports the development, coordination and expansion of local and regional food systems through two competitive grant p

FMLFPP is a component of the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP). FMLFPP funds projects that develop, coordinate, and expand direct producer-to-consumer markets and local and regional food business enterprises to help increase access to and availability of locally and regionally produced agricultural products. All applicants must be domestic entities owned, operated and located within the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands to be considered eligible. Entities that are eligible to apply include: Agricultural businesses and cooperatives, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) networks and associations, Food councils, Economic development corporations, Local governments, Nonprofit and public benefit corporations, Producer networks or associations, Regional farmers' market authorities and, Tribal governments.

All applicants must be domestic entities owned, operated, and located within the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or Tribal Governments. Eligible entities include Agricultural businesses and cooperatives, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) networks and associations, Food councils, Economic development corporations, Local governments, Nonprofit and public benefit corporations, Producer networks or associations, Regional farmers' market authorities and, Tribal governments.

Projects must benefit more than one producers, vendor, individual. Applicants must collaborate with others to benefit the larger community.

A grant agreement is entered between AMS and the eligible entity that submits a successful application. OMB Guidance for Grants Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 CFR § 200 and 2 CFR § 400 applies to this program. 2 CFR § 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles applies to this program. 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles applies to this program. 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles applies to this program.

In general, funds may be used to support local and regional food systems and encourages food economy availability. FMPP funds may be used to increase domestic consumption of, and access to, locally and regionally produced agricultural products, and to develop new market opportunities for farm and ranch operations serving local markets by developing, improving, expanding, and providing outreach, training, and technical assistance to, or assisting in the development, improvement, and expansion of, domestic farmers markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, agritourism activities, and other direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities. LFPP funds may also be used to support the development and expansion of local and regional food business enterprises to increase domestic consumption of, and access to, locally and regionally produced agricultural products, and to develop new market opportunities for farm and ranch operations serving local markets.

Applicants have 2 or 3 calendar years to use the funds. The Request for Application (RFAs) for FMPP and LFPP will provide additional information in relation to length and time for these grants. Applicable Terms and Conditions for these grants area available in the program websites (www.ams.usda.gov/grants), under the How to Administer the Award tab.

AMS only accepts electronic applications which are submitted via Grants.gov in response to a specific RFA. Please refer to the RFA for further details for submitting applications. The most current RFAs are available at www.ams.usda.gov/grants.

Criteria for selecting proposals are within guidelines established for the program as described in the RFA. The most current RFA is available via Grants.gov or www.ams.usda.gov/grants.

AMS outlines the application requirements and merit review process in each grant program's RFA. Applicants are required to use the RFA to apply for grant funds. After the application deadline has passed, AMS begins a three-step process to evaluate each application submitted to the grant program and select applications for funding. Grant agreements are established with applicants based on the results of this three-step process to ensure compliance with requirement that Federal awarding agencies maintain a fair, unbiased merit review process in selecting competitively awarded grants. The Initial Qualification Screening is Step 1. In this step, each application is reviewed for overall completeness, as well as compliance with eligibility and program requirements as set forth in the RFA. Applications that met these basic requirements moved forward to Step 2. Step 2 is the Technical Review. Applications are evaluated by panels of external peer reviewers. Selected reviewers have diverse expertise representing various entities with programmatic knowledge. To eliminate bias, AMS assigns applications to reviewers outside of their own geographic areas and avoid project assignments associated with reviewer businesses. Each reviewer also signs a conflict of interest and confidentiality agreement. Reviewers that indicate a real or perceived conflict do not review the affected application(s) and are removed from those application discussions. The panels analyze each application using the RFA's evaluation criteria and instructions prepared by AMS. Individual reviewers evaluate and score their assigned applications and then confer with their team to derive a consensus review. The consensus review serves as the basis for awarding grant funds and focuses on the applications' strengths and weaknesses. The third step is the Administrative Review (Step 3).

Review the Request for Application (RFA) for the specific deadline. Go to https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants select the program of interest and visit the How to Apply tab.

Eligible applicants should contact the headquarters office for application deadlines. Annual application deadlines are posted in Grants.gov. More information can be found at www.ams.usda.gov/grants.

Awards are for 2 or 3 years in length. Grant recipients can request a one-year extension to complete the project objectives and goals. Once a project is completed, a renewal option is not available.

Please refer to our appeal policy at https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants.