Farmers’ Market Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Support Grants

These funds are intended to support the participation of farmers' markets in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP.) Specifically, the goals of FMSSG are to increase SNAP accessibility and participation at farmers' markets, and support

The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to enable SNAP-authorized Direct Marketing Farmers (DMFs) and Farmers Markets (FMS) , as necessary) to determine, at no or little cost to them, whether adding SNAP to their business model has a positive cost-benefit value, and to provide SNAP recipients with greater access to DMFs operating at physical FM locations and via other direct marketing avenues (e.g., roadside stands, pick-your-own).

Nonprofits and institutes of higher education.

Farmers and participants in SNAP

Funds must be used to conduct tasks necessary for SNAP to operate at farmers markets, and to increase the number and effectiveness of farmers market participation in SNAP. As such, eligible uses include, but not necessarily limited to: salaries and benefits for time spent on SNAP activities, tasks for market(s); creating/operating systems (such as scrip, accounting, record-keeping) necessary to make SNAP operational at market(s); training and technical assistance to farmers market volunteers, vendors, and employees on SNAP; creating SNAP outreach and educational materials and performing outreach to current SNAP participants to inform them they may use their SNAP benefits at farmers markets; miscellaneous equipment, other than SNAP-EBT equipment -- such as scrip, wifi hotspots, accounting software, etc. - necessary for SNAP-EBT equipment to operate at farmers markets. The funds must be used to further the goals of FMSSG, which specifically relate to the operation of SNAP at farmers markets. Accordingly, uses that do not relate to that purpose are impermissible.

Grant funds may not be used to provide no cost EBT equipment to states.

FMSSG funds are awarded for projects with a minimum duration of 13 months and a maximum of 36 months. However, FNS determines the grant performance period.

In years that grants are funded, FNS assembles panels to review and score applications based on technical merits. The panels evaluate the proposals based on how well they address the evaluation criteria described in the RFA. The panels recommend the highest scoring applications for grant awards. The Selecting Official reserve the right to award a grant based solely on scoring, but may also consider agency priorities, program balance, available funding, geographical representation, or project diversity. The following criteria have been used in the past to evaluate applications for FMSSG funds: Goals/Purpose (12 points); Approach (40 points); Workplan; Personnel; Resources (Non-personnel resources, such as land, building, equipment, supplies, etc.); Sustainability; Partnerships; Budget (20 points); Impact (20 points); and whether the project activities take place in SNAP Priority areas (30 points).

FNS pre-screens applications to ensure they contain all required information. Applications that do not include complete copies of forms SF-424, SF-424A, SF-424B, SF LLL, and (in the case of corporations, regardless of whether they are for-profit or non-profit) AD-3030, are considered non-responsive and eliminated from further consideration. Applications that do not include all required information, as described in the RFA, FNS-10-545A, and FNS-10-545B have points deducted during the evaluation process. Following the initial screening process, FNS may divide applications into two or more groups - based on whether they are submitted by individual organizations or partnerships, scope of proposed projects, and/or similar characteristics - so that similar applications may be compared against each other. FNS assembles panels to review and score each application based on technical merits. The panels evaluate the proposals based on how well they address the evaluation criteria described in the RFA. The panels recommend the highest scoring applications for grant awards. The Selecting Official reserves the right to award a grant based solely on scoring, but may also consider agency priorities, program balance, available funding, geographical representation, or project diversity. When considering whether to award a grant, FNS may request that proposed Project Narratives and/or Budgets documents be revised. FNS contacts applicants to negotiate these revisions. Alternatively, applicants may choose not to revise their project proposal. During past awards, the following criteria were used to evaluate applications for FMSSG funds: Goals/Purpose (12 points); Approach (40 points); Workplan; Personnel; Resources (Non-personnel resources, such as land, building, equipment, supplies, etc.); Sustainability; Partnerships; Budget (20 points); Impact (20 points); and whether the project activities take place in SNAP Priority areas (30 points);

Non-selected applicants may request a debriefing, outlining the strengths and weaknesses of their proposal.