Congratulations to 2019 Micro-grant Awardees!
Above photo: Warren County Local Foods Promotional Council hosted a Food Access Forum in October 2018 to engage the community and the Board of Commissioners in opportunities and solutions for improving healthy and local food access after the main full-service grocery store closed in Warrenton.
Congratulations are in order!!!
Community Food Strategies second round of micro-grants to local food councils were awarded this month! A huge thank you to our funding partners for the 2019 micro-grants, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and our Community Food Strategies partner, the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, who provided supplemental funding through support from The Whole Foods Market. We received 21 great applications and 17 were awarded micro-grant funds totaling $39,000 to support projects and programming for capacity building of North Carolina food councils.
We are excited to both support and learn from each of the 17 projects funded and look forward to sharing the connections, models, and practices each council creates through these place-based efforts. Watch for highlights of these food council awardees and the learnings that come from them this year. If your council is interested in applying for the Community Food Strategies micro-grants, we will be opening the next grant cycle in Quarter 3 of 2019. We hope you apply!
Download information about Community Food Strategies micro-grants.
Grant funds were allocated in alignment with these goals:
- Deepen the leadership capacity of food council members
- Expand the demographic diversity among food council leadership and membership to more fully represent the demographics of the community to which the council is accountable
- Strengthen the network of local food councils across NC
- Capture shared measurements of food council impacts
- Build civic engagement, racial equity frameworks, and food systems leadership in food council and community members
- Increase food sovereignty across NC communities, especially and foremost, those communities that are most affected by the existing challenges in the food system.
Again, congratulations to all of the following grantees! We look forward to your success stories.
2019 Micro-Grant Awardees
Asheville Buncombe Food Policy Council: This proposal seeks to support workshop follow up “thought group” sessions, address equity and representation by community members beyond food systems nonprofit and university staff, and execute ABFPC internal structure changes. ($2,500)
Beaufort County Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL): Micro-grant funds will be used to strengthen the food council’s network and the ongoing food environment assessment in Beaufort County by using a network mapping technique to identify contributors and their relationship to one another in the food system including growers, institutional buyers, supporting partner organizations, and consumers. ($3,000)
Caswell County Local Foods Council: Funding will support program manager for the Two Bite Club at the farmers market. The Two Bite Club will attract more customers to farmers market and introduce children to seasonal fruits and veggies. ($1,200)
Catawba County Food Council: Funding will help conduct an equity driven food system assessment integrated with the community health assessment. ($1,700)
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Food Policy Council: Funding will expand the current capacity of part-time director. ($2,500)
Davidson County Local Food Network: Funding will support the council’s visibility and relevance to increase stakeholder and community involvement. The project will promote existing community assets specifically in addressing food justice and access. ($3,100)
Durham Farm and Food Network: Funding will be used to raise awareness and capacity among general public and food policy councils to take action against sugar-sweetened beverages in North Carolina through racial equity lens, with Durham County Healthy Vending policy as a focal point. ($3,500)
Forsyth Foodworks: Funding will be used to ensure continuance of monthly local food networking meetings, improve coordination of green drinks events, and update website to maintain online presence. ($3,150)
Greater High Point Food Alliance (GHPFA): Funding will be used to support the fifth annual Food Security Summit, attracting multiple partners and 200+ attendees each year. ($2,000)
Just Foods Collaborative of Edgecombe and Nash Counties: Funding will support collaboration with Cooperative Extension to host fresh food fair, a farm-to-table dinner with Rocky Mount farmers market and community round table discussions in an effort to strengthen local food value chains, and spark investment from local businesses. ($3000)
Onslow County Food Council: This micro-grant will support conducting a baseline assessment to understand the needs and required resources to address growing food disparities in the county. ($1,500)
Pitt County Farm and Food Council: This micro-grant will support new staff to participate in the local food certificate program training. It also will assist with training council members on food system issues through attending local conferences. ($2,000)
Roanoke Valley Youth Food Council: Funding will support increased understanding of community assets and barriers to developing a community based healthy foods value system. It will support training of youth leaders in the development of a youth food council ($2,550)
ScotLand Grows: Funding will engage community in understanding the local food system and expand support through a series of public engagement events, including a farm tour and local food tasting events. ($2,000)
Warren County Local Foods Promotion Council: Funding will support engaging community members around issues of food access, SNAP/EBT at the farmers market, and roadside stands. ($1,300)
Watauga Food Council: Funding will be used to hire a part-time coordinator for the food council. The funding also will support our work with the Town of Boone and Watauga County to increase our understanding of assets and barriers related to local food access and consumption and to set policy priorities. ($2,500)
Youth Ambassadors for a Better Community (YABC) – Bladen County: Funding from the micro-grant will be used to increase awareness of food policy councils within rural communities of Bladen and Columbus Counties. It will assist with trainings, public forums, and community engagement events. ($1,500)
View more information about Community Food Strategies micro-grants.