What sort of projects would you suggest a brand new food council should consider?

• This funding is flexible and intended to support food councils accomplish their equity-based food work.  These are small grants and we do not want you to spend too much time on these applications. 
• Potential ideas include funding for:
  
  • coordinators or interns,
  • networking support,
  • field trips,
  • hosting community conversations,
  • training & professional development,
  • local foods promotion & marketing materials

Will mentoring or assistance with applications be available? 

• Yes, we are hosting two Virtual Office Hours for anyone to join the team for questions or consultation.  Contact us and we’ll add you to the calendar invite. Also, anyone at anytime is encouraged to contact your region leads directly or Gini Knight at gini_knight@ncsu.edu.
• Aug 10, 10:00-11:00am (add to calendar)
• Aug 18, 3:00 – 4:00pm (add to calendar)

Can we have several smaller projects instead of one large project?

• Sure, this is flexible funding. You are welcome to have multiple projects within your budget.  Food councils are open to crafting any type of proposal that will advance your council’s equity-based food work.

Are there differences in expectations for newly emerging food councils versus food councils that have been in existence for awhile?

• The expectations for all participants will be the same. All participants in these Shared Gifting Circles meet the same criteria and have been engaged with this network through workshops, gatherings, quarterly calls, or other opportunities. Newer councils will likely have different strategies for their work than food councils that have been doing this for many years.  Both groups can benefit from fresh and seasoned experience.

We will submit an application by August 30th, but can we refine the proposals and possibly change them during our collaboration time in October?

• Yes. We will encourage dialogue and feedback to each other’s proposals during the two half days together. We would be surprised if all the projects stay exactly the same after these two days of conversation. We are hoping this process will invite new connections and improvements to proposals.

Since an understanding of implicit bias is critical to equity-based work, how will an implicit bias lens be integrated into these projects? 

• As an entry point, we held lecturettes on implicit bias in the Shared Gifting Overview webinar and are encouraging all applicants to review the webinar and complete the Harvard Implicit Bias test. We ask about community engagement and alignment with Racial Equity principles in the application.  By holding these facilitated Shared Gifting Circles we will encourage conversation and count on each other to highlight each other’s biases and blind spots. 

When should the projects be completed?

• By the end of 2022

When will we receive the funding?

• Grants should be distributed by December 15, 2021. We’ll begin working with each food council right away to finalize paperwork in September.

How many food council members can attend?

• Councils should decide on two council members to attend both days and represent their food councils.  Youth-led food councils may have three council members attend. 

Can council members just attend one day?

• Food council applicants must attend both days to receive funding. Participating council members are expected to attend both days, and must attend Day 1 to participate in Day 2.

What will the actual decision making process look like? 

• Great question.  Our team has been coached by other experts across the nation in this process and will be using our best facilitation skills to help regions come to an agreement on how these funds will be distributed.  We will be working with an open Google Spreadsheet with each food council and their requested budget amounts.  Councils will enter the amounts they are willing to gift in two separate rounds.  Councils will share why they chose those amounts and what their reactions are to the amounts they received.

Given that our region has significant differences across our counties and food councils, how will this process work given that context? 

• It’s true that every city, town, county, and region is different with varying resources,  assets, and opportunities. Applicants in each Shared Gifting Circle will have a common passion for and goal of working towards food systems change.  The specific issues each food council is working on may be different, and their understanding and analysis of the issues may be different.  We are confident that all participants will have relevant and sufficient experience to be curious and ask helpful questions. As facilitators of the process, our team is also planning time to make sure participants have a good understanding of each other’s work before the funding process begins.  We also encourage all participants to read the proposals in advance to best understand the projects.

Are there incentives for collaborative projects? 

• There are no specific funding incentives for collaborative proposals. Although there are certainly benefits to collaborative projects such as leveraging more resources and staff, adding more brains to creative ideas, building working relationships with other councils, and others. We do encourage collaboration and are open to groups working with other councils on projects.  Given this process, it is up to the participants in each Shared Gifting region to decide where the funding goes. 

Are you envisioning that we may end up collaborating and building a bigger/collaborative project among two or more councils through this process? 

• Yes and no.  We don’t have an expectation that collaboration will happen on these specific projects or immediately, and that is a possibility. We are interested in seeing new collaborations and connections come out of these discussions and funding circles, particularly as you better understand each others’ work.