Food Safety Outreach Competitive Grant Program 2018 | USDA NIFA FSMA 006549

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA FSMA 006549

The Food Safety Outreach Competitive Grant Program 2018 is a discretionary grant opportunity administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Listed under CFDA 10.328 and identified by funding opportunity number USDA NIFA FSMA 006549, the program is part of the Food Safety Outreach Program (FSOP) for fiscal year 2018. It was created on April 17, 2018, with an application closing date of June 7, 2018. The funding instrument is a grant, and the maximum award amount (award ceiling) is $1,000,000.

The focus of this opportunity is to support practical, on-the-ground projects that develop and deliver food safety training, education, extension, outreach, and technical assistance. Rather than funding purely academic research, the program is aimed at helping people and businesses actually understand and implement food safety practices in real operational settings. The intent is to improve food safety readiness and compliance by building knowledge, providing guidance, and strengthening the capacity of smaller and historically underserved parts of the food system.

The target audiences are specifically defined as owners and operators of small to mid-sized farms, beginning farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers, small processors, and small fresh fruit and vegetable merchant wholesalers. In other words, the program is designed to reach groups that often have fewer resources for compliance support or may face barriers to accessing training and technical assistance. Projects supported through this program are expected to be tailored to the needs and circumstances of these groups, which can include differences in scale, language and literacy needs, geographic challenges, and varying levels of previous experience with food safety requirements.

Eligible applicants are broadly categorized as "Others," and the official announcement points applicants to Part III.A of the full notice for precise eligibility rules. In practice, this kind of NIFA outreach grant commonly involves institutions and organizations capable of delivering training and technical assistance at scale, such as extension services, universities, nonprofits, community-based organizations, and other entities with demonstrated capacity to reach the intended audiences. The key expectation is that applicants can credibly design and implement outreach and education activities that translate food safety standards into actionable steps for the people doing the farming, processing, and distribution work.

Overall, this 2018 FSOP funding opportunity is meant to expand access to high-quality food safety education and support, especially for smaller operations and underserved communities, by funding projects that provide targeted training programs and hands-on assistance. The ultimate goal is safer food handling and production practices across the supply chain segments that may otherwise struggle to access the same level of technical support as larger, better-resourced operations.

• The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Food Safety Outreach Competitive Grant Program 2018" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.328.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-04-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-06-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA NIFA FSMA 006549

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