Program Overview
This purpose of this the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Grant is to help early childhood education providers and after school programs access more Vermont grown and produced food. Successful applicants will receive a reimbursement grant to subsidize the cost of a community supported agriculture (CSA) share(s). Shares must be from a Vermont farm, or farm collaborative.
Grants of up to $1,500 are available. The grants will reimburse programs for 65-80% of the cost of a CSA or farm share, up to the maximum award amount. Applicants are required to cover the remaining 20-35% of the cost of the CSA or farm share using matching funds. As a reimbursement grant, successful applicants need to be prepared to purchase their CSA share(s) out-of-pocket as soon as they are notified that they are awarded a grant and prior to receiving grant payment.
This is a competitive grant opportunity and funding is not guaranteed. Applicants should not purchase their CSA share(s) until they are notified that their application has been approved for funding.
Read this CSA Grant Factsheet for a quick summary of the grant.
Applications closed on March 8, 2024. This grant will re-open in Winter/Spring 2025.
Eligibility
The following entities are eligible to apply for this competitive grant:
- Vermont registered or licensed early childcare providers
- Vermont licensed after school programs
- 21st Century Child Learning Center Programs
Previous CSA Grant recipients (2021-2023) are eligible and encouraged to re-apply with a slightly higher match requirement than first-time grantees.
How to Apply
- Download the full 2024 Community Supported Agriculture Request for Applications.
- Register for an account in WebGrants if you don't already have one. It can take two business days after registering to be able to submit an application.
- Apply in WebGrants using the WebGrants Application Guide by Friday March 8, 2024 at 11:59 PM.
FY24 CSA Grant Webinar
The Farm to School and Early Childhood Program hosted a webinar on February 13, 2024 for prospective CSA grant applicants. The webinar was recorded and is posted below.
Important Notes
Prior to beginning an application, applicants are encouraged to identify and contact their desired CSA provider and to register in WebGrants if they have not done so. A map of many of the State's CSA providers is available on NOFA-VT's website.
Applications must be submitted by the fiscal agent. For most organizations, the fiscal agent is the business owner, executive director, or business manager. This is a legal requirement, as the prospective grant agreement (a legal agreement with the State of Vermont) must be held with the organization bearing fiscal responsibility. Therefore, the fiscal agent is responsible for submitting the grant application, signing the grant agreement, and ensuring all terms of the grant agreement are met. Applications not submitted by the entity bearing fiscal responsibility will not be accepted.
Applicants that do not have a WebGrants account will need to create one by filling out and submitting the WebGrants Registration Form. It is critical that new WebGrants users allow enough time for their registration request to be processed as they will not be able to fill out or submit an application until their account is created. Applicants that fail to meet the submission deadline because they did not submit their registration request in time will not be considered for funding.