Overview
NIFA hosted a listening session on December 4, 2023, to collect feedback, through oral and written comments, regarding all aspects of the Community Nutrition Competitive Grant Programs. These programs include:
- Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP),
- Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program (FASLP), and
- Community Foods Projects Competitive Grant Program (CFPCGP).
NIFA greatly appreciates the time and thoughts shared on Community Nutrition Competitive Grant Programs through this listening session, among other mediums.
We are using the feedback gathered to enhance program implementation, to improve future requests for applications, and to identify critical gaps in the community nutrition current portfolio of programs to advance food and nutrition security.
Information below summarizes the 2023 Community Nutrition Competitive Grant Programs Listening Session oral and written feedback from stakeholders. Thank you for your participation in the continual evolution of Community Nutrition Competitive Grant Programs. We look forward to continuing to work with you to foster innovative projects to improve the health and nutrition status of participating individuals and communities.
About the 2023 Community Nutrition Programs Listening Session
More than 300 grantees, applicants, or other interested parties from a variety of organizations registered for the December 4, 2023, Project Directors meeting where the listening session occurred. An additional 22 attendees joined online. Sixteen organizations gave oral comments during the meeting and four organizations provided written comments. These organizations included community nutrition practitioners, food outlet and clinic partners, past and present grantees, as well as other stakeholders new to incentive programs. All feedback was transcribed and analyzed using topic modeling and natural language processing. Graphical representation as well as a summary description of stakeholder feedback and input is provided below.
Common themes from the oral and written comments included future opportunities, financial requirements, successful models of programming and delivery, as well as program administration and application resources. The themes summary is the result of the analysts manually grouping all submitted comments (emails and the listening session) into categories.
Themes Summary
- Sustainability. The desire for GusNIP funding to be available that supports continuing operation of successful projects.
- Stakeholder Collaboration. Cross-program meeting opportunities, like jointly held Project Director meetings, are made available to grantees both in-person and virtually.
- Interagency Collaboration. Opportunities for collaboration within USDA and with other federal partners. Many noted the need to address barriers for some communities to apply for SNAP benefits.
- Accessibility. Increased support of translation and transportation services.
- Innovation. Expanding scope beyond nutrition incentives with potential focus on the soil-to-consumer segment of the food production system.
- Legislatively directed matching requirement for nutrition incentive projects. Potential applicants and grantees face challenges to meet the requirement that GusNIP nutrition incentive program applicants must provide a matching contribution on a dollar-for-dollar basis (7 U.S.C. 7517(b)(1)(C).
- Reimbursement grants. Smaller nonprofit organizations are disadvantaged by grants requiring cash for future reimbursement. Most NIFA grantees receive funds in advance. Continuing guidance and support for managing advanced payments is appreciated.
- Cap for Indirect Costs. Capping overhead costs to increase resources going directly to community.
- Boosting farmer income. Programs supporting the sale of fruits and vegetables in a variety of settings boost farmer income and support local economies.
- Reaching historically underserved communities. Community nutrition programs are serving vulnerable populations with technology and holistic, innovative approaches.
- Technical Assistance. Grateful for the resources available to all potential GusNIP applicants but request ongoing support for small organizations in the application process, acquiring matching funds and reporting impacts.
- Transparency. Request increased transparency with award prioritization, specifically regarding underrepresented geographies.
- Early Implementation. There are opportunities for supporting new grantees to boost nutrition incentive redemption rates.
Graphical Representation Based on the 2023 Community Nutrition Competitive Grant Programs Listening Session Written and Oral Commenters
The two graphical representations below (the natural language text clustering pie chart and the foam tree) were created using natural language processing and topic modeling based on word frequencies of all submitted comments (emails and the transcript of the listening session). The graphic highlights that nutrition incentive occurred 17 times and Grant occurred 14 times. Additional notable text clusters include, Fruits and Vegetables, Farmers Markets, Farm Bill and Redemption Rate.
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Learn more about the Community Nutrition Programs
The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) brings together stakeholders from various parts of the food and healthcare systems. The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program competitive grant programs are authorized under 7 U.S.C. 7517, for fiscal years 2019 through 2023 with mandatory...
The Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program is intended to increase knowledge of agriculture and improve the nutritional health of children, and to bring together stakeholders from the distinct parts of the food system to increase the capacity for food, garden, and nutrition education within...
The CFPCGP is intended to bring together stakeholders from distinct parts of the food system and to foster understanding of national food security trends and how they might improve local food systems. Understanding that people with low incomes experience disproportionate access to healthy foods...
Citation Community Nutrition Competitive Grant Programs Listening Session Analysis: National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Community Nutrition Competitive Grant Programs 2023 Listening Session Analysis, Kansas City, MO: US Department of Agriculture, NIFA; 2024, July