Overview

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 growth in annual funding from $45 million to $56 million to be appropriated over 5 years. The 2018 Farm Bill allows the Secretary to provide funding opportunities to conduct and evaluate projects providing incentives to income-eligible consumers to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables and prescriptions for fresh fruits and vegetables. By bringing together stakeholders from various parts of the food and healthcare systems, GusNIP projects help foster understanding to improve the health and nutrition status of participating households, facilitate growth in underrepresented communities and geographies, as well as collect and aggregate data to identify and improve best practices on a broad scale.  GusNIP includes three competitive grant programs, which are described briefly below:

GusNIP Competitive Grant Programs

1. Nutrition Incentive Program– develop and evaluate projects to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables by providing incentives at the point of purchase among income eligible consumers participating in the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands, in addition to income-eligible consumers participating in the USDA Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP) in Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands,
    
2. Produce Prescription Program– conduct projects that demonstrate and evaluate the impact of fresh fruit and vegetable prescriptions to increase procurement and consumption of fruits and vegetables, reduce individual and household food insecurity, and reduce healthcare usage and associated costs, and;
    
3. Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation, and Information Centers Cooperative Agreements– offer training, technical assistance, evaluation, and informational support services to potential applicants, nutrition incentive projects, produce prescription projects, and to GusNIP as a whole.

Eligibility

Applicants to GusNIP programs are encouraged to partner and collaborate broadly throughout the healthcare system and the food system.  Non-profit organizations and government agencies are eligible to apply for the GusNIP Nutrition Incentive Program and the GusNIP Produce Prescription Program.  
Eligibility to apply for the GusNIP Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation, and Information Centers cooperative agreements is limited to nongovernmental organizations, state cooperative extension services, region food systems centers, Federal, State or Tribal agencies, and institutions of higher education.  Cooperative agreement proposals are not invited every year.   

For further information, please visit:

• The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program RFA funding opportunity page
• The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program - Produce Prescription Program funding opportunity page

Resources for Applicants

• Produce Prescription RFA Resources 
• Nutrition Incentive RFA Resources 
• GusNIP Listening Session 
• GusNIP RFA Webinars
• GusNIP FAQs
• Core Metrics for Nutrition Incentive Projects
• Core Metrics for Produce Prescription Projects
• NTAE Technical Assistance Resources
• NTAE Reporting and Evaluation Resources 

Resources for Awardees

• NIFA Funding acknowledgement
• REEport Guide for Project Directors
• Core Metrics for Nutrition Incentive Projects
• Core Metrics for Produce Prescription Projects
• NTAE Technical Assistance Resources
• NTAE Reporting and Evaluation Resources
• USDA Healthy Food

News

• USDA NIFA Invests $40M to Improve Dietary Health and Reduce Food Insecurity
• USDA Announces Framework for Shoring Up the Food Supply Chain and Transforming the Food System to be Fairer, More Competitive, More Resilient
• GusNIP Projects Help Families Purchase Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
• Nutrition Security Webinar - GusNIP: Overview, Impacts & Opportunities
• Farmers Markets: Local Partners in the Nutrition Incentive Field
• USDA Invests $69 Million to Support Critical Food and Nutrition Security Needs
• USDA Invests More Than $330 Million in Specialty Crops Grants, Incentives to Purchase Fruits and Vegetables, and Help for Cotton Producers

Previously Funded Projects

• FY2019, FY2020, & FY2021 GusNIP Nutrition Incentive Projects
• FY2019, FY2020, & FY2021 GusNIP Produce Prescription Projects
• FY 2021 Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program COVID Relief and Response (GusCRR) Nutrition Incentive Projects
• FY 2021 Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program COVID Relief and Response (GusCRR) Produce Prescription Projects
• FY 2019 Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) Nutrition Incentive Program Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation and Information Center (NTAE)