CONSULTANTS
Consultants Forum
We are building a collaborative network of Community Food Systems Consultants to increase connectivity, collaboration and opportunity among those with experience supporting community food systems development.
NAFSN defines a community food system consultant as a professional who contracts on projects designed to support and improve food systems work that is community-led.
NAFSN Leadership for this initiative in 2024 is led by Sagdrina Jalal of Atlanta, GA.
Sagdrina will host Learning Sessions for members of the Community Food Systems Consultants Forum in 2024:
Learning Session #1 - May 2024, RECORDING
Learning Session #2 - TBD
About Sagdrina Jalal:
As the founder of SageD Consulting and a consultant for Atlanta Leadership Consulting, Sagdrina delivers transformational experiences for executive teams, non-profit boards, and impact-driven professionals.
Her extensive food systems work includes serving as the founding Executive Director for the Georgia Farmers Market Association, a board member for the national Farmers Market Coalition, a Well-Being Impact Area Advisor for the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, and an advisor for Tuskegee University’s Organic Farming Project. In 2022, she collaborated with Black growers and farmers market leaders to curate the Anti-Racist Farmers Market Toolkit that is now utilized by farmers market leaders across the country.
Guideposts for this Work:
* NAFSN knows that the community food systems workforce requires unique skills, science-based knowledge, and trust-based networks.
* NAFSN acknowledges a disturbing dearth of community food systems consultants representing historically marginalized communities.
* NAFSN works with practitioners at all career points (emerging, transitional, seasoned) to help this workforce become better known, valued, and engaged in driving meaningful change.
* NAFSN leans toward newcomers, and values lived experiences, place-based knowledge, and activism as cornerstones of this profession.
* NAFSN recognizes the challenges that communities face in finding community food systems consultants who meet their needs, honor their cultures, and match their price points.
* NAFSN knows that there are really good tools out there that consultants can build upon and use in their work but may not be aware of.
Initiative 1: curate RFPs for community food systems development work throughout the US
Initiative 2: host learning sessions designed for community food systems consultants
Initiative 3: develop a referral system that requires recommendations from CBOs
REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS
11/20/2024
Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) seeks a marketing agency partner for the F3 Local Food Marketing Campaign.
CAFF is a California-based membership nonprofit organization that includes family farmers and other community members passionate about local food, farming, and the environment. CAFF’s mission is to build sustainable food and farming systems through policy advocacy and on-the-ground programs that create more resilient family farms, communities and ecosystems.
The Farm to Market Program within CAFF works with farmers, aggregators and direct wholesale buyers, as well as direct-to-consumer markets, to facilitate sales and help actors throughout the supply chain increase their capacity to connect local farmers to market channels.
Proposals due: December 18, 2024.
11/20/2024
Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) is a grassroots organization dedicated to supporting and advocating for family farmers, ranchers, agricultural workers, and rural communities in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming.
RMFU is seeking a Government Relations Advocate (contract lobbyist) to support their advocacy work in Wyoming. The Government Relations Advocate may be based anywhere in Wyoming but is expected to attend the Wyoming Legislature in Cheyenne during its legislative session and interim committee meetings throughout the state.
The independent contractor will work for and represent RMFU and its members. The successful candidate will be responsible for leading lobbying efforts in the state of Wyoming and will be guided by the RMFU Wyoming Policy adopted annually by its members in the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Policy.
Proposals due: November 22, 2024.
11/19/2024
The Lake Champlain Sea Grant program has announced a Request for Proposals (RFP) for research projects aimed at supporting applicable research in and for the Lake Champlain Basin.
The RFP invites applications from researchers who address one or more of our focus areas: healthy coastal ecosystems, resilient communities, environmental literacy and workforce development, and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture.
All projects must include 50% non-federal matching funds.
Letters of intent due: February 14, 2025.
11/11/2024
Land For Good (LFG) is seeking a fundraising and development coach/consultant to help identify opportunities for income stream diversification, and provide professional development for relevant staff & board. The plans co-developed by the coach/consultant and LFG team will support LFG’s new strategic direction, which calls to diversify both programming and funding streams.
Land For Good’s (LFG) mission is to expand secure, just, and equitable farmland access. Land For Good is seeking an experienced nonprofit consultant to help identify areas of opportunity and growth in fundraising and development knowledge and skills.
Ideally, the coach/consultant and relevant staff/board will collaborate to create a robust development plan for 2025-2028.
Responses received by December 1 are preferred.
SEE RFP
11/6/2024
Alaska Food Policy Council (AFPC) is soliciting proposals from firms to provide audit services. Alaska Food Policy Council advocates, connects, and informs to strengthen food systems for all Alaskans. AFPC receives approximately $650,000 - $1.5 million annually in revenue through its programs and projects and has a staff of 5-6 employees. AFPC’s fiscal year is concurrent with the calendar year. Its website is www.akfoodpolicycouncil.org with a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
The audit is to be conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards (GAAP) and Government Auditing Standards (GAS) issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. This is the organization’s first audit, and AFPC will undergo the audit process for the following four years.
Proposals due: November 30, 2024
11/5/2024
Black Farmer Fund seeks a development and fundraising consultant to support a capital raise for the organization's "BFF Fund 2.0." BFF Fund 2.0 is a $20 million integrated capital fund that was launched in March 2023. The pool of funding provides Black agricultural and food businesses in the Northeast with grants, patient debt capital, and technical assistance to optimize their growth potential and social impact. This new fund allows for deeper investment in entrepreneurs, with checks up to $500,000 per business. The integrated capital model includes $10 million in investor capital and $10 million of grant capital.
This Request for Proposal (RFP) will focus on the remaining grant capital raise, as the investor capital is complete. At the time of this request, BFF has approximately $7.8 million to raise. BFF seeks a consultants to lead the raise for 75% of the remaining amount to raise at the time of hire, and would be expected to handle gifts from prospect to close. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of raising six figures and above gifts, extensive experience in all aspects of fundraising, with particular expertise in corporate giving.
Proposals due: no date listed
11/5/2024
Oregon Community Food System Network (OCFSN) convenes a statewide working group of Veggie Rx programs and other nutrition and food access operators who are interested in becoming providers of these health-related social need (HRSN) benefits. OCFSN has received Community Capacity Building Funding (CCBF) from EOCCO and Trillium to support convening, facilitation, training, and support to manage all aspects of the Health Related Social Needs (HRSN) Food Provider Statewide Learning Collaborative.
To help better serve all Oregonians access healthy foods, OCFSN is looking to contract for services to deliver on the Scope of Work. The selected service provider will report to the OCFSN Executive Director of Network Development and work closely with the OCFSN Veggie Rx Steering Committee.
Proposals due: November 22, 2024
11/5/2024
Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) is a Community Development Financial Institution that works to build a more equitable economy by growing good jobs, livelihoods and diverse business ownership, while advancing a just transition to a climate-resilient future. CEI is currently looking for consultant proposals to support the Maine Agriculture, Food System, and Forest Products Infrastructure Investment Fund.
For questions and proposal submission, reach out to Bradley Russell, Director of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems at Bradley.Russell@ceimaine.org.
Proposals due: November 15, 2024
10/30/2024
Mississippi Delta Council for Farm Workers Opportunities (MDC/FWOI), a minority-founded and -run non- profit in Clarksdale, MS, seeks to hire a Communications Coordinator.
MDC/FWOI will lead the Delta Regional Food Business Center to deliver Grow Delta, Feed Delta, Buy Delta. Serving disadvantaged, minority producers, processors, and intermediaries, we will increase agricultural business knowledge, success, and resilience – from farm gate through retail– serving 5 states – Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Eastern Texas. We will organize producers and processors into ~25 clusters of 4-6 counties each while engaging intermediaries to access urban markets from St. Louis to New Orleans and from Dallas to Atlanta.
MDC/FWOI seeks to contract with a communications firm or individual to coordinate, monitor, and execute ongoing communications projects, for approximately 40 hours per week on average (depending on agency needs and hourly costs). The services will be accessed by all departments within MDC/FWOI. Communication outreach services are needed for projects such as website building, social media profiles, digital and print newsletters and brochures, and online content. Bidder shall be versatile in using graphic design tools for both print and digital media.
Proposals due: October 31, 2024
10/22/2024
The Foundation for Food & Agriculture (FFAR) seeks to contract a Soil Health Project Evaluation Consultant. FFAR seeks to evaluate the success of the Soil Health Institute project, Assessing and Expanding Soil Health for Production, Economic and Environmental Benefits. The evaluator, in collaboration with FFAR, will define criteria and standards of success. It is important for the evaluator to capture how project outputs have influenced the agriculture value chain and/or informed policy development.
FFAR welcomes applications from individuals or teams with experience in soil health and soil microbiology and any of the following expertise to apply:
- Plant health
- Econometrics
- Evaluative methods
If beneficial to the success of the evaluation process, FFAR may match one or more individuals into a team.
Proposals due: November 15, 2024
10/19/2024
The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) Nutrition Services Division, through its U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Non-Competitive Farm to School State Formula Grant is seeking proposals from qualified responders to contract with and oversee 4 to 6 Regional Local Food Connectors (RLFC) to conduct targeted programmatic activities that are place-based and community-specific. Specific regions are statewide and include Northwest, Northeast, Central, Metro (7 counties), Southwest, and Southeast regions, as defined by the MN Employment and Economic Development Department.
The focus of the Farm to School State Formula Grant is to support state agency efforts to implement and expand farm to school and early care activity among institutions participating in Child Nutrition Programs, 1) to build and increase the capacity of participating institutions to procure and use local food in program meals; 2) to provide agricultural education opportunities for participating children.
Responses must be submitted in the eSupplier portal of SWIFT.
Proposals due: November 7, 2024
10/10/2024
Grow Pittsburgh is seeking a qualified grant writing consultant or firm to assist in the preparation and submission of grant applications. Their primary focus is to increase fundraising capacity by securing governmental funding, particularly from agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PA Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED) and other federal and state entities that support urban agriculture, climate resilience efforts, community and economic development, and food access in underserved communities.
Grow Pittsburgh anticipates needing grant writing services to pursue up to 6 federal, state, and other governmental grant opportunities per calendar year, as well as apply to as many as 15 private foundation and/or corporate grant opportunities that exceed their in-house development staff capacity.
Proposals due: October 25, 2024
10/2/2024
The Center for Rural Studies at the University of Vermont (UVM) seeks applications for an experienced podcast producer to edit and produce a limited series of podcasts. The podcast is a deliverable of a cooperative agreement between the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and UVM.
The topic of the podcasts is related to Food Hub Manager Roles. The source material is a series of recordings and transcripts of interviews conducted by CRS with food hub operators and experts and aligned with an educational toolkit.
The consultant will work with the UVM and USDA teams to edit and produce approximately four podcast episodes, each approximately 30-60 minutes in length, on various topics of operations.
Proposals due: November 10, 2024
9/27/2024
RiseBoro's Worker Cooperative Development team has released an RFP for a strategic planning consultant.
As part of the Central Brooklyn Food Democracy Project, RiseBoro launched its cooperative development work in 2019 with the goal of incubating 6 Black-owned worker cooperatives in the food industry that would do business with each other and the Central Brooklyn Food Coop, among other clients. They have reached that goal, currently providing technical assistance and incubation support to 6 co-ops in market-building, financial education, conflict management and more.
As they and the worker-owned cooperatives support growth into the next chapter of their work, they are seeking to ground their initiatives in the needs, desires and goals of cooperators in their network.
The consultant will:
Lead a collaborative co-op engagement process that helps clarify what Black worker-owner leadership should look like in their cooperative development work, and
Co-design and lead a strategic planning process that helps clarify the role and goals of RiseBoro’s cooperative development initiatives over the next 5 years
Proposals due: October 18, 2024
SEE RFP
9/24/2024
The Oregon Farm to Institution Collaborative (OFIC), of which Health Care Without Harm is a founding member, seeks to engage a communications consultant to support the building of a communications strategy, brand identity and communications assets and materials.
Health Care Without Harm (the fiscal agent for the grant that funds the Oregon Farm to Institution Collaborative) seeks to transform health care worldwide so the sector reduces its environmental footprint and becomes a community anchor for sustainability and leader in the global movement for environmental health and justice. Working closely with Health Care Without Harm, Practice Greenhealth is the leading sustainable health care organization, delivering environmental solutions to more than 1,700 hospitals and health systems in the United States and Canada.
Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) and Practice Greenhealth are committed to seeking and sustaining culturally and ethnically diverse organizations, and to the principles that promote inclusive practices. They are dedicated to not only building a diverse staff, but also a diverse set of consultants and partners with expertise and interest in serving the mission of the organizations in respectful ways. Health Care Without Harm believes that our work can only be transformed when a diversity of voices, perspectives, and lived experiences are a part of the movement for change. We strongly encourage consultants and organizations that represent BIPOC and LGBTQ communities to apply.
Proposals due: October 4, 2024
9/12/2024
Agrarian Trust requests proposals from qualified applicants for a renewable contract for grant writing services. The initial project duration is an estimated 3 to 6 months and entails working with their remote team to write and submit approximately 3 to 4 grants to federal agencies and/or foundations.
Agrarian Trust catalyzes support for next-generation farmers by working with communities to acquire and steward land for equitable access, cultural reconnection, regenerative agriculture, and ecological restoration.
Agrarian Trust is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to expanding community ownership of farmland, developing legal tools, and fundraising to help communities hold land and lease to next-generation farmers on a long term, affordable basis. The Agrarian Commons is their flagship initiative, working with communities across the U.S. to acquire and steward farmland.
Proposals due: September 30, 2024
9/12/2024
Agrarian Trust requests proposals from qualified applicants for a website design consulting services contract to work with their remote team to redesign their website.
Agrarian Trust catalyzes support for next-generation farmers by working with communities to acquire and steward land for equitable access, cultural reconnection, regenerative agriculture, and ecological restoration.
This work will primarily entail:
- assisting Agrarian Trust’s Communications Manager and team with redesigning their website to ensure that their educational materials and legal resources are easily accessible;
- Improving their ability to communicate via their website to advance their mission of achieving secure, long-term land tenure for next-generation farmers.
They aim to redesign their website with the following objectives:
- improve navigation and user experience, especially for accessing educational materials and legal resources;
- ensure accessibility and compliance with ADA guidelines;
- enhance the website’s visual appeal, ensuring that it aligns with organizational identity;
- optimize the website for mobile devices and improve site speed;
- integrate content management systems (CMS) for easy updates and maintenance by staff.
- incorporate SEO best practices to increase searchability of resources.
Proposals due: September 30, 2024
9/12/2024
Agrarian Trust seeks legal consultant to support collective & commons-based agricultural land ownership.
Agrarian Trust requests proposals from qualified applicants for a 12-month, renewable, legal consulting services contract to work with their remote team on a multi-year project focused on collective and commons-based approaches to land and farm ownership.
Agrarian Trust was recently awarded a 5-year federal grant from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency through the new Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program. They have active projects and multiple agreements in effect that can be drawn on for new projects.
Their grant-funded project seeks to create and strengthen land access with additional opportunities to focus on capital access and market access for use in agriculture on a mid-size national landscape. With collaborators, they seek to secure long-term access and tenure and mitigate land loss. Many of their collaborating organizations are led by underserved farmers of color and are composed of multi-racial coalitions of community members.
Proposals due: September 22, 2024
9/10/2024
Ecotrust seeks a program consultant to support its three-year Equity in Urban Ag project. As a part of this engagement with Ecotrust, the consultant will:
provide a detailed scope of work and staffing plan for this work following a scoping meeting with Ecotrust team;
meet with the project’s two program managers up to two times a month (hybrid, in person and/or virtual) to support the development of and planning of workshops and technical assistance;
provide at least 60 urban farmers with culturally-relevant technical assistance on climate friendly farming practices;
work closely with the Equity in Urban Ag project team to develop and co-lead at least 6 climate-smart workshops. The workshops will be held in person, in the Portland metro area (Oregon), and scheduled in 2025-2026 outside of the growing season (during the months of Jan-Mar & Oct-Dec). In early 2025, Ecotrust will host community listening sessions to inform the development of these workshops.
Proposals due: September 20, 2024.
9/09/2024
Chef Ann Foundation (CAF) is seeking proposals from qualified consulting firms or individuals to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of K-12 purchasing cooperatives and/or buying groups in the state of California. The purpose of this analysis is to better understand the current state, operations, challenges, and opportunities within these cooperatives (co-ops) to inform strategic planning and program design for CAF’s new Environmentally Conscious Procurement (ECP) initiatives in California, New Mexico and Arizona.
Purchasing cooperatives and buying groups play a critical role in K-12 food service by allowing school districts to pool resources, leverage collective buying power, and secure better pricing and terms from suppliers. In California, where school districts range in size, demographics, and needs, understanding the procurement landscape is essential for designing environmentally conscious, values-aligned regional co-operatives, ensuring equitable access to high-quality food, and enhancing overall efficiency in school nutrition programs.
Through this Request for Proposal, CAF seeks to identify a consultant that will conduct a comprehensive needs assessment and draft a roadmap for how and where to establish regional, scalable, and replicable, values-aligned purchasing cooperatives and/or buying groups for the benefit of K-12 school districts participating in the National School Lunch Program in California.
Proposals due: September 24, 2024
9/05/2024
Berkshire Agricultural Ventures was founded as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2017 by a group of community members who saw the beautiful natural landscape and rolling farmlands of the Berkshires as a treasure meant to be preserved for generations. BAV’s founding members believed that by establishing access to flexible financial and technical resources, farmers and local food businesses alike would have the opportunity to grow and in turn build a thriving economy centered around local food production.
Berkshire Agricultural Ventures (BAV) is seeking a consultant or consulting firm that will work with their staff and board to develop a strategic plan that will:
Articulate their mission, vision, and goals in a way that can be easily communicated to the communities they serve.
Identify ways to increase equity and diversity in all aspects of their work.
Identify and assess internal and external factors affecting organizational growth and sustainability
Set clear, actionable objectives and strategies.
Create a roadmap for implementation and evaluation that will be adaptable to evolving community needs, and is a living document that can be used regularly. This will be the first strategic plan that BAV has undertaken.
Proposals due September 25th.
8/30/2024
Nature for Justice (N4J) is requesting applications from outreach consultants to expand their US Farmer Inclusion Program throughout North Carolina and Virginia by connecting to Latino/a and Indigenous farmers.
Nature For Justice was founded in 2020 to harness nature-based solutions for climate justice — creating projects with communities as true partners and long-term value for both people and nature. Their US Farmer Inclusion program has three goals:
- Support a self-sufficient network of BIPOC farmers and trusted partners.
- Ensure BIPOC farmers lead the way in a national movement toward regenerative practices.
- Reverse the historic trend of losing BIPOC farms and begin to grow the number of BIPOC farmers.
The Farmer Inclusion program is looking to increase the diversity of their farmer networks by developing connections with Latino/a and Indigenous farmers and enrolling them in their program. They seek outreach consultants with connections to Indigenous as well as Latino/a communities in North Carolina and Virginia.
Consultants should be available from the end of September 2024 - August 2025. Consultants should be available approximately 5-12 hours each week. They are expecting each consultant to receive approximately $8,000-$10,000 over the course of a year for $30 - $35 / hour.
Applications due August 31, 2024.
8/28/2024
The Center for Nutrition & Health Impact (CNHI) seeks clinical partners for implementing nutrition security screening in clinical settings.
This funding opportunity will provide two clinical partners with $25,000 to design and implement a nutrition and food insecurity screening and referral system. Funded sites will partner with the CNHI who will lead a robust, mixed methods evaluation of the screening and referral pilots. This initiative is being led by CNHI with support from the American Heart Association (AHA).
The overarching goals of this initiative are to validate a nutrition insecurity screening tool for use in clinical settings, define and develop approaches for screening for both nutrition insecurity and food insecurity in clinical settings, determine adequate and appropriate referral pathways for individuals experiencing food and nutrition insecurity, and provide recommended implementation strategies for healthcare systems wanting to include nutrition security screening as part of their HRSN screening approach. It is anticipated that combined food and nutrition insecurity screening will allow funded clinical sites to better identify patients at risk of diet-related chronic disease and improve referral systems to better navigate patients with unmet needs to appropriate resources.
Share your intent to apply via their Qualtrics survey by August 30, 2024.
8/26/2024
The HEAL Food Alliance is currently accepting proposals for a Website Developer.
HEAL is a national multi-sector, multi-racial coalition of 43 organizations. They are led by their members, who represent over 2 million rural and urban farmers, ranchers, fishers, farm and food chain workers, Indigenous groups, scientists, public health advocates, policy experts, community organizers, and activists. Together, these groups are building a movement to transform our food and farm systems from the current extractive economic model towards community control, care for the land, local economies, meaningful labor, and healthful communities nationwide, while supporting the sovereignty of all living beings.
They want healfoodalliance.org to be the go-to resource for HEAL Food Alliance members, allies, and supporters to learn about and engage with their members, their shared work, and their solutions for changing the current policies that shape this country’s food and farm systems. They want to creatively showcase content (blog posts, press releases, member stories, toolkits, news) so that users can easily take action and utilize the resources on their website.
Proposals due September 3, 2024.
8/23/2024
The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) seeks to evaluate the success of the Food Loss & Food Waste (FLFW) portfolio. The evaluator, in collaboration with FFAR, will define criteria and standards of success. FFAR has established relevant technology readiness levels (TRLs) that the evaluator will use to track innovation within each value chain segment — post-harvest, retail and household — as applicable. Additionally, it’s important for the evaluator to capture how funded projects influenced consumer behavior, improved food access and food security and/or informed policy development.
FFAR envisions a summative portfolio evaluation of 12 funded projects and one consortium to assess if research needs were met. They foresee the evaluator using a mixed methods approach, which includes qualitative analyses (such as surveys, interviews and focus groups) and quantitative analyses (including to the extent possible evaluating the most cost-effective outputs from funded research).
Proposals should be submitted as a Portable Document Format (PDF) via email to cgambino@foundationfar.org with the subject line FLFW Portfolio Evaluation Proposal.
FFAR welcomes individuals or teams with food systems and evaluative methods expertise and of the following expertise to apply: food science, value chain and/or econometrics. If beneficial to the success of the evaluation process, FFAR may match one or more individuals into a team.
Proposals due: September 16, 2024.
8/15/2024
Health Care Without Harm has issued a Request for Proposal for a Value Chain Coordination Specialist Consultant.
Health Care Without Harm (the fiscal agent for the grant that funds the Oregon Farm to Institution
Collaborative) seeks to transform health care worldwide so the sector reduces its environmental footprint and becomes a community anchor for sustainability and leader in the global movement for environmental health and justice. Working closely with Health Care Without Harm, Practice Greenhealth is the leading sustainable health care organization, delivering environmental solutions to more than 1,700 hospitals and health systems in the United States and Canada.
Term of Project: September 2024 - September 2025.
Location: Virtual, some in-person, preferably based in the Pacific Northwest.
Deadline for Application: August 30, 2024
8/15/2024
Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) Nutrition Services (NS) in Minnesota is seeking a consultant to help with its Grow Our Own (GROW) school garden program. Length of contract dependent on
fulfillment of permanent position.
Scope of Work:
Provide gardening technical assistance to schools, educators and garden leads.
Support and ensure successful garden installations at three schools (Washington
Technology Magnet, Nokomis North Montessori and Txuj Ci HMong Upper Campus)
Implementation of Garden Lead Program
Work with principals to identify potential garden leads.
Present FAQ’s and get educators signed up as garden lead.
Lead once a month meeting for garden leads.
Assist garden in building their school’s garden team.
Design creation process for and begin to create garden Grab & Go lessons.
Work with Office of Teaching and Learning on requirements and process.
Identify and finalize list of lesson topics (list has been started).
Start to create Grab & Go lessons for SeeSaw.
Create brief how to use lessons instructions for teachers and educators.
Proposals due: Not Listed
8/01/2024
Mill City Farmers Market & Charitable Fund (MCFM & CF) in Minnesota is now accepting proposals to provide strategic planning services for their organization starting in December 2024 with anticipated completion no later than July 2025.
The Mill City Farmers Market, a 501c4 organization, and the Mill City Farmers Market Charitable Fund, a 501c3 charitable and grant-making organization for a more just local and sustainable food system, together are embarking on a strategic planning process to help guide the 18 year old organization into its next chapter of strategic growth, innovation, and impact. They seek a partner to lead a process that produces a clear, compelling strategic plan to guide the organization over the next three years. They understand that this work will include board, staff, and external stakeholders.
Proposals due: September 20, 2024
7/31/2024
The Soil Health Institute (SHI) is a sub-awardee (Prime Grant Agreement NR233A750004G016) in a USDA-NRCS Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant led by Truterra, LLC. Under the award, SHI is participating in a unique farm-level study of the long-term adoption of soil health-advancing practices on working farmlands spanning from the Great Plains across the Midwestern prairies and including the Southeastern United States, which includes federal fire ant quarantine zones. SHI is seeking external soil sampling vendors which can operate in the regions of interest.
This request for proposals (RFP) is to solicit vendors to perform sampling and shipping soil health samples from agricultural fields. The full project anticipates approximately 6,000 soil samples distributed across the Midwest, Great Plains, and Southeast United States with sampling occurring between February and April of 2025, 2026, and 2027.
Final Proposal Submission Deadline: August 14, 2024
7/30/2024
Environmental Defense Fund seeks an analytical and experienced consultant to develop and run a modelling approach to inform a case study for the food and beverage corporates to understand climate change’s impact on their business and how to build resilient supply chains going forward.
The objective of this work is to assess climate risks and opportunities to drive food and agriculture companies towards the right adaptation mechanisms for their supply chains, including alternative crop mixes, identify risk management strategies, such as ingredient switching, and share insights to agriculture sector stakeholders.
Scope of Work: The consultant will work with the EDF team to leverage industry connections, climate models, academic literature, knowledge databases, and other relevant resources to develop modelling tools for assessing climate risks and costs to food and agriculture companies that source from corn and soy systems in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.
This will include:
1. Support EDF in confirming climate scenarios and time horizons relevant for food and agriculture companies sourcing corn and soy and food ingredient and animal feed by-products from the Corn Belt and UMRB.
2. Select a modeling approach to stress corn and soy production in the selected time horizon using the climate scenario weather (temperature, precipitation, freeze dates, wind speeds) outputs.
3. Collaborate with EDF Corporate Advisory group to identify supplier sourcing data to stress using the climate and crop production modeling results.
4. Model changes in revenue, cost, profit and capital expenses associated with physical climate impacts on corn and soybean production.
5. Develop a report synthesizing the objectives, methods, results, risk management implications and three to five recommendations from the climate risk assessment.
6. Develop an internal slide deck for EDF communicating the key takeaways, and implications related to alternative crops and crop switching/ingredient swapping opportunities for supply chain company off-takers.
Proposals due: August 9, 2024
7/25/2024
The Wayne County (Michigan) Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services (HHVS) is seeking proposals from qualified vendors to implement the Fresh Produce Access Program through the deployment of Well Wayne Fresh Trucks,— mobile grocery stores, aimed at combating food insecurity and enhancing access to fresh produce across Wayne County.
Food insecurity affects 13.8% of Wayne County residents, with uneven distribution and limited availability of fresh produce exacerbating the issue. The Well Wayne Fresh Truck program seeks to address this challenge by providing easy access to fresh produce, healthy recipes, and nutrition education. The Well Wayne Fresh Truck initiative aims to promote healthier eating habits and enhance food access in Wayne County by deploying mobile grocery stores to areas that are considered high-traffic and/or food deserts.
Proposal deadline: August 6, 2024
7/17/2024
Quality Care for Children, Inc. is a nonprofit organization in Georgia that is seeking the creation of a new website that will used as a tool to help teachers, cooks, and administrators in a child care setting.
Background: QCC has a mission is to create a system that equips families and child care providers with the knowledge and resources to nurture and educate Georgia’s infants and young children. QCC has been a leader in Georgia’s Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) movement since 2017, working directly with over 60 programs to improve food quality, implement nutrition education, and build teaching gardens.
Farm to ECE is an evidence-based strategy that provides a framework for helping child care programs support healthy eating habits and nutrition equity for the children and families they serve. Other benefits include supporting local farmers, economies, and communities. Georgia has a strong Farm to ECE coalition of stakeholders who have developed resources; however, resources are scattered across many organization websites making it difficult for child care providers to access what they need. Additionally, there is no central website location that locates and features the many locations that are doing Farm to ECE at a licensed child care site. Our Eat Learn Grow Georgia website will solve this.
Goal: Create an easy-to-navigate website for child care teachers (providers) that serves as a onestop shop for Farm to ECE resources.
Proposal deadline: August 1, 2024
7/17/2024
The Climate Collaborative, a 501c3 nonprofit, is seeking proposals from qualified firms or individuals that can provide community management and facilitation services in support of their Regenerative Transition Community of Practice for CPGs.
Enabling pre-competitive collaboration is one of the key pillars of work in support of their mission to set the bar for rigorous climate action and inspire industry-wide climate commitments within the natural products industry. This community of practice will provide a peer network to build capacity and capability in support of regenerative supply chain transition, monthly working sessions with experts in the field, the ability to track progress on agriculture initiatives, and the opportunity to share insights gleaned from the community of practice with the industry. With 26% of global GHG emissions coming from food production, the Climate Collaborative works with stakeholders from throughout the food system to support their critical engagement in climate advocacy.
Proposal deadline: August 6, 2024
7/05/24
Health Care Without Harm seeks a Research Consultant for its Food is Medicine (FIM) Project.
Health Care Without Harm’s Scaling Food is Medicine (FIM) in Health Care Across the Northeast Region is a three-year project that seeks to assess the state of and opportunity for values-aligned food procurement and practices in food is medicine programs. Health Care Without Harm uses values aligned to define practices that consider criteria beyond lowest cost, such as local economic impact, environmental sustainability, and supply chain diversity, when evaluating procurement and operational practices.
Background: Food is medicine programs (medically tailored meals, therapeutic meals, medically tailored groceries, and fruit and vegetable prescription programs) have gained traction with the increased understanding of the potential for these interventions to influence health outcomes, health care costs, and health care utilization. As food is medicine programs continue to grow and become institutionalized, there is a need to understand the potential social and economic impact of these programs.
Proposal deadline: July 8, 2024
7/02/24
Crop Trust seeks an Interpersonal Communication and Delegation Trainer for the Building Opportunities for Lesser-known Diversity in Edible Resources (BOLDER) project.
Crop Trust is organizing an inception workshop to foster collaboration among project partners and to inform them about the tools and expectations regarding reports preparation and use of funds. This workshop is essential to ensure that all partners are aligned with the project objectives, methodologies, and administrative requirements.
The primary objective of this consultancy is to design and deliver engaging sessions on effective delegation and interpersonal communication.
Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications to the procurement office by sending an email and attaching all requirements to: procurement
Only emails sent solely to: procurement
Deadline: July 12, 2024
7/02/24
The Environmental Defense Fund and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy are collaborating with stakeholders across the dairy value chain and in the financial sector to identify financing needs and opportunities associated with the implementation of on-farm practices and technologies that will improve sustainability outcomes (e.g., methane reduction, soil health improvements, manure management, etc.) in the dairy sector.
We are now seeking a consultant to support us in collecting these insights and developing a business-facing dairy sustainability finance opportunities report. We anticipate the report will loosely follow the structure of the Field to Market report, "Financial Innovations to Accelerate Sustainable Agriculture: Blueprints for the Value Chain." It can also build from the information in the report "The role of manure management in supporting net zero goals in the dairy sector."
Potential sections of a dairy-specific resource are:
• Overview of dairy farm sustainability opportunity areas and financial barriers to adoption
• Overview of agricultural lenders and other important financial actors and their target dairy customer segments
• Financing solutions (blueprints and/or use cases) for sustainability solutions/technologies (e.g. solid-liquid separators, digesters, etc.) by farm size and geography
• Financing solutions (blueprints and/or use cases) for dairy cooperatives and processors that facilitate on-farm sustainability solutions
• Discussion of how collaboration can occur across the value chain and with the finance sector to generate financial solutions and pilot those solutions.
The goal of this report is to offer a pre-competitive resource for both the dairy sector and finance sector to foster greater collaboration on financial solutions and bring pilots to life.
Respond to: Erin Leonard, Environmental Defense Fund Contact: eleonard@edf.org
Proposal deadline: July 12, 2024
6/27/24
The City of Commerce City, CO, is soliciting proposals from qualified applicants for Innovative Strategies to Promote Food Equity, to identify needs, solicit community feedback, and ultimately provide suggestions for the ideal format for a food equity program. The City’s goal is to create an equitable and sustainable local food system in Commerce City, primarily one that focuses on those most impacted by food and health inequities: Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), immigrants, refugees, people with low incomes, youth, and elders.
The purpose of this RFP is to identify existing barriers to equitable food through a needs assessment, meet with community members and partners to identify partnership opportunities, develop an outline for an equitable food program, and provide as more fully detailed in the Scope of Services section of this RFP. Respondents should have demonstrated experience and expertise in food equity, specifically in the areas identified in the RFP, a track record of successful food management planning and experience working with communities in need.
The City intends to execute a contract(s) with an anticipated notice to proceed around August 12, 2024.
Questions regarding RFP requirements must be received by Alex Van Zante in writing at -avanzante@c3gov.com by 5:00 p.m. MT on Friday, July 12, 2024.
Proposal deadline: Friday, August 02, 2024
6/25/24
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), Division of Health and Wellness (H&W) seeks a contractor to develop and execute a comprehensive third-party process and outcome evaluation of the DC Farm to School Program with the goal of using evaluation findings to increase the amount of local food served in Child Nutrition Programs (CNPs).
OSSE is seeking market research quotes on the following activities to be delivered between September 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025:
- Conduct a third-party process and outcome evaluation of DC Farm to CNP. This includes the review and synthesis of all consolidated Farm to CNP data, local procurement and agricultural education efforts and interviews.
- Develop a written report based on the findings of the evaluation, consolidation of the existing Farm to CNP data, and interviews with relevant stakeholders.
- Host at least four informational sessions. Each meeting will present key findings from the study and will highlight recommendations for the next steps tailored to the audience.
Interested contractors should provide an estimated itemized budget that includes the required activities, anticipated hours and estimated cost.
Proposal deadline: Friday, June 28, 2024
6/19/24
Birdsign Consulting is hiring a remote part time grant writing/food system consultant.
Basic details:
* $22.75-$35.00 hour to start (depends on experience)
* 10-12 hour a week
* English/Spanish bilingual preferred
We are a small business that specializes in grant writing and food systems projects. We are looking for a dependable person with an eye for detail. We seek employees who are willing to receive training, are capable of working independently and also enjoy working on a team. Work is remote, employee and business owner set work schedule collaboratively. Send resume and cover letter letting us know why you are a good fit for this position.
Application closed: July 23, 2024.
6/18/24
Mobile Market Coalition seeks proposals for web developers to help redesign the Mobile Market Coalition website, with a focus on redesigning and improving the user experience in the Veggie Van Toolkit. Timeline = the rest of 2024. Budget = $20-25k.
Proposals due: July 10.
6/16/24
The Food Trust seeks an evaluator to conduct an impact evaluation of Cooking Matters’ new curriculum, Cooking Matters Core.
Cooking Matters Core is designed to help organizations and implementers reach individuals, caregivers and families with dynamic content about purchasing and preparing delicious, nutritious foods. The evaluation will test Cooking Matters Core’s impact on purchasing and preparing foods that meet nutrition, budget, and personal needs.
Send proposals and questions to: Heidi Gorniok at hgorniok@thefoodtrust.org with subject line Cooking Matters Core Evaluation: [Insert Organization Name]
Desired start date: July 15, 2024 Desired completion date: September 30, 2025
Proposals due: June 28, 2024
6/10/24
National Young Farmers Coalition is in search of a contracting consultant to support the development of a formalized system of contracting, contractor, and vendor approval at the Coalition. The person or team providing these services will be asked to be an on-call resource for questions about contracts, and expected to have a working knowledge of equitable contracting practices.
Proposals must be submitted via email to Michelle Hughes, Co-Executive Director at hughes@youngfarmers.org. The email must state in the subject line RFP RESPONSE – Young Farmers Contracting Consultant. By submitting a proposal, the respondent authorizes Young Farmers to contact references.
Communication of questions related to the RFP may be submitted to Michelle Hughes by email at hughes@youngfarmers.org.
Proposals will be accepted until the position is filled.
5/29/24
Sustainable Food Center (SFC) is seeking a Report Writer for "Land Access in Central Texas: Challenges and Opportunities. This is a contract position, compensated at $50-70/hour, based on experience and qualifications.
The Report Writer will craft a comprehensive report based on existing research and interviews on the topic "Land Access in Central Texas: Challenges and Opportunities." The ideal candidate will possess excellent writing and editing skills, with the ability to present complex information in a clear, concise, and academically rigorous manner.
SFC is a statewide (Texas) food non-profit with the mission to transform our food system to nourish our health, land, and livelihood. We believe the everyone deserves access to local, nutritious food.
To apply, send your résumé or CV, cover letter, writing samples, and two references to Amy Gallo at agallo@sustainablefoodcenter.
Deadline: June 3, 2024
5/14/24
Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems is requesting proposals for evaluation support of the Michigan Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement (LFPA) project.
In 2022, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) signed a cooperative agreement under the LFPA program with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and it is expected to run through September 2025. In this program, eight sub-agency partners from across the state receive funding to purchase healthy foods from local, socially disadvantaged Michigan farmers. Foods are distributed by partners through a variety of channels to reach underserved communities.
One of the goals for the LFPA project is to create and expand community partnerships between existing agencies, organizations, and their local and regional disadvantaged farmers and producers. Expected outcomes target increased sales and support for local and socially disadvantaged farmers and producers, and delivery of local fresh produce at increased levels through new and existing programs.
The Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) will provide assessment and evaluation support to MDE for the LFPA program. The CRFS team leading this project primarily consists of two key project personnel, including a Principal Investigator who will lead the evaluation.
Proposals due: May 22, 2024
5/03/24
Croatan Institute seeks a Website Development Consultant to support the creation of its FARMWISE NC website, a resource intended to support access to financial health services and increase knowledge of the available ecosystem services for underserved farmers and ranchers.
The FARMWISE project is intended to be replicated in other states using FARMWISE NC as a basis. The ideal candidate will guide our team through all aspects of website development. The consultant will collaborate with our team to understand the project objectives and requirements, and then provide strategic advice and technical solutions to achieve our goals. They will leverage their expertise in web development technologies, best practices, and industry trends to deliver innovative and effective solutions.
Location: Remote
Duration: 6-month contract
Compensation: $5,000 - $7,000
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
5/3/24
Croatan Institute seeks an experienced Educational Module Development Consultant to lead the development of an online module designed to educate underserved farmers and ranchers about financial health, budgeting, saving, and other essential financial concepts in English and Spanish. Your work will empower our clients to make informed financial decisions and achieve their financial goals.
Location: Remote
Duration: 6-month contract
Compensation: $8,000-$10,000
Croatan Institute is an independent, nonprofit research and action institute whose mission is to build social equity and ecological resilience by leveraging finance to create pathways to a just economy. The Institute is seeking a diligent, flexible, and highly motivated individual to assist the Institute with a wide range of operational matters.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
4/26/2024
The City and County of Denver Department of Parks and Recreation is soliciting proposals for programming partners to provide community garden and healthy food access services throughout Denver.
Proposers have the option to bid on a single group, or to bid on both groups.
Proposers should attend the pre-proposal meeting which shall take place virtually/online on May 14, 2024 at 9:00 AM MST via https://shorturl.at/doU23. Proposers may also attend by calling 720-388-6219, ID 757483614#. The pre-proposal meeting is not mandatory, but proposers will be held responsible for all information presented at the meeting.
Proposal deadline: May 31, 2024
04/22/24
Foodshed Alliance in New Jersey is seeking a Research Consultant to set up a system to measure, evaluate and clearly define the impact of its LocalShare gleaning/food access program, so that they may fully engage their partners, food-insecure individuals and the community, improve program effectiveness, and provide data necessary to attract funders, corporate groups, and volunteers.
Proposal deadline: May 1, 2024
4/20/2024
The Rhode Island Food Policy Council seeks a contractor to support outreach to Rhode Island municipalities to assess their interest in initiating/expanding food waste composting.
The central landfill in Johnston, Rhode Island is projected to reach full capacity in 10-15 years. The quasi-public entity that operates it, Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, told planners in 2018 to start looking for trash disposal alternatives by 2022. The trash being dumped into the landfill includes about 100,000 tons of food waste per year, making food waste one of the top materials being deposited in Rhode Island’s waste stream. Unfortunately, when organic waste like food waste is deposited in a landfill and starts decomposing, it releases methane – a greenhouse gas which is much more dangerous than carbon dioxide for the climate, because it is much more efficient than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Concurrently, there is a strong and growing need for high quality compost that can improve soil fertility among RI’s farmers, gardeners, home builders, and state infrastructure agencies. This small state boasts 57,000 acres of farmland and over 1,000 farms, which were estimated by the University of Rhode Island to result in $297 million in agricultural sales (2012 estimate adjusted for inflation to 2020 dollars). RI also has scores of community gardens, many in historically underserved communities, and tens of thousands of home gardens. Many of these home and business owners prefer to use compost because it is a natural, nutrient-rich soil amendment that enriches their plants.
Objective: To grow municipal food waste composting volumes by supporting RI municipalities in learning about and implementing food waste diversion strategies including municipal composting programs. Working to support the Program Director – Food, Climate and Environment establish relationships with potential municipal partners.
Proposal due: April 26, 2024
04/15/2024
Clif Bar is gathering information from organizations and/or individuals with experience conducting Supply Chain Assessments on social and/or environmental criteria. From the information submitted, Clif Bar will invite a select group of potential partners to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and respond to a formal Request for Proposal.
Application submission due: April 21, 2024.
04/11/24
The La Plata County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) in Colorado, through the La Plata County Procurement Division, is seeking a professional consultant with relevant experience and expertise to develop a strategic master plan for the La Plata County fairgrounds. The master plan will take into consideration the historical, cultural, recreational, and economic viability of the fairgrounds for La Plata County residents.
The La Plata County Fairgrounds has been providing facilities and amenities to the local community since 1917. Annual events such as the La Plata County Fair and Fiesta Days celebrate the community's rural southwestern lifestyle and are enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. The county fair is held annually in early August. Year-round activities at the fairgrounds include business and social functions, short-term overnight parking for RVs, equestrian activities, rodeos and livestock events, concerts, 4-H events and recreational uses including baseball and soccer. A variety of consumer and trade shows, swap meets, flea markets, and community sales also occur at the fairgrounds throughout the year. In addition, the Exhibit Hall has a commercial kitchen where local producers can prepare food for sale and there are frequent cooking classes in the Extension Building.
Proposal deadline: May 14, 2024
04/04/24
The National Young Farmers Coalition is in search of a Phone Banker and Technical Assistant to make calls to potential applicants to Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan programs.
The goals of these outreach calls and accompanying technical assistance to farmers and ranchers across the country are to:
1) Ensure increased awareness and comprehension of relevant FSA loan programs;
2) Provide tailored support through application processes and arising concerns;
3) Retain lessons learned throughout the process for improved future services.
Proposal Deadline: April 18, 2024
04/01/24
Alachua County, Florida, is seeking proposals to develop a Food Hub Plan with a community engagement strategy, market analysis, and business plan for a food aggregation and distribution program that will primarily sell to institutional food purchasers while serving economically challenged and marginalized communities in the county by providing affordable access to healthy local foods. Proposers will be required to have expertise in food systems, aggregation, and distribution facility development with a focus on supporting local growers, farmers, and farm communities, providing financial, self-sustaining alternative markets for food, food insecurity, food sovereignty, and emergency food assistance.
The services requested by the County under this solicitation are for the Fresh Food Pathways Consultant Services to develop a Plan for a community-based FOOD HUB. This project will be implemented from early 2024 through 2026. Approximately $962,000 is allocated to create the FOOD HUB community engagement strategy, market analysis, and business plan and manage sub-awards to local community-based organizations and non-profits. Sub-awards will be for various food system services that inform the market analysis and business plan context. The Plan must show how it will serve two to six low-income and marginalized communities lacking access to local, fresh, healthy, affordable food and multiple institutional food purchasers in Alachua County. The project will be implemented over two years starting in early 2024.
Proposal Deadline: April 10, 2024
03/25/24
The Vermont Foodbank Food Security Innovation Lab (FSIL) is seeking proposals from qualified consultant(s) to support the intentional sunsetting of the FSIL through facilitated stakeholder engagement and assistance in creating final recommendations and reports.
The selected consultant will co-create and facilitate an inclusive process that builds stakeholder engagement and understanding of lab learnings, supports the FSIL team to synthesize the research into accurate and actionable artifacts, and makes staff aware of opportunities to integrate learnings from the FSIL. The ideal candidate(s) will have expertise in nonprofit facilitation, strategic direction, shared governance, and organizational transformation.
Proposal Deadline: April 5, 2024
03/21/24
Oregon Farmers Markets Association (OFMA) is seeking proposals from qualified individuals or marketing firms to develop and execute a statewide awareness campaign to increase community engagement with farmers markets in the state of Oregon.
The goal of this campaign is to promote and enhance the visibility of Oregon’s farmers markets, encouraging community engagement and support with an emphasis on expanding rural community engagement and equitable access.
Location: 100% Remote, preference for Oregon-based applicants
Budget: $70,000 annually
Time frame: May, 2024 - May, 2025.
Applications reviewed on a rolling basis; early applications are encouraged.
Proposal Last Call: March 31, 2024.
03/21/24
The National Young Farmers Coalition is in search of a website consultant to assist in the update and redesign of Young Farmers’ main website and land microsite in partnership with the Young Farmers Communications Team.
The primary Young Farmers website was built in 2018 and has undergone only minor updates since; meanwhile, their social media branding has changed drastically and their website no longer reflects their visual identity.
Their hope is to have a functional, navigable website by the end of 2024 that reflects their current visual identity and is a hub for young farmer stories, resources, and advocacy opportunities for our network.
Proposals due: April 5, 2024
03/04/24
The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) is seeking proposals from a qualified
individual(s) to work with the Food Policy Networks (FPN) project on a transition plan for the
project. The selected person will have expertise in organizational development, specifically
network development and transition planning, and experience with non-profit organizations.
They will work closely with CLF staff and others to guide the transition of identified activities of
the FPN project from CLF to a partner organization.
Food policy councils (FPCs) and organizations that support their work have grown and evolved
beyond the services that an academic center like CLF can provide. As such, the CLF seeks to engage active FPN members and partner organizations to help define the external infrastructure needed to support the evolving needs of the network of over 300 FPCs in the United States and to redefine CLF's role in supporting this network.
Proposals due: March 15, 2024
03/04/24
The South Dakota Local Foods Coalition (SDLFC) is seeking an experienced food systems planner to help lay the foundational democratic structure for its organization and to create its first multi-year strategic plan. These objectives will aid in the coalition’s goals of long term sustainability, supporting the diverse needs of its stakeholders, and achieving its mission of creating a resilient food system in South Dakota. The hired consultant will work with the coalition’s leadership team as well as the full coalition membership as needed to develop these deliverables. They invite all interested and qualified consultants to submit their proposals for consideration.
Proposals due: March 29, 2024
02/26/2024
Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders seeks a strategic planning consultant to work with the SAFSF Board of Directors, staff, members, and broader network to facilitate the development of a strategic plan that will guide the organization beginning in 2024 for a period of 3-5 years. The expected project duration is March through October 2024.
Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF) amplifies the impact of philanthropic and investment communities in support of just and sustainable food and agriculture systems. SAFSF helps funders and investors strengthen connections within the sustainable agriculture and food systems community, foster collaboration with their peers, and build capacity to be more effective in their philanthropy and in their advocacy for change.
Proposals due: March 3, 2024
02/13/2024
Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture® seeks Managed IT Support.
Field to Market focuses its efforts on creating opportunities across the agricultural supply chain for continuous improvement in productivity, environmental quality, and human well being.
On December 9, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded Field to Market a Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant titled The Climate Smart Innovative Finance Initiative. The award is anticipated to conclude on December 31, 2028. Funding for the work under this RFP will be partially supported by the award.
To ensure Field to Market’s computers and devices, network, and data, are properly supported and protected, Field to Market requests proposals for managed IT support throughout the term of the grant. The contract will be for one year with four one-year options for continuation, which Field to Market may exercise in its sole discretion.
Proposals due: March 11, 2024
02/08/24
The Agriculture Finance Sustainability Coalition seeks a consultant to document the qualifications of agricultural projects and technologies for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Catalytic capital is critical to increasing the pace of investment in climate-smart agricultural practices by addressing prevailing barriers and enabling the proliferation of new financing models that work for farmers and their finance providers. The EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) stands to alter the landscape around catalytic capital that can leverage private capital. In particular, the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) can serve to de-risk and catalyze replicable, scalable and equitable financial solutions that accelerate climate-smart agriculture investments.
A newly formed Agriculture Finance Sustainability Coalition came together to identify 1) climate-smart agriculture projects that meet the qualified project criteria of the NCIF and 2) agricultural finance institutions that are positioned to deploy financial solutions to farmers across the country.
Proposals due: February 16, 2024
02/02/24
The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (the Department) has announced the availability of a second round of funding for the New York Food for New York Families Competitive Grant Program.
The New York Food for New York Families Program Round 2 (NYFNYF2) will maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency in New York State. This funding is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA.) The goal of this program is to purchase food grown and produced in New York State and deliver it to food insecure communities. Additionally, this program focuses on creating new markets and purchasing from underserved producers.
Proposal deadline: February 15, 2024
01/29/24
Real Food Challenge is looking for a communications development specialist to set up communication systems that will support internal and external communications needs. This includes helping identify pertinent information to relevant audiences, as well as setting up Airtable function as a CRM/email campaigns generator, and setting up a content calendar system.
Over the course of its 10-year existence, Real Food Challenge has built power with students to catalyze transformative shifts in university procurement practices. After a year of rebuilding and resetting, the organization is preparing for a return to its core mission with new program directors and a set of campaigns that will engage university students with updated strategies and partnerships that reflect broader changes in the food justice, food sovereignty, and value chain coordination spaces. As a part of this re-launch, they seek support from experienced contractors to develop new communications systems that are focused on building evergreen content for a variety of audiences.
Application accepted on a rolling basis.
01/29/24
Real Food Challenge seeks a consultant with 10+ years of experience working in consensus-based groups who is familiar with the many potential pitfalls of horizontal organizing and dedicated to helping co-craft creative ways of engaging common problems. The ideal candidate will both have a solid grounding in a liberatory political framework but also be intimately familiar with the ways in which identitarian politics are weaponized across the left and will support Worker Directors in humanizing each other across difference.
The role of this person in the organization is to facilitate a monthly Real Talks meeting between all Directors. This is a space both intended for staff to surface points of potential tension or divergence before they lead to disruption but also to express appreciation for each other, check in about what has and has not been working about their jobs and generally build, tend to and maintain relationship.
Over the course of its 10-year existence, Real Food Challenge has built power with students to catalyze transformative shifts in university procurement practices.
No deadline listed.
01/29/24
The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation (Corporation) seeks proposals from qualified consulting firms for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consultation.
The Corporation and other partners in the State are updating the Rhode Island Food Systems Plan, currently known as Relish Rhody (the Food Systems Plan). As part of that update, and State-wide stakeholder engagement activity, the selected proposer will provide subject matter expertise, training, and consultation to embed DEI in the State’s food systems planning and execute an equitable and inclusive process for updating the Food Systems Plan.
Application due: January 31, 2024
01/21/24
Not Our Farm (NOF) is a farmworker storytelling project that strives to celebrate and share the stories of non-owning workers on farms. NOF also aims to increase visibility around the challenges an abuses that happen on farms, regardless of size, location, or reputation. NOF seeks to contract a web designer who has a vision for how to share their work, elevate worker stories, and engage their audience in a dynamic and powerful way.
Application due: February 5, 2024
01/21/24
The Food for Humanity Initiative at the Columbia Climate School is looking for a consultant to conduct research for a project on climate and nutrition: Climate-Sensitive Nutrition Programming and Actions: A Scoping Review and Guidance.
The consultant will conduct a scoping review on climate-nutrition linkages with the following objectives:
1. Identify entry points for climate services into health systems’ decision-making process for nutrition program delivery and adaptation strategies within health facilities and communities.
2. Propose direct and indirect health system nutrition intervention packages that help to improve short-term targeting and timing to better adapt to climate variability and change.
3. Advocate for how nutrition-resilient communities allow for better adaptive responses to climate variability.
4. Suggest recommendations that inform national and regional disaster management (including in prevention, preparedness and responses) and health strategies and investments that prioritize nutrition in order to ensure long-term adaptation to climate.
Proposals due: January 24, 2024
01/13/24
The United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS) has entered a cooperative agreement with the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) to administer the Resilient Food System Infrastructure Program in South Dakota.
Through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program (RFSI), USDA AMS and DANR will cooperatively administer targeted investments to the middle of the supply chain. The RFSI program will support middle-of-the-supply-chain projects that improve capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution of locally and regionally produced food products.
The RFSI is an investment in food supply chain resilience, farm and food business market access, and value-added agriculture industry development. A more resilient, secure, and diversified local food system benefits producers, consumers, and rural communities, delivering the benefits of South Dakota agriculture to all South Dakotans:
• Producers and Processors: Food systems infrastructure that supports competitive and profitable market access for domestic farm products
• Consumers: Create more diverse local and regional market options
• Communities: Economic opportunities for communities that allow them to retain more of the value chain dollar
Proposals due: March 10, 2024
01/13/24
The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets has announced the availability of a second round of funding for the New York Food for New York Families Competitive Grant Program.
The New York Food for New York Families Program Round 2 (NYFNYF2) will maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency in New York State. This funding is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA.) The goal of this program is to purchase food grown and produced in New York State and deliver it to food insecure communities. Additionally, this program focuses on creating new markets and purchasing from underserved producers.
Proposal deadline: February 15, 2024
01/13/24
Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture™ seeks legal support for their Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Award.
About Field to Market Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture® is a non-profit, multistakeholder organization that brings together a diverse group of grower organizations; agribusinesses; food, beverage, restaurant and retail companies; conservation groups; universities; and public sector partners to focus on defining, measuring and advancing the sustainability of food, feed, fiber and fuel production.
On December 9, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded Field to Market a Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant titled The Climate Smart Innovative Finance Initiative. The award is anticipated to conclude on December 9, 2028. To assist in performing the grant and complying with certain requirements, Field to Market requests proposals for legal support throughout the term of the grant.
Proposal deadline: January 18, 2024
01/13/24
Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture™ seeks accounting support for their Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Award.
Field to Market Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture® is a non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization that brings together a diverse group of grower organizations; agribusinesses; food, beverage, restaurant and retail companies; conservation groups; universities; and public sector partners to focus on defining, measuring and advancing the sustainability of food, feed, fiber and fuel production.
On December 9, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded Field to Market a Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant titled The Climate Smart Innovative Finance Initiative. The award is anticipated to conclude on December 9, 2028. To assist it in performing the grant and complying with certain grant requirements, Field to Market requests proposals for accounting support throughout the term of the grant.
Proposal deadline: January 18, 2024
12/18/23
Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming, located in New York's Hudson Valley, seeks to hire a web developer with proven expertise in website development, commitment to social justice, and experience working with nonprofits to work with their team to build a new and accessible organizational website. The primary purpose of their website redesign is to clearly articulate their programs and impact while ensuring their digital spaces are welcoming, inclusive, informative, and inspiring.
Goals for the new website include:
• Communicating Glynwood's organizational mission and values
• Define and nurture the audience journey
• Improved design and user experience
• Concise and well-organized navigation
• Showcase expertise in regional food system development
The updated website should also host a sophisticated online ‘shop’ that can serve multiple event and product needs, including selling event tickets and farm products such as CSA shares.
Proposals reviewed on a rolling basis through January 19, 2024
12/12/23
USDA-FNS has released a Request for Applications (RFA), which announces the availability of funds for a cooperative agreement.
This funding opportunity will support research projects to better understand and generate information related to the school foodservice workforce focused on dimensions such as worker satisfaction, workforce experience, and training and development.
Relevant research activities may include, but are not limited to providing information on career pathways for the school foodservice workforce, including training and skill-building opportunities, promotion potential, and tenure/retention within individual employers and the industry as a whole; identifying skills used on the job by role, including analysis of transferability of skills to other industries; identifying level of worker satisfaction and describe workplace conditions (perception and objective measures); and examining how any of the above vary across roles, demographics, school/school food authority (SFA) characteristics, and geography.
Applications due: February 9, 2024
Trends in Community Food Systems Consultancy Work
We have decided to keep past-due RFP's posted for one year beyond their due date.
While these opportunities are no longer open for application, they help us all see trends in this quickly evolving work and better understand the diverse and complex skills sets needed by communities leading this work.
RFPs Past Due
12/27/23
The American Vineyard Foundation (AVF) works to unify the grape wine industry through collaborative research efforts.
The foundation invites research proposals for the 2024-2025 cycle for efforts that address the industry’s top research priorities. The industry research priority themes are broad, interdisciplinary, and oriented toward fostering the development of industry deliverables from the research effort.
AVF is increasing its emphasis on outreach and education to facilitate rapid adoption of new knowledge, practices, and technology by grape and wine producers. This will include: 1) consideration of objectives in research proposals that contain a budgeted information transfer component (principal investigators may consider inclusion of extension educators as co-PI’s or cooperators); and 2) a separate review category for projects that are specifically designed to address education and outreach needs. Each proposal received by the AVF will be evaluated by a mix of industry and scientific reviewers in one of the following disciplines: breeding and genetics, cultural practices, disease and pest management, enology, and outreach and education.
Proposal deadline: January 31, 2024
12/18/23
Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming, located in New York's Hudson Valley, seeks to hire a web developer with proven expertise in website development, commitment to social justice, and experience working with nonprofits to work with their team to build a new and accessible organizational website. The primary purpose of their website redesign is to clearly articulate their programs and impact while ensuring their digital spaces are welcoming, inclusive, informative, and inspiring.
Goals for the new website include:
• Communicating Glynwood's organizational mission and values
• Define and nurture the audience journey
• Improved design and user experience
• Concise and well-organized navigation
• Showcase expertise in regional food system development
The updated website should also host a sophisticated online ‘shop’ that can serve multiple event and product needs, including selling event tickets and farm products such as CSA shares.
Proposals reviewed on a rolling basis through January 19, 2024
12/12/23
USDA-FNS has released a Request for Applications (RFA), which announces the availability of funds for a cooperative agreement.
This funding opportunity will support research projects to better understand and generate information related to the school foodservice workforce focused on dimensions such as worker satisfaction, workforce experience, and training and development.
Relevant research activities may include, but are not limited to providing information on career pathways for the school foodservice workforce, including training and skill-building opportunities, promotion potential, and tenure/retention within individual employers and the industry as a whole; identifying skills used on the job by role, including analysis of transferability of skills to other industries; identifying level of worker satisfaction and describe workplace conditions (perception and objective measures); and examining how any of the above vary across roles, demographics, school/school food authority (SFA) characteristics, and geography.
Applications due: February 9, 2024
12/05/23
The City of East Providence, Rhode Island, is seeking a qualified consultant (or consultant team) to conduct a feasibility study on the conversion of a former municipal elementary school building into a small business incubator.
BACKGROUND:
The City of East Providence is seeking to develop a feasibility study on the conversion of the former Oldham Elementary School building into a multiuse small business, blue economy, and arts incubator that will be centered on the creation of jobs through business startups and providing a network and important business resources that will ensure a greater level of long-term success for these small businesses.
The study will examine the overall feasibility of the incubator model and, based on the results of the feasibility analysis, will develop a plan of action that will lead to the development of a facility that supports the business needs identified within the feasibility analysis. The initial position of the City, based on independent research conducted to date, identifies the need for specialized food production needs that are not currently being captured by the existing food incubation spaces in the state, including baking, gluten-free designated production spaces, and food packaging spaces, an arts –based business incubation space, and blue economy industries (renewable energy, aquaculture, seabed extractive activities and marine biotechnology and bioprospecting.) The feasibility study will also determine if and how these proposed industries can/will support each other and via proximity, cross-pollinate these separate parts and create a greater whole.
Proposals due: December 20, 2023
11/27/23
The Good Food Collective is seeking proposals from qualified individuals or organizations to develop a comprehensive County Food System Plan, including a landscape assessment of policy and regulatory options for La Plata County, Colorado.
This plan will provide a roadmap for addressing food insecurity, promoting sustainable agriculture, and improving access to healthy, locally sourced food within our community, while also considering relevant policies, regulations, and related infrastructure.
Applications due: January 1, 2024
11/21/23
The Wallace Center created the Value Chain Coordination Community of Practice (VCC CoP) to create a space for people building local and regional value chains to learn from each other, share best practices, and build relationships. Wallace created the group in 2021, and since then it's grown to nearly 500 members. Wallace hosts a monthly call series for the CoP with a keen emphasis on creating relationships. They've covered topics like measuring and capturing success, accessing federal grants, the role of VCC in government agencies, and creating trusting partnerships.
Until now, the Wallace Center team has designed and facilitated these conversations and they are now seeking an external facilitator who can help plan and host these calls in partnership with their team. They seek a facilitator with experience designing and hosting interactive, virtual group calls that are engaging, accessible, and build relationships. The ideal facilitator has the capacity to dedicate to this effort, an understanding of food systems work in the US, and a strong ability to work independently and collaborate with Wallace Center staff.
Applications due: November 30, 2023
11/21/23
Think Equity seeks a contractor to support their Clinics Advancing Health Equity (CAHE) project, funded by The Colorado Health Foundation. The contractor will work closely with the Project Manager, Assistant Project Manager, and CAHE project team to provide training and technical assistance to selected health clinics in Colorado serving rural and low-income populations.
The DEI/Racial Equity Coach will be responsible for administering a baseline assessment to selected clinics, analyzing the data, and developing clinic profiles with recommendations for a technical assistance plan. The coach will work with their selected clinic through three phases: Assessment (6 months), Technical Assistance/Coaching (12 months), and Sustainability (6 months). The engagement with each clinic will last a total of two years.
Positions will be filled by: December 22, 2023.
SEE RFP
11/16/23
The Center for Agricultural Development & Entrepreneurship (CADE) seeks a consultant to connect its network of clients with buyer and market matchmaking to increase local food procurement. The Goal of their project is increasing farm and food business profitability, viability and sustainability through market matchmaking. This consultancy position will act as a liaison to brokers and buyers of New York products and will report to, and work directly with, CADE’s Value Chain and Marketing specialist, Kaitlyn Sirna.
The primary objectives are to:
1) Enhance CADE's network of buyers who value purchasing local and New York sourced, regeneratively produced, and other value-based purchasing;
2) Map buyers’ procurement needs in 12 key areas (e.g., product specs, required certifications, min volume, delivery expectations, etc.) to facilitate ‘smart’ matches between buyers and producers
3) Provide an analysis of buyer landscape and demand for produce, products, value-propositions and other.
Proposals due: December 15, 2023
posted 11/15/23
The Organic Farmers Association (OFA) is launching Farmers Circles, a pilot program of intentional, intimate spaces of collective care where farmers come together to find connection, support, and inspiration. With this, they are looking to hire 5 remote facilitators for the following farmer circles:
* Black Farmer Circle
* Indigenous Farmer Circle
* Latinx Farmer Circle (Spanish fluency is required; Circle participants will determine whether or not the Circle is conducted in Spanish or English.)
* Queer Farmer Circle
* Asian Farmer Circle
Timeline: November 2023-November 2024, with an opportunity to extend the contract period.
Compensation: This role includes monthly meetings, either with the farmer circle or facilitator group, estimated at 4-5 hours/ month to cover the farmer circle gathering, planning, reporting, and outreach. Compensation is: $2,640/yr. Kindly note that every Circle should be led by an individual who resonates with the Circle's specific purpose.
posted 11/9/23
Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture is soliciting proposals from qualified project management firms or individuals to conduct a feasibility study and write a comprehensive report about the establishment of a shared headquarters for food-focused nonprofit organizations in Washington, DC. The envisioned shared headquarters would include essential facilities such as refrigerated storage, lockers, communal & private workspace, a commercial kitchen (if feasible), and a flash freezing operation (if feasible). The study will assess the viability of this initiative, considering real estate options, stakeholder engagement, financial feasibility, and potential partnerships.
Proposals due: November 15, 2023
posted 11/4/23
No Kid Hungry’s Early Childhood Systems team shared an RFP for a consultant to conduct a comprehensive landscape analysis and create an Early Childhood Systems strategy that will inform our internal knowledge base. The comprehensive landscape analysis will highlight 1) early childhood & food programs/policies, 2) promising practices for maximizing access to federal food programs, 3) federal funding opportunities & sustainable resources, and 4) prevailing opportunities & lessons learned at the intersection of early childhood & food insecurity. The strategy will include innovative and bold recommendations to advance access to local & federal food resources and will include an emphasis on engaging rural communities, tribal & indigenous communities, immigrant & refugee communities, and communities disproportionately impacted by food insecurity.
Proposals due: November 30, 2023
posted 11/4/23
King County and King Conservation District, WA, have launched a process working with community stakeholders that will result in a new Local Food Initiative Strategy and re-framing of the Regional Food System Program for their region. As part of the process, they are looking for a consultant(s) to support the project on community engagement and plan/policy development.
A contract will be awarded based on the RFP evaluation criteria including ability to meet stated requirements, inclusive community engagement and policy/plan approach, budget, and additional factors detailed in the RFP. Send proposals to mary.embleton@kingcd.org.
Proposals due: November 17, 2023
posted 10/17/23
The City of Santa Clarita, CA, seeks to contract for goat grazing services. The goal of the proposed project is to development goat grazing services in specific open space areas for fire mitigation purposes. The City would like enter into agreements with one or more goat-grazing Contractors to develop an ongoing program for reducing fuel levels in the mature undisturbed native open space.
Proposals due: November 15, 2023
posted 10/17/23
The Rhode Island Food Policy Council seeks a contractor to produce monthly newsletters and support web-based communications and updates. This contractor reports to the Engagement Manager.
Bids should be made for a trial period of 6 months. They anticipate the maximum total amount available for this contract will be $12,000.
Proposals due: October 24, 2023
Send bids directly to allison@rifoodcouncil.org with Newsletter Writing and Digital Communications Support Contractor in the subject line.
posted 10/16/23
Virginia Fresh Match is looking for a graphic designer to produce for its network: a new logo; new marketing material templates influenced by this new logo, fonts, and color palette; signs; banners; posters/flyers; rack cards; social media postings; brochure; presentation; graphic elements for use on website. These templates should be simple to customize and print so they can be accessible to all levels of users. We expect to share these templates with our outlets in Canva.com.
Work will be conducted remotely, with a team is located across Virginia and North Carolina.
They are looking to begin information gathering meetings between the designer and VFM team before Nov. 1, with drafts ready for feedback by Dec. 1, and final deliverables by Jan. 1.
Proposals due: October 23, 2023
Email resume, examples of relevant past work, proposed budget, and cover letter to Virginia Fresh Match Network Director Lanae Hood at lanae@virginiafreshmatch.org by Monday, Oct. 23.
posted 10/3/23
The City of New Bedford, MA, Purchasing Department, in conjunction with the City of New Bedford’s Department of Environmental Stewardship is seeking proposals from qualified firms to provide Brownfields to Healthfields Consulting Services.
A key component of this Brownfield Multi-Purpose Grant will be a Health Impact Assessment to inform the public and decision makers when policies, plans, programs, and projects in a range of sectors have the potential to significantly impact human health.
In addition to this Brownfields grant, the Old Bedford Village Development Corporation, a non-profit community-based advocacy organization requested assistance in 2020 from the EPA through the Local Foods, Local Places program to develop an action plan for promoting local food systems and healthy, walkable, economically vibrant communities. The City intends to support the outcomes of the Local Foods, Local Places Community Action Plan through this Multi-Purpose Grant.
Proposals due: October 6, 2023
posted 10/3/23
The Northern Colorado Foodshed Project is seeking an External Evaluator for its 2021 USDA RFSP grant for the Poudre Food Partnership (PFP). This role will be a three-month contract where the Evaluator work will encompass data analysis of grant programs, program and partner evaluations, and contribute to the Food Systems Action Plan for Northern Colorado.
This contracted, temporary position is ideal for someone looking for part-time work with a flexible schedule as well as someone familiar with food system work. The Northern Colorado Foodshed Project is an exciting initiative that aims to improve food access and support local food systems. If you are passionate about food justice and community development, we encourage you to apply.
posted 9/27/23
The County of Kane, Illinois, is soliciting proposals to provide professional services supporting the launch of a new pilot program, the Kane County Food and Agriculture Accelerator. This program is being developed to provide business training and technical assistance for food-growing operations and supportive technology companies that sustain Kane County’s local food ecosystem. The program will also act in response to food insecurity and health inequities that persist in Kane County’s urban areas. The goal of the Accelerator is to support the growth of urban area farms and agriculture technology companies while improving local food access in Low-Income Low-Access (LILA) communities.
Contact: Tony Sperkowski, purchasing@co.kane.il.us
Proposals due: October 25, 2023
posted 9/20/23
Rhode Island Commerce Corporation has requested proposals for Measuring Local Food Sales in Rhode Island.
The Corporation seeks proposals from qualified contractors for state level data collection on local food consumption and purchases as part of a Local Food Counts Study. As part of Rhode Island’s Food Strategy, Relish Rhody, and a regional effort to achieve 30% regional food consumption from New England states by 2030, a local food count will provide essential data to understand the production and consumption of food in the Rhode Island economy.
Proposals due: September 26, 2023
posted 9/19/23
Wayne County, PA, has requested bids for a Food Locker Pilot Program. Sealed proposals will be accepted for climate controlled refrigerated and frozen locker systems and supporting software and operating systems. These lockers will be used by multiple agencies/businesses to address food access challenges throughout this rural county.
Sealed bids must be marked Food Locker Project. The details of the proposed project can be obtained by request to Vicky Botjer, CFO @ vbotjer@waynecountypa.gov.
Proposals due: September 27, 2023.
posted 9/19/23
Through this opportunity, New York Health Foundation (NYHealth) aims to advance racial health equity through two strategies of its Healthy Food, Healthy Lives program:
(1) promoting Food Is Medicine interventions, and
(2) supporting healthier, culturally responsive food purchasing.
They seek to support organizations led by and supporting communities of color to implement community-driven projects informed by and responsive to community needs.
Letters of Inquiry due: October 23, 2023
posted 9/10/23
The Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) and their Small Farm Technology Hub is pleased to announce this Request for Proposals (RFP) to seek qualified contractors for a comprehensive needs assessment project aimed at advancing technology adoption among small-scale farmers within the five counties encompassed by the Fresno-Merced Future of Food Innovation (F3) Initiative: Fresno, Merced, Madera, Kings, and Tulare, California.
The Small Farm Technology Hub at CAFF will house this assessment and aims to use it as a guiding document to inform how their services can best support farmers with identifying appropriate technologies for their businesses. CAFF’s primary constituents are family farmers.
Proposals due: September 14, 2023
posted 8/31/23
Land Stewardship Project seeks to contract a Family Farm Breakfast Organizer to organize the 2024 Family Farm Breakfast, which brings over 300 people together as the beginning of LSP’s annual Lobby Day. The event is currently planned for Thursday, March 7, 2024. This includes logistic coordination, fundraising, food procurement, collaboration with the chef(s), volunteer recruitment and coordination, and other activities as capacity allows.
LSP seek to do work that ensures that the health of the land is enhanced, small- and mid-sized farms thrive, communities are prosperous, and true democracy flourishes. The mission of the Land Stewardship Project is to foster an ethic of stewardship for farmland, to promote sustainable agriculture, and to develop healthy communities.
Application reviews start: September 25, 2023
posted 8/28/2023
The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers / the Coalition) is in search of a Phone Banker and Technical Assistant, to make calls to potential USDA 22007 Discrimination Financial Assistance Program applicants, and to assist applicants in applying or connecting with other cooperators, and with local support offices as appropriate.
This USDA program is a one-time and time bound resource, and thus quick and efficient execution of requested services will be essential. The 22007 program is designed for eligible farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who experienced discrimination in USDA farm lending programs prior to January 2021.
The National Young Farmers Coalition is one of eight (8) cooperators working together and with USDA on the program’s implementation. Our role as an organization is to facilitate awareness and understanding of the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program among producers in our network, and to ensure producers have access to resources and technical assistance services to ensure completion of application, as appropriate.
Application deadline: August 30, 2023
SEE RFP
posted 8/28/2023
Michigan Farmers Market Association (MIFMA) seeks proposals for a contracted Curriculum Writer to compile, organize, and write a curriculum for its Market Manager Certificate Program.
The Market Manager Certification Program is a voluntary program designed by MIFMA in 2011 to encourage farmers market managers to pursue leadership skills and professional development on topics essential to market management. Market managers are recognized with a certificate upon completion of the full program that acknowledges the market manager is a trained professional.
The Curriculum Writer will work with MIFMA staff to organize and write the curriculum based on the content and resources MIFMA has developed over the twelve-year span of the program. They expect the work product to include one text document communicating to future program facilitators how to present the course content (graphic design of the document is optional and would need to adhere to MIFMA’s design and brand standards).
Proposal accepted until: September 29, 2023
posted 8/28/2023
Share Our Strength seeks an evaluator to conduct a research project investigating its Nutrition in Housing (NIH) pilot program. The overarching goal of its NIH pilot is to establish a sustainable and replicable model that can be implemented across major housing developer’s affordable housing communities to support food security for families with children. The primary objective of the research project is to determine if the NIH model improves the food environment, with a secondary objective of understanding how the model works and what elements of the program contribute to outcomes.
Proposal deadline: September 29, 2023
posted 8/25/2023
GrowNYC has received funding from the USDA AMS Local Food Promotion Program for a project Diversifying the Next Generation of Wholesale Suppliers and Buyers to partner with an organization working on food access at the neighborhood level. GrowNYC's goal is to expand access to local source-identified food in the South Bronx, especially food grown by BIPOC farmers.
Subaward funding will support one organization on a project during the grant performance period of Sept 30, 2023 - Sept 29, 2025 on a project that meets the grant objectives of increasing access to affordable, fresh local foods in the South Bronx sourced from participating GrowNYC partner farms.
Application deadline: August 31, 2023.
posted 8/15/2023
Organic Agronomy Training Service (OATS) in Madison, Wisconsin, has put out a Call for Talent for:
Writer: The Organic Agronomy Training Service (OATS) seeks to hire a skilled writer to craft scripts for 10 to 12 educational short videos on organic agriculture topics. Anyone with a talent for writing and communicating technical content in an interesting and engaging way is encouraged to submit a proposal. You do not need to have written scripts before. If you can write funny, engaging content while paying attention to detail and accuracy, translating wonky technical language into something that is digestible and entertaining, then this is the project for you! Proposal deadline: Aug 20, 2023.
Actor: The Organic Agronomy Training Service (OATS) seeks to hire a skilled actor to appear as the host in a series of 10 to 12 educational short videos on organic agriculture topics. The actor will work closely with the National Program Director, Videographer, and Script Writer. We are looking for someone who can bring an irreverent sense of humor to communicate technical content in an interesting and engaging way on camera. We are seeking an actor who can bring confidence, accuracy, and entertainment to the delivery of the performance. Application deadline: Aug 20, 2023.
posted 8/9/2023
Kansas State University seeks proposals from qualified proposers to meet the University's requirements during the contract term for organizational consulting services in support of the Rural Grocery Initiative (RGI) located in Manhattan, Kansas.
(Bid opportunity notices, awards, and a free preview of the bid documents are available on the RFP site free of charge without registration. Please note, some documents may be secured and you will be required to register for the bid to download and view the documents. There is no cost to obtain an unsecured version of the document and /or to participate in this solicitation.)
Proposals are accepted until September 15, 2023.
posted 8/7/2023
The Loudoun County Department of Economic Development has released a request for qualifications for a LMLG Local Food Supply Chain Feasibility Study.
Loudoun County in Virginia has been awarded a grant through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program. The goal of the grant-funded project is to increase production of, and access to, Loudoun farm products.
The objective of this phase of the grant is to conduct a feasibility study to understand the existing relationships between Loudoun growers and their clients, gaps in the marketplace, potential opportunities. and a set of clear strategies in wholesale contracts with public/private institutions and businesses that will increase Loudoun Made Loudoun Grown (LMLG) Supplier production and increase opportunities to sell existing product.
Responses are due August 11, 2023.
posted 8/7/2023
The Organic Agronomy Training Service (OATS) seeks to hire facilitators for the Organic Field Crop Course, a training program for advisors, consultants, agronomists, and agricultural professionals on the art and science of organic field crop production. The course facilitator will serve as the main point of contact for the course participants, organize and host six 2-hour live sessions on zoom, and monitor participant progress through the self-paced materials.
Proposals will be accepted until August 13, 2023.
posted 8/7/2023
The Organic Agronomy Training Service (OATS) seeks to hire a skilled writer to craft scripts for 10 to 12 educational short videos on organic agriculture topics. The writer will work closely with the National Program Director, Videographer, and a team of subject matter experts.
The writer will transform outlines of technical content prepared by subject matter experts into 10 to 12, two to four minute engaging educational videos. The scripts will contain the dialogue, descriptions and ideas for visuals/graphics/images/explanatory text, actions/motion that is happening on screen, and cited sources.
Proposals will be accepted until August 20, 2023.
posted 7/27/2023
GrowNYC Wholesale has announced an RFP opportunity to help identify a South Bronx organization to partner with as a value chain coordinator/microhub.
GrowNYC has received funding from the USDA AMS Local Food Promotion Program for a project "Diversifying the Next Generation of Wholesale Suppliers and Buyers" to partner with organizations working on food access at the neighborhood level to drive demand for local food in underserved communities, especially food grown by BIPOC farmers.
As part of this initiative, GrowNYC Wholesale is soliciting applications from organizations to operate innovative programming to increase access to affordable, farm fresh local foods in South Bronx.
Subaward funding will support one organization to help with capacity building, promoting the use of seasonal and local foods sourced from participating GrowNYC partner farms, and achieving long-term program viability.
Proposals will be accepted until August 31, 2023.
posted 7/3/2023
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) seeks to hire a consultant to evaluate the projected outcomes of federal and food company incentive programs for conservation practice adoption. The consultant will work with the EDF team to leverage industry connections, academic literature, knowledge databases, and other relevant resources to assess acreage engaged in cover cropping and conservation tillage programs across the United States.
Proposals are due July 14, 2023.
posted 6/21/2023
The Syracuse-Onondaga Food Systems Alliance (SOFSA) seeks a consultant to work with SOFSA’s membership and leadership to weave together existing plans with the interests and perspectives of the network’s many stakeholders to create a five-year strategic action plan for the partnership.
Proposals are due July 14, 2023.
posted 6/20/2023
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) aims to provide an up-to-date overview of existing and emerging carbon pricing instruments that capture the external costs of agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by putting an explicit price on GHG emissions. This initiative will investigate trends surrounding the intersection of the agricultural sector and the development and implementation of emissions trading systems (ETSs), voluntary carbon crediting mechanisms, and implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
One focus of the analysis will be how global crediting mechanisms align with high-impact climate solutions, which EDF identified through a meta-analysis of peer-reviewed literature. EDF is seeking analytical, writing, and design support to develop this content to educate policy makers, NGOs, and corporate stakeholders, both within and outside the food and agriculture industry.
Proposals are due June 30, 2023
posted 6/4/2023
The City of Kingston, in New York’s Hudson Valley, has just released an RFP to hire a consultant or team of consultants to help it develop a Food System Plan.
The goal of this plan is to provide a blueprint for how the City of Kingston can support strengthening its local food system by improving resilience, addressing food insecurity, and increasing access to nutritionally dense foods through actions specific to the municipality and/or through collaborative action with its local community partners.
Please share with any consultants or team of consultants you think would be interested in applying.
Proposals are due July 5, 2023.
posted 5/20/2023
The Lake Michigan School Fund Systems Innovation Hub seeks a Consultant to Support Integration of a Grants Application and Management Platform into Salesforce for the Lake Michigan School Food Systems Innovation Hub.
Ghe United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) School Food System Transformation Challenge seeks to transform school food systems through innovative practices that increase student access to healthy meals. Led by the Illinois Public Health Institute (IPHI), the Lake Michigan School Food Systems Innovation Hub (Innovation Hub) will implement the USDA Challenge to spark innovation and strengthen the Lake Michigan K-12 food system to improve schools’ access to nutritious, local, and culturally relevant products in Illinois, Michigan, Northern Indiana, and Wisconsin. As part of this initiative, IPHI is seeking proposals from qualified consultants to help integrate Force.com’s grant application and management tool into the existing IPHI Salesforce platform and build two applications into the system.
Proposals are due by May 25, 2023.
posted 5/20/2023
The Lake Michigan School Fund Systems Innovation Hub seeks a Consultant to Lead a Request for Application Process for Lake Michigan School Food Systems Innovation Hub.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) School Food System Transformation Challenge seeks to transform school food systems through innovative practices that increase student access to healthy meals. Led by the Illinois Public Health Institute (IPHI), the Lake Michigan School Food Systems Innovation Hub (Innovation Hub) will implement the USDA Challenge to spark innovation and strengthen the Lake Michigan K-12 food system to improve schools’ access to nutritious, local, and culturally relevant products in Illinois, Michigan, Northern Indiana, and Wisconsin. As part of this initiative, IPHI is seeking proposals from qualified consultants to support the development of a Sub-Grantee Request for Application (RFA) process and materials. The consultant will support IPHI and partners in developing an innovative and user-friendly grant application and accompanying materials. The partners leading the Lake Michigan School Food Systems Innovation Hub will collectively identify and make awards to local and regional collaboratives to strengthen and adapt the food system to enable schools to serve their students culturally relevant, delicious foods that align with current USDA Transitional Standards, as well as future meal pattern iterations.
Proposals are due by May 25, 2023.
posted 5/20/2023
The Lake Michigan School Fund Systems Innovation Hub seeks a Communications and Website Development Marketing, Communications, [and/or] Website Development Consultant.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) School Food System Transformation Challenge seeks to transform school food systems through innovative practices that increase student access to healthy meals. Led by the Illinois Public Health Institute (IPHI), the Lake Michigan School Food Systems Innovation Hub (Innovation Hub) will implement the USDA Challenge to spark innovation and strengthen the Lake Michigan K-12 food system to improve schools’ access to nutritious, local, and culturally relevant products in Illinois, Michigan, Northern Indiana, and Wisconsin. As part of this initiative, IPHI is seeking proposals from qualified consultants/companies to support the development and dissemination of communications and marketing materials to key audiences that promote sub-grant opportunities and share resources and success stories. Additionally, IPHI is seeking proposals from qualified consultants/companies to help develop and launch an Innovation Hub website that meets USDA and federal law compliance requirements and is accessible, user-friendly, and well-designed. As many communications and marketing firms also provide website development services, IPHI is open to having one contractor fulfill both scopes of work or having two contractors work to address each scope of work (communications/ marketing as one, and website development/launch as the other), with IPHI working with each to align efforts.
Proposals are due by May 25, 2023.
posted 5/20/23
RAFI-USA seeks Farm Advocacy Training Video contractor. RAFI-USA conducted and recorded 23 training sessions with lead farm advocate, comprising approximately 35-40 hours of training footage and accompanying casework documents. The trainings addressed topics organically as they came up in casework, and are not organized by topic. RAFI-USA is seeking a contractor who will work closely with the RAFI-USA Farm Advocacy team to index, organize, and edit this content (and find/record additional content as needed to fill in gaps) into no more than seven topic-specific video modules - with accompanying documentation - for use in training future farm advocates. These video training modules will be used to train new farm advocates at RAFI-USA and beyond in the movement. The budget for the successful completion of this project is $30,000, based on an estimate of 700 hours of work for the project over 7 months before the end of 2023. This work is remote and should not require travel.
Deadline not listed.
posted 5/19/23
Cooking Matters seeks an evaluator to conduct an impact evaluation of its new premier curriculum, Cooking Matters Core. Cooking Matters Core is designed to help organizations and implementers reach parents and caregivers with dynamic content about purchasing and preparing foods that meet nutrition, budget, and personal needs. The evaluation should test Cooking Matters Core’s impact on purchasing and preparing foods that meet nutrition, budget, and personal needs. The evaluation design of Cooking Matters Core should align with SNAP-Ed’s research-tested approach.
Send proposals and questions to: Catherine Cleary at ccleary@strength.org with subject line Cooking Matters Core Evaluation: [Insert Organization Name]
Budget for the evaluation: $100,000 - $200,000
Desired start date: July 6, 2023
Desired completion date: March 1, 2024
Proposals are due June 9, 2023.
posted 4/3/23
The City of Rochester is seeking Proposals from qualified respondents to help develop a Community Food System Plan. Professional services are needed to conduct research and mapping/data analysis, gather widespread community and stakeholder input, develop a comprehensive baseline inventory/assessment of the food environment and food flows across the city, identify resources and unmet needs, and develop recommendations to inform City data, planning, policy, partnerships, and initiatives related to improving healthy food access and resilience.
The City seeks to retain a Consultant or team of Consultants with experience helping other communities plan for healthy food system access and resilience, particularly Consultants that have worked in racially and ethnically diverse communities with significant challenges related to poverty, food insecurity, and diet-related chronic disease. The Consultant/s should also have experience with successfully engaging a wide variety of community members, food system actors, and other stakeholders in the development of food system plans.
Proposals are due May 9, 2023.
posted 4/3/23
The Aging and Disability Services (ADS) Division of the City of Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) is seeking applications from a diverse group of agencies interested in helping older adults maintain their quality of life through access to quality and nourishing foods that support healthy aging.
The Culturally Nourishing Foods for Older Adults Request for Proposal (RFP) is competitive and open to any legally constituted entities that meet the standard HSD Agency Minimum Eligibility Requirements and any additional requirements outlined in Section IV of the Guidelines. The Culturally Nourishing Foods for Older Adults RFP invests in food and meals, food access, and social engagement. Organizations may apply for one or more strategies. All funded organizations may be required to participate in an evaluation process to determine the efficacy of the program.
Proposals are due April 12, 2023.
posted 3/22/23
The Ada County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) in Idaho is seeking a comprehensive approach to food sourcing to include food procurement, menu management software, food services consultation, dietitian services, and reduced food costs.
Currently, ACSO serves over 3,500 meals per day with the requirement that meals meet Idaho Sheriff’s Association Standards, National Commission on Correctional Health Care standards, and other dietary standards for individuals with medically ordered or restrictive diets. The Sheriff’s Office desires to manage its own food service system which includes staffing, all decisions on food delivery, and providing food for jail staff. "ASCO believes the safe operation of the jail is reliant upon a food service program where food is high quality, presented well, and has good flavor so that it is appealing."
Proposals are due March 31, 2023.
posted 3/22/23
The State of Tennessee Department of Agriculture is requesting proposals for Digital Marketing Strategies for the Pick Tennessee Products Program.
Pick Tennessee Products has been a part of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture for more than 30 years.
Proposals are due April 3, 2023.
posted 3/9/23
The newly forming Oregon Farm to Institution Collaborative (OFIC) is requesting proposals for a Consultant.
Health Care Without Harm, the fiscal agent for this grant, invites proposals from qualified consultants/firms to lay the groundwork for the formation of the Oregon Farm to Institution Collaborative by working with the OFIC Organizing Team on a recruitment process and decision-making structure, as well as facilitating specific activities with OFIC members once the collaborative is convened.
Proposals are due Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
posted 3/9/23
Common Grain Alliance is seeking proposals for a Strategic Equity Consultant
Applications will be accepted through Friday, April 14th at 11:59PM EST.
posted 3/7/23
FASST—Food Access and Support Services Team, funded by the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), seeks to contact an External Evaluator.
Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland (MOWCM), Moveable Feast (M Feast), Maryland Food
Bank and Benefits Data Trust (together, the Coalition) are collaborating on a project with the
University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), known as FASST to improve health equity for
patients of UMMS by providing nutrition and other support services that positively impact the
social determinants of health through a technology platform developed by the Coalition, UMMS
and the Chesapeake Regional Information System for Patients (CRISP).
This is a three-year grant funded project. Years I & II will focus on project development, process
evaluation, and outcome development with Year III focused on outcome measurement. Proposals are due March 14, 2023.
This is a Consultant role. The overall roles of the Website Designer and Manager is planning, implementing, managing, monitoring, and upgrading or rebuilding the organization's website.
The Work Group seeks to outline the current condition for Black, Indigenous and Latino farmers as well as other farmers with a history of race-based social disadvantages in the metropolitan Washington region to build a body of evidence and drive policy recommendations.
More details can be found in the attached RFP. Proposals are due to vtreski@bainumfdn.org by Friday, January 27. They are happy to answer questions via email or set up time for further discussion.
posted 1/9/23
Better Cotton is looking for a consultant familiar with US labor regulations to review existing laws and enforcement measures and understand coverage and gaps as related to the Better Cotton standards. The standards apply to child labor, worker rights, worker health and
safety, and labor requirements specific to H2A workers.
The focus is on farm workers in the 17 states in the Cotton Belt: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Virginia.
Please find more information in the RFP link below (please disregard the UK location in the online listing!). Proposals are due January 20, 2023. Feel free to send any inquiries to karen.wynne@bettercotton.org.