How to Get Government Grants for Growing Food

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By David Sarokin
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Grants for Growing Food

Are there really grants for gardening? Yep. The federal government has free money available for thousands of purposes, including grants and subsidies for supporting small farms and community gardening. Here's how to find out what's available.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Step 1

**Head to CSREES.usda.gov**

CSREES stands for the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. It is operated out of the USDA (Department of Agriculture) and has a lot of available grant programs. Visit their site at www.csrees.usda.gov and click on the tab for Grants.
Step 2

**Get Familiar With USDA Grants**

The Grants page has a ton of information on the overall process to apply for funding for your gardening or farming projects. There is an Application Information page, as well as Application FAQs. And if you're lucky enough to receive a federal grant, there's a FAQs page on how to manage your grant funds.

You'll also find FAQs on eligibility criteria. These are worth reviewing, as they help clarify who can apply for what types of grants.
Step 3

**Search for Grant Opportunities**

Clicking on Grant Search will take you to a powerful search system that allows you to zero in on grant opportunities that are appropriate to your particular situation.

Try several searches, using a variety of criteria to identify good grant opportunities. For instance, you might do an 'Eligibility' search on grants for individuals, another on grants for small businesses, and another on grants for 501(c)(3) non-profits. You might also search on specialty groups such as Native American Tribal Organizations, if these are pertinent to your status.

You can also search on particular program areas (Education, Small Business) or on Emphasis Areas (Animals, Families, Youth and Communities, and so on).

Explore any grant opportunities that seem promising. Even if the grant shows as Closed (meaning the due date has passed for the current year), it's worth knowing about the program, as it may offer grants in subsequent years.

Also use the 'Search CSREES' box for more targeted searches. A search on 'gardens' for instance, turns up the Garden Mosaics Project, one of the USDA-funded projects under the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Grants Program.