Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) program

      Posted On: October 3, 2014

On Monday, September 29, 2014, the USDA announced the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) program. The program will test community based strategies that could contribute to our understanding of how best to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables by SNAP participants through incentives at the point of purchase, supported by effective and efficient benefit redemption technologies, that would inform future efforts. Under FINI, applicants may propose relatively small pilot projects, multi-year community-based projects, or larger-scale multi-year projects.

FINI Applications Due Dec. 15th

All FINI projects must (1) have the support of a state SNAP agency; (2) increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables by low-income consumers participating in SNAP by providing incentives at the point of purchase; (3) operate through authorized SNAP retailers, and be in compliance with all relevant SNAP regulations and operating requirements; (4) agree to participate in the FINI comprehensive program evaluation; (5) ensure that the same terms and conditions apply to purchases made by individuals receiving SNAP benefits as apply to purchases made by individuals who are not SNAP participants; and (6) include effective and efficient technologies for benefit redemption systems that may be replicated in other states and communities.

Applications are requested in each of the following three categories:
(1) FINI pilot projects (awards not to exceed $100,000 over one year);
(2) multi-year, community-based FINI projects (awards not to exceed $500,000 over no more than four years); and
(3) multi-year, FINI large-scale projects (awards of $500,000 or more over no more than four years).

The FINI program is run by USDA’s National Institute for Food & Agriculture (NIFA). NIFA hosted a webinar for prospective applicants on October 2nd at 2pm ET. We will update this post with a link to the recording once it is available.

For more info visit Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) Grant Program.