FMC Members Among 32 FINI Grantees

      Posted On: August 8, 2017

Yesterday, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced 32 grants totaling $16.8 million to help Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants increase their purchases of fruits and vegetables. Since the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) program’s inception, farmers markets have realized some of the greatest gains in promoting food access through the program.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Secretary Perdue noted, “These grants help provide low income families with the resources they need to consume more nutritious food.  Last year, SNAP helped put healthy food on the tables of at least 44 million Americans, including 19 million children,” Perdue said. “This builds on the successes of health-related incentives, with many of the projects being conducted at farmers markets. At the same time, we’re also helping to strengthen local and regional food systems.”

FINI is a joint program between NIFA and USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, which oversees SNAP and is responsible for evaluating the impact of the variety of types of incentive programs that are deployed by FINI grantees. The awards under FINI represent a variety of projects, including relatively small pilot projects, multi-year community-based projects, and larger-scale multi-year projects. The program is funded through the 2014 Farm Bill.

Check out the USDA press release and this year’s list of FINI grantees here.