Food co-ops provide communities with another option for buying groceries.
Food cooperatives provide an essential service for some communities by creating a locally owned alternative to traditional grocery stores. Depending on the grocery market, a food co-op may be the only affordable option for people in the community to find organic and locally grown foods. In recognition of these benefits, private cooperative organizations and government agencies provide food co-op grants to help seed and sustain their operations, especially in rural areas.
Food Co-Op Initiative Seed Fund Grants
The Food Co-op Initiative is a private organization formerly known by its pilot project name The Food Co-op 500. This organization helps to create and expand opportunities for food co-ops in small communities across America. One of the ways the Food Co-op Initiative does this is through grant support from its Seed Fund Grant program, which is funded in part by the USDA Rural Development Service. Grants are awarded to co-ops in rural communities with less than 50,000 people in varying amounts up to $10,000. Grants from the Seed Fund are intended to support feasible cooperative ventures in the earlier stages of their development, as they first find members and create an operational plan. Applications are generally due in late May, and funds are awarded in mid-June.
Howard Bowers Fund Grants
The Howard Bowers Fund is a grant opportunity for food co-ops administered by the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF), a private organization. The Howard Bowers Fund provides funding "to strengthen the food co-op community," according to the CDF. Its grants are awarded to programs in both rural and urban areas that help educate and train food co-op staff, management and board members. Applications for funding from the Howard Bowers fund are accepted in early February, May, August and November. CDF also considers applications on a second cycle once a year, with due dates in late December or early January.
MSC Fund Grants
The CDF also awards grants for local cooperatives that target particular groups of people for assistance. One example is the MSC Fund Grant program funded in part by the Mutual Service Foundation (MSF). The MSF dissolved its assets into the CDF in 2004. The MSC Fund provides funding for programs that improve and replicate cooperatives that serve seniors living in rural areas. The objectives of the MSC Fund are to serve projects that provide technical assistance to cooperatives that serve seniors in rural areas, contribute to the development of successful cooperative models and enhance local understanding of lessons learned from other rural cooperatives.
Rural Cooperative Development Grants
The Department of Agriculture is a public source of funding for food cooperatives, especially in rural areas. The USDA provides this assistance through its Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG) program, which supports regional organizations "who can contract out for the expertise, to assist individuals or entities in the startup, expansion or operational improvement of rural businesses, especially cooperative or mutually-owned businesses," according to the grant application guidelines published in the "Federal Register." In the past, this grant has funded programs like the Food Co-op Initiative Seed Fund, which in turn awards grants directly to local cooperatives. The RCDG has a local matching requirements of 25 percent, meaning the applicant organization must be willing and able to supply at least a quarter of the project's costs.
