CDF expands work with two USDA grants

CDF was awarded two grants from USDA to support the Foundation's work coordinating the Home Care Cooperative Initiative. The grants also include funding to establish a network between Northeast food cooperatives and Southeast farmers, and to facilitate discussions on the use of cooperatives to enhance Native American communities.

The $200,000 Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG) includes funds for projects to:

• Host the 2022 National Home Care Cooperative Conference;

• Provide education, outreach and coordination of home care development steering committee activities;

• Launch a shared service cooperative for home care cooperatives;

• Provide support for sound governance and better business performance technical assistance for rural food cooperatives; and

• Conduct a home care benchmarking survey

The $175,000 Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grant (SDGG) includes funds for projects to:

• Provide technical assistance to rural home care cooperatives;

• Coordinate discussions with cooperative developers and the Native American agricultural community on cooperative development to enhance food systems in Indian Country;

• Develop the cooperative home care market in Puerto Rico based on research funded in 2020; and

• Explore the potential for the wholesale distribution of products grown by primarily Black farmers in the Southeast U.S. through retail grocery cooperatives in the Northeast U.S.