Minnesota Farm to Early Care Mini Grant Application Form

Applications are Due: July 21, 2021, 4:30 p.m.

If you have questions about this application please contact Elizabeth Gardner | 651.201.3878

Contact Information

Primary project contact

Name:

Email address:

Phone number:

Organization or agency:

Fiscal agent details for this application

Name:

Email address:

Phone number:

Organization or agency:

Tax ID number:

Additional contact person, if applicable

Name:

Email address:

Phone number:

Organization or agency:

Project location: (county/city/region, etc.)
Mini Grant Program will prioritize funding projects from diverse geographic locations.

Type of licensed early care provider (check one):

Early care center
Preschool
HeadStart Program
Other early care setting (describe)

How many children will potentially be impacted by your project?
Mini Grant Program will prioritize projects with large scale impact.

Farm to Early Care components Project to address (check all that apply)

Local food purchasing (such as purchases direct from local farms or through community supported agriculture (CSA), cooperative purchasing as a group, e.g., home providers, parents, etc of programs, meals, snacks, taste tests, farmer’s market, food hub, MN Grown at store, farmer stands)
Gardening (such as inside and outside containers, raised bed, in ground, hydroponics, vertical gardening, on site or shared garden at other location)
Education (such as agricultural field trips to or special visits from farmers, chefs, etc; taste tests, sensory exploration, cooking activities, farm, food and garden books, food and garden lessons; how food grows and where it comes from math, science and literacy lessons, cook’s club)

Briefly tell us about your project.
Please explain which of the following goals your planned activities will support and how:

*Increase local Minnesota food purchasing by early care centers, preschools, Head Start Programs and other early care settings.
*Promote healthy community food systems through increased access to nutrient dense local foods for children and their families.
*Increase nutrition and agricultural education for children in early care settings.
*Stimulate local economies through increased purchasing from local Minnesota farmers, producers, and distributors by early care programs.

Projects will be evaluated on how well they meet these goals. Your project does not need to meet all of the goals, but must support at least one of these goals to be considered.

Character limit: 1500.

Why are you interested in starting or expanding nutrition and farm education, gardening, or local food purchasing in your program?

Character limit: 1500.

What changes do you hope to see as a result of this project? How will you know if your project is successful?

Character limit: 1500.

How will you use the $2500 from the mini grant?
Please share what money will be used for and approximate costs.

For example:

*direct purchases of local tomatoes, zucchini and watermelon from nearby Farm Name ($420) and local raspberries from Orchard Name ($60)
*purchase of materials to build a raised bed garden ($260), soil ($100), garden tools ($130), fall planting seeds ($25)
*purchase of bilingual books about farming and food (share names) ($200), 2 play farm stands for 2 classrooms ($600), costumes ($50) and toy vegetables ($150) for imaginative play in the classroom
*funding afield trip for children and families to a local apple orchard (share name if you know), including transportation ($300), stipend for farmer to give tour ($200), purchase of apples and cider for snack during visit ($200),funding 8 staff members’ time to attend 2 hour event ($640)
*funding a family Harvest Festival event with local food meal and food- and farm-focused games, including meal featuring local turkey, sweet corn, apples, snap peas and watermelon for ~100 attendees at ~$8/meal ($800), staff time for 10 staff to attend event for 2 hours ($800), materials for corn toss game ($50)

Character limit: 1500.

What is your plan for tracking and reporting the expenses related to this project?

Character limit: 1500.

This Mini Grant Program will prioritize applications with projects supporting work in communities who face barriers to accessing fresh, locally grown foods. This could include urban neighborhoods, Indigenous or Tribal communities, or rural areas etc.

Please tell us about the community this project will serve and explain if your project serves a community that faces barriers to accessing fresh, locally grown foods.

Character limit: 1500.

This is a fast-track grant with approximately 2 months to complete the project by October 15, 2021. Please share a two-month timeline for the activities of your project, completing by October 15th.

Character limit: 1500.