Accessible Adaptive & Flexible Funding3: 

• Alleviating common constraints experienced by systemically marginalized1 farmers and food entrepreneurs by offering awardees flexible funding3 and support during the application process (1:1 Counseling, Office Hours & Language Translation and Interpretation Services)

Increased Community Engagement and Awareness: 

• Raising public awareness about the importance of supporting local farmers and food businesses while promoting the GFPP values. 

Enhanced Availability of Healthy and Nutritious, Fair, Local, Sustainable, & Humane foods in Institutions 

• Increasing the amount of locally sourced GFPP-aligned produce and food products in the following entities: public meal programs, institutions, and community food access sites.

• Public meal programs: Schools, early childcare centers, hospitals, community centers, senior centers, living and care communities, and other organizations serving meals to the public.

• Community meal sites/ food access sites: Food banks, food pantries, mutual aid programs, health centers, community gardens, and other initiatives focused on improving food access and security. 

• Public or Private Institutions: City of Chicago, its Sister Agencies, and Cook County Government, libraries, hospitals, universities, government offices, correctional facilities, community centers

Flexible grants ranging between $40,000 - $80,000 for local food businesses / organizations supporting GFPP values and progress towards selling to community meal sites and institutions in Metro Chicago. There is no match or reimbursement necessary for this grant. Once selected as an awardee, funds will be disbursed at the start of the grant period (in September 2026). If your proposed project is eligible, but the costs are less than $40,000, do not let this deter you from applying. You can submit a joint application, and/or can submit multiple applications for different projects; however, there is a maximum of $80,000 that will be awarded per organization/business per grant cycle. If you would like additional clarification, contact kaitlyn@chicagofoodpolicy.com. 

This grant funding intentionally does not have extensive restrictions on how you spend the requested funding. With flexible grant funding, organizations can allocate resources where they are most needed. We trust the leaders of an organization know what funds are most needed for, and we recognize that those needs can change over the course of a grant cycle. Instead of locking an organization into a static budget, prior to receiving the funding, the GFPI Community Fund Manager and the awardee will co-create a budget and milestones across the year that make sense given the allocated funding amount and the scope of the project. This way, instead of just paying for certain projects, we can explore how this funding can be allocated to support your organization’s entire mission.

The eligibility criteria directly match to the criteria on the scoring rubric

Systemically Marginalized & GFPP-Aligned Food Producers:

• Farmers: Systemically marginalized, local farmers who adhere and/or strive towards GFPP values (racially equitable, healthy, fair, local, humane, and sustainable). This includes both rural and urban growers as well as indoor and outdoor growers. This fund is intended for small to midsize (less than 150 employees and/or less than $750,000 in annual revenue) growing operations. 

• Food Organizations/Businesses: Local food producers, food processors, value-add manufacturers, food service providers, caterers, prepared food providers, distributors, and aggregators that align with GFPP values (racially equitable, healthy, fair, local, humane, and sustainable) and are in need of financial support and technical assistance for capacity building to increase their access to community-food access sites and/or institutional buyers. There are no limitations at this time regarding the category of food products the Food Organizations/Businesses serve  as long as they are produced locally. This fund is intended for small to midsize (less than 150 employees and/or less than $750,000 in annual revenue) operations.

• Systemically Marginalized (5 pts): "Systemically Marginalized" refers to those that experience social, economic, and/or political exclusion and/or discrimination based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, disability, and/or religion.

• The organization/business is (1) owned/controlled by or managed by leaders who experience social, economic, and/or political exclusion and/or discrimination based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, disability, and/or religion and/or (2) organization/business services and/or the proposed project benefit, are community driven, co-designed, or directly influenced by systemically marginalized communities. 

• Alignment with GFPI & GFPP Values (5 pts): (1) Organization/business as well as the (2) proposed project have an aligned mission and vision with the Metro Chicago Good Food Purchasing Initiative (GFPI). Organization/business as well as the proposed project is equitable, accountable, and transparent in both their producing and sourcing and is advancing at least one or more of the following values within the Metro Chicago Regional food system: local, sustainable, healthy, humane, and/or fair.

Legal entity: Qualifying organizations are privately, cooperatively, for-profit or non-profit owned and operated or a tribal nation.

Desire to supply/sell to Community Meal Sites and/or Public Institutions in the Metro Chicago region (5 pts): The proposed project will (in)directly create new or strengthen existing market opportunities to community meal sites or institutions in Metro Chicago.  

• The organization has a plan to begin, expand, and/or improve their current service to community meal sites, public meal programs and/or institutions. .

• Higher scores include detailed and specific plans to serve community meal sites or institutions that are aligned with or can be carried out simultaneously with the proposed project & explain how these plans will be initiated, continued, and/or expanded upon during the grant period. 

• Public meal programs: Schools, early childcare centers, hospitals, community centers, senior centers, living and care communities, and other organizations serving meals to the public.

• Community meal sites/ food access sites: Food banks, food pantries, mutual aid programs, health centers, community gardens, and other initiatives focused on improving food access and security. 

• Public or Private Institutions: City of Chicago, its Sister Agencies, and Cook County Government, libraries, hospitals, universities, government offices, correctional facilities, community centers.

Desire to Collaborate (5 pts): The goal of the GFPI Community Fund is to build a network of mission-aligned growers across the Metro Chicago region. The farm/organization must have plans for beginning, expanding, and/or improving their current relationships (through sharing resources and/or knowledge) with other mission-aligned farms/food businesses in the Metro Chicago food system.

• Higher scores would be given to applicants that provide specific and detailed plans for beginning, expanding, and/or improving their existing collaborative relationships with other mission-aligned farms/food businesses in the Metro Chicago food system to advance the GFPI mission/vision.

Serve Suburban Cook County / Metro Chicago: Your farm/organization and proposed project serves Suburban Cook County and/or Metro Chicago.

Locally based: Your farm/organization’s primary operations are based in the state of Illinois and/or within a 250 mile radius of Chicago (500 miles for meat, poultry, and seafood). 

Organizations may apply to the 2026 GFPI Community Fund with multiple projects (more than one application per business). Previous GFPI Community Fund awardees may apply for additional funding for an ongoing project or a new project. However, there is a maximum of $80,000 that will be awarded per organization/business per grant cycle.

Ineligible Applicants:

• Public meal programs, Community meal sites/ food access sites, Public or Private Institutions that do not produce food

  • This opportunity is intended for the growers and food producers that serve public meal programs, community meal sites, food access sites, and/or public or private institutions. Unless your community meal sites/ food access sites, and/or Public or Private Institutions are producing food in some way, you are likely not eligible for this funding round.

• Food Producers (Farmers/ Food Business Owners) that have more than 150 employees and/or more than $750,000 in annual revenue.

• Food Producers whose proposed project does not serve Metro Chicago (Meaning City of Chicago and/or Suburban Cook County)

• Food Producers that are based further than 250 miles from the city of Chicago (If you are outside the 250mi radius, but are based in the state of IL, you are eligible).

• Food Producers who are not led by and/or directly influenced by systemically marginalized communities.

• Food Producers that are not a legal entity at the time of submitting their application (A legal entity is one that is privately, cooperatively, for-profit or non-profit owned and operated or a Tribal nation).

• Organizations and Projects that are not aligned with one or more of the GFPP Values (local, sustainable, healthy, humane, and/or fair).

• Organizations that have no plans to initiate, continue, and/or expand on collaborations (including but not limited to knowledge and/or resource sharing) with other organizations that are aligned with the GFPP values during the grant period.

• Organizations that have no plans to initiate, continue, and/or expand service to Public meal programs, Community meal sites/ food access sites, and/or Public or Private Institutions during the grant period.

  If you have any questions about your eligibility please reach out to kaitlyn@chicagofoodpolicy.com

• Application opens: Monday, June 1, 2026

• Application closes: Monday, June 29, 2026 at 11:59 PM CDT

• Final Award Decisions: September 2026

• Funding Disseminated: September 2026

• Grant Period: September 2026 - September 2028

The grant period is two years, from September 2026 until September 2028. Any projects submitted along with their accompanying budget template should fit within this two-calendar-year time frame as well. All of the grant funds must be spent by the completion of the project period, September 2028.

At the beginning of the grant period, the GFPI Community Fund Program Manager will assist Fund awardees in developing measurable goals relevant to their project and will provide quarterly tracking on progress. Additional qualitative data (i.e: on-site interview co-led by GFPI’s Evaluation Team) will be collected at the end of the grant period to support a deeper understanding of the following topics: 

• Increased knowledge of GFPI values

• Impact of grant funding on your organization/business’s progress on GFPP Goals (how has this grant enabled you to increase availability of racially equitable, healthy, fair, local, humane, and sustainable food products)

• Progress in refining plans towards participation in community food access & institutional selling 

• Feedback on program support and technical assistance provided 

• Additional interviews may be conducted in future years of the grant to measure long-term impact of the funding.

• Increased knowledge of GFPI values

• Impact of grant funding on your organization/business’s progress on GFPP Goals (how has this grant enabled you to increase availability of racially equitable, healthy, fair, local, humane, and sustainable food products)

• Progress in refining plans towards participation in community food access & institutional selling 

• Feedback on program support and technical assistance provided 

• Additional interviews may be conducted in future years of the grant to measure long-term impact of the funding.

Technical Assistance (TA) – Along with flexible grant funding, awardees will have the option of receiving supplemental TA tailored to their organizational or business needs as part of the grant award. TA essential to project execution should be included in the required project budget template when submitting the application.This supplemental TA is intended to provide indirect support to the organization and/or proposed project. Applicants can share more about their TA preferences, and/or recommend specific providers in their application along with during the onboarding meeting.  

The Tailored Technical Assistance offerings can include one or more options from the categories listed below. An applicant could also request another option of their choice that is not listed below. The applicant will have the opportunity to indicate their preference for the technical assistance that would be most helpful for them to receive in the application process as well as during the onboarding process. Please see below for a list of examples of TA that awardees can receive. 

• Farm Operations

• Equipment / Purchasing

• HR / Staff / Training / Project Management 

• Finance, Planning & Accounting Support

• Marketing, Pricing & Sales

• Certifications

• Fundraising

• Nutritional Guidance

• Legal Support (Business Development)

• Food Safety Certification Support

• And more!

Exposure and Networking Opportunities – Awardees will be invited to onboard and network with the other grant awardees who are similarly passionate about increasing the availability of racially equitable, healthy, fair, local, humane, and sustainable food products in the Metro Chicago region. There will also be opportunities to highlight your organization/business and celebrate your milestones across the extensive GFPI and CFPAC networks. 

Quarterly Check-ins – Instead of intensive reporting, grant awardees will have required Quarterly Check-ins with the GFPI Community Fund Program Manager after initial onboarding. These quarterly check-ins are important for us to understand how the funds are being used; ensuring they relate back to the goals of your project and align with the GFPI Community Fund. During these check-ins awardees will have access to additional coaching, project support, and opportunities for industry connections on a quarterly basis.

Click HERE to learn about the inaugural 2023 GFPI Community Fund Awardees and their respective projects.

Click HERE to learn about the 2024 GFPI Community Fund Awardees and their projects

Click HERE to learn about the 2025 GFPI Community Fund Awardees and their projects

The Scoring Rubric that will be used by the GFPI Community Fund Review Committee to evaluate applications is included here. Click here to view the Scoring Rubric. 

When it comes to selecting awardees, we’ve assembled a review committee with diverse experiences, identities, and perspectives. Located across the metro Chicago area and within a 250-mile radius, this team has helped shape our application materials and will play a central role in the final decision-making process.

This year’s Review Committee includes:

• Farmers & Growers (urban and rural, indoor and outdoor)

• Food Business Owners & Entrepreneurs

• Past GFPI Community Fund Awardees

• Grant Writers & Recipients

Every member brings deep expertise across all five GFPP value categories, as well as varied experience in institutional sales—from both supplier and buyer perspectives. The team also reflects a broad spectrum of gender, ethnic, and cultural identities, ensuring that the selection process remains inclusive and representative of the applicants we serve.

Ultimately, the Review Committee’s lived experiences and professional knowledge form the backbone of our selection process because we believe those closest to the work best understand its impact and should be the ones leading the decision making.

Our GFPI Community Fund Review Committee will evaluate eligible applications based on the organization's alignment with the priorities listed on the scoring rubric, the proposed spending detailed in the required Budget Template, the explanation provided on how your project(s) will impact your organization/business’s growth, and expand on one or more of the GFPP values (local economies, sustainable practices, fair labor, animal welfare, and nutrition and advances the work of building equity in the Metro Chicago food system.)