The Agricultural Marketing Service of USDA will soon be opening its RFAs for programs that provide significant funding to nonprofits in your communities. They are recruiting reviewers with relevant knowledge, experience and expertise to help in the review process. Here is the link to submit an application: http://new.grantreviewinfo.net/fy20-usda-ams

The programs and the the tentative review dates are as follows:

Acer Access and Development Program (ACER): June 1 – July 3
Federal-State Market Improvement Program (FSMIP): June 1 – July 3
Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP): June 8 – July 15
Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP): June 8 – July 15
Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP): June 8 – July 15

It is critically important for these programs to have more reviewers who have exposure to sustainable, small- and medium-scale agriculture and community-based food systems in order to understand the types of projects being put forth and make informed assessments of their merits and achievability.

We encourage funders, your grantees or partners who would not have a conflict as an applicant for one of the grants, to consider applying to be a reviewer. It’s a great window on what really strong and really weak proposals look like, and a valuable understanding of how USDA proposals are assessed.