FY27 406-01-3252 Local Food Infrastructure Grant (LFIG)

The Illinois Department of Agriculture (the “Department” or “IDOA”) is issuing this Notice of Funding Opportunity (“NOFO”) to provide grants through the Local Food and Infrastructure Grant Act [505 ILCS 92] and Administrative Code Title 8: Agriculture and Animals Chapter I: Department of Agriculture Subchapter m: Marketing Programs Part 340 Local Food Infrastructure Grant. The Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program was created to provide grants to support the development of local food processing, aggregation, and distribution throughout the State of Illinois. The Local Food Infrastructure Grant Program is part of an effort to support local food farmers, feed Illinois communities, enhance local food economies, generate economic growth for Illinois, and invest in supporting critical local food infrastructure needed to bolster processing, aggregation, and distribution of local food. Section 15(1) of the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Act authorizes the Department to make grants to Illinois resident individuals, groups, partnerships, or collaborations and shall include any one or more of the following entities that store, process, package, aggregate, or distribute value added agricultural products or plan to do so: Illinois farms with less than 50 employees; Illinois cooperatives with less than 50 employees; Illinois processing facilities with less than 50 employees; Illinois food businesses with less than 50 employees; Illinois food hubs with less than 50 employees; Illinois nonprofit organizations; and units of local government in Illinois. All grant funding provided under this Act must be used for purchasing, leasing to own, renting, building, or installing infrastructure related to the processing, storage, aggregation, or distribution of value-added agricultural products.