The grant could provide up to $4,000,000.
The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to enable SNAP-authorized DMFs (direct marketing farmers and FMs (farmers markets), as necessary) to determine, at no or little cost to them, whether adding SNAP to their business model has a positive cost-benefit value, and to provide SNAP recipients with greater access to DMFs operating at physical FM locations and via other direct marketing avenues (e.g., roadside stands, pick-your-own). The cooperator will use resources from this cooperative agreement to assist DMFs and FMs in becoming SNAP authorized and support the processing of transactions by these DMFs and FMs through outreach, technical assistance, and a secure SNAP Mobile Transaction Processing Application (The App).This cooperative agreement opportunity is not intended to support the development of an untested mobile application for SNAP. However, the grantee may collaborate or coordinate with The App provider to develop additional functionality for The App that would enable the processing of transactions for other Federal nutrition assistance programs.FNS announces, through this Request for Applications (RFA), the availability of a maximum of $4 million to be used over a three (3) year period for a new award as a cooperative agreement. Only non-profit organizations and institutes of higher education are eligible to participate in this competition.