The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program | USDA NIFA FINI 008053

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA FINI 008053

The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) is a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) grant opportunity designed to help low-income households buy and eat more fruits and vegetables. The program’s core idea is to use targeted financial incentives at the point of purchase and clinically connected produce prescriptions to improve diet quality, reduce food insecurity, and potentially lower healthcare use and related costs. GusNIP also emphasizes coordination across sectors, encouraging partnerships that connect food retailers, community organizations, healthcare providers, and public agencies so that nutrition support is easier to access and more effective for the people it is meant to serve.

GusNIP funds two main types of projects. First are Nutrition Incentive grants, which increase fruit and vegetable purchases by SNAP participants by offering incentives (often described as matching dollars or bonus benefits) when fruits and vegetables are purchased through SNAP-authorized retailers. Second are Produce Prescription grants, which support projects where eligible participants receive prescriptions or vouchers for fresh fruits and vegetables, typically tied to health and nutrition goals and often paired with nutrition education. In both cases, the incentives are meant to directly shift purchasing behavior toward healthier foods while building practical, scalable models that can be adopted in other communities and states.

A major feature of this opportunity is its strong evaluation and data-sharing expectation. Applicants must agree to participate in a comprehensive GusNIP program evaluation and to collect and share required project data with the Nutrition Incentive Program Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation, and Information Center (NTAE). The program description also highlights broader system-building goals, including providing training and technical assistance to applicants and grantees, supporting growth in states with historically low participation, and aggregating common data sets through a central system to measure outcomes, identify best practices, and pinpoint where programs can be improved. The funding notice notes that separate NTAE cooperative agreement applications would be invited again in FY2022 when the existing cooperative agreement ended, signaling that evaluation and technical support functions are treated as key infrastructure for the national program.

Eligibility is limited to government agencies and nonprofit organizations as defined in the authorizing statute (7 U.S.C. 7517). The opportunity lists examples of eligible entities, including emergency feeding organizations, agricultural cooperatives, producer networks or associations, community health organizations, public benefit corporations, economic development corporations, farmers markets, community supported agriculture programs, buying clubs, SNAP-authorized retailers (firms), and state, local, or tribal agencies. Applicants must clearly demonstrate they meet the government or nonprofit requirement in their application, and missing eligibility requirements by the deadline can lead to exclusion from consideration.

To qualify for a Nutrition Incentive grant, a proposed project must be structured to increase fruit and vegetable purchases by SNAP participants through incentives at the point of purchase, and it must operate through SNAP-authorized firms while complying with SNAP rules and operating requirements. Applicants must also ensure that the same terms and conditions apply to purchases made with SNAP benefits and GusNIP incentives as apply to purchases made by shoppers who are not SNAP recipients, reflecting federal requirements intended to prevent differential treatment. In addition, projects are expected to include effective, efficient benefit redemption technologies that are replicable, meaning the program is looking for practical systems (not one-off solutions) that other communities can adopt without reinventing the process.

To qualify for a Produce Prescription grant, projects similarly must increase fruit and vegetable purchases by providing incentives at the point of purchase for participants eligible under the program’s produce prescription rules (referenced in the RFA). If the project design includes using SNAP spending to earn incentives, it must also operate through SNAP-authorized firms and comply with SNAP requirements. Produce Prescription applicants also must participate in the same comprehensive evaluation and data sharing with NTAE, meet the same “equal terms and conditions” requirement at retail, and incorporate redemption technology that can scale and be replicated elsewhere.

Beyond entity eligibility and project design, applicants seeking certain GusNIP grant types (including produce prescription and other named categories in the notice) must show relevant experience and capacity. That includes demonstrated experience reducing food insecurity in the community (such as food distribution, improving access to services, or coordinating programs) and/or experience with SNAP, depending on whether SNAP benefits are part of the produce prescription design. Applicants must also show they can realistically manage a federal award: implementing the project as proposed, maintaining fiscal accountability, collecting and reporting data, and producing required reports and supporting documentation.

Key administrative details provided in the source include the funding opportunity title (The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program), the issuing agency (USDA NIFA), the opportunity number (USDA NIFA FINI 008053), CFDA number (10.331), an original closing date of 2021-04-29, and an award ceiling listed as 500000. Overall, the opportunity is framed as both a direct community nutrition intervention and a national learning effort, combining financial incentives, healthcare-linked produce prescriptions, and standardized evaluation to strengthen what works, expand participation, and improve nutrition outcomes for SNAP households.

• The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.331.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-12-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-04-29. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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