Wyoming Food Systems Assessment -
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)
Food works Group is working closely with us at the Wyoming Food Coalition throughout the project and will be the feature of our speaker series in December and January, which will focus on the pilot program they plan to launch in early 2025.
This program will facilitate future purchase agreements by making funding awards to WY producers and food security organizations in 2025 and 2026.
Food Works Group Food Purchasing Agreement Pilot Progam - 2025
Awards through this Pilot Program will develop and support future purchase agreements, also known as forward contracts, between Wyoming producers and food pantries or other food security service organizations to support the distribution of Wyoming-grown foods to Wyomingites experiencing food insecurity. Funding may be used for food purchases and/or for infrastructure and equipment for moving food from farm to consumer.
In addition, Food Works Group (FWG) will be available to support projects with technical assistance, which might include matching producers and food security service organizations, coordinating distribution logistics, connecting producers with any required training or certifications, understanding equipment and supply needs, and more.
The goal of this program is to develop long-term, sustainable relationships that allow food security service organizations to pay Wyoming producers fair prices for their food. The 2026 full program will encourage applicants to think creatively about sustainable funding approaches to ensure that Wyoming producers can cover the true costs of producing food and food security service organizations can fit Wyoming products into their food budgets.
This is a pilot program that will be used to evaluate challenges and opportunities in providing forward contract awards before releasing a full program in early 2026. The 2025 pilot program will distribute approximately 20% (up to $263,000) of the total funds available for forward contracts through this project.
There are two types of funding available: funding for food purchases, and funding for equipment, infrastructure, and/or technical support. Applications may include requests for one or both types of funding. Eligible applicants include Wyoming producers, aggregators or distributors of Wyoming-grown or -made food, and food security service providers.
The application itself will be submitted via this now-closed Google Form.
Please Reference this Google Doc version of the application for your planning purposes.
Food Works Group is here to help! If you have any questions about this process please contact us at wyoming@foodworksgroup.com.
The mandatory eligibility quiz. This quiz is mandatory to be determined eligible and invited to apply for the forward contract (future purchase agreement) pilot program.
Have questions about this Pilot Program?
Please watch the videos below for a full explanation and Q&A Session: