Food, Faith and Farming Opens Southeast Wisconsin Grants
The Food, Faith and Farming Network is accepting applications for $1,500 seed money grants in southeast Wisconsin, with a Jan. 30 deadline.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Organic Food
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The Food, Faith and Farming Network opened applications for seed money grants covering southeast Wisconsin, following a similar program in the southwest part of the state. Ten grants of up to $1,500 each will be awarded in 2023, with applications due by Jan. 30.
Why it matters
The grants are intended to strengthen relationships between rural and urban communities across Wisconsin by funding local projects that address community issues through networks of collaborating individuals and groups. The organization is hopeful the southeast program can match the results of the southwest program, which funded 32 projects.
Ten seed money grants of up to $1,500 each will be awarded in 2023, with Bader Philanthropies contributing $25,000 to fund the listening sessions and grants. The southwest Wisconsin program that preceded this one funded 32 projects over four years, but funding for the southeast program beyond 2023 has not been secured.
The players
Food, Faith and Farming Network
A Wisconsin organization originally founded in 1989 as the Churches' Center for Land and People, which renamed itself in 2016 to focus on connecting rural and urban communities through food and farming.
Bader Philanthropies
A philanthropic foundation that contributed $25,000 to fund the listening sessions and seed money grants.
The details
Applicants must address a community issue, outline an innovative solution and build a network of individuals or groups to carry out the work together. Five listening and networking sessions were held in fall 2022 in Racine, Neosho, East Troy, Saukville and Milwaukee to shape the program.
Timeline
Fall 2022: Five listening and networking sessions held across southeast Wisconsin.
Jan. 30, 2023: Application deadline for southeast Wisconsin seed money grants.
Late February 2023: Grant awardees to be notified.
2023: Funded projects expected to get up and running.
Season Trajectory
The southeast Wisconsin grants extend a model first tested in the southwest part of the state, where the seed money program funded 32 projects over four years. Whether the southeast effort matches that track record will depend on securing funding beyond the 2023 round.
Community groups in southeast Wisconsin can apply for grants of up to $1,500 to fund projects that address local food and farming issues, with applications due Jan. 30. The awards are intended to help build networks between rural and urban residents across the region.
The takeaway
Community groups considering a project should identify a specific local issue and a network of partners before the Jan. 30 deadline, since the program prioritizes both an innovative solution and collaboration.
What happens next
Grant awardees will be notified in late February 2023, and funded projects are expected to begin in 2023.
Further reading
For related coverage, explore Organic Food reporting on farming and community food systems.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Farm Progress.
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