The National Institute of Food and Agriculture has a sustainable agriculture program which seeks to make farms more profitable, promote environmental stewardship, and enhance quality of life for farm communities. Sustainable agriculture is promoted through national program leadership as well as providing funding for research. NIFA runs a Community Food Projects (CFP) Competitive Grants Program that aims to fund 2 types of grants, CFP's and Planning Projects. We believe our project would be eligible to receive either grant based on their descriptions. CFP's are aimed to support projects with a one-time infusion of federal dollars to make such projects self-sustaining. The purpose of Planning Projects are to complete plans toward the improvement of community food security (NIFA). Our plan is in alignment with the primary goals of this program and would make a good candidate for this grant.

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education is a competitive grants and education program in the United States. The focus of the program is about putting the principles of sustainable agriculture into practice. SARE financially supports research and education projects for farmers, researchers, students, and educators. They have funded 7,794 agricultural projects since 1988 and we hope that our project later becomes one of those. SARE grants are not intended for the startup costs of farms, but for projects involving research and education. Once our project is implemented, a grant from SARE would be very impactful for our long-term plan of advancing the research and education of urban agriculture projects.

The USDA has a history of supporting urban agriculture as part of the local and regional food systems. Examples of this support include USDA farmers market programs, rural cooperative grants, child nutrition programs, and USDA research and cooperative extension services. The USDA also provides a variety of funding for small farmers that practice urban agriculture. In 2020, USDA announced the availability of $3 million dollars in grants through its new Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. “Such projects have the potential to address important issues such as food access and education and to support innovative ways to increase local food production in urban environments" (USDA). This program offers yet another opportunity for our project to be completely funded by grants.

Local Sprout is a hydroponic farm based in San Antonio that aims to connect the community to a sustainable food system. This organization takes the initiative to install custom "edible landscapes" on site and continues to help their consumers maintain them. Through this process of custom hydroponic installation and maintenance, this program ensures a healthy yield of fruits and vegetables year round to consumers. The project aims to contribute to food security, provide education, and reduce environmental impact, which is very similar the goals of our own program, the SAP. Local Sprout provides us with an advanced model of what we hope the SAP could transform into after our project implementation.

Canberra City Farm is an organic, urban agriculture farm in Australia which aims to remain viable, ecologically sustainable and accessible. The vision for Canberra City Farm is a community living in harmony with nature. They have a number of allotments that members can rent on an annual basis to grow their own food. The SAP already runs a very similar program to this in Allendale, but this could be further extended into the Pew campus with the implementation of our project. This farm is surrounded by the Jerrabomberra wetlands and has a lot of small insect eating birds in which help their crops. Also similar to the SAP, this farm has beehives from the ACT Beekeepers Association that work to pollinate their land. Canberra City Farm's goals align with our own at the SAP and their practices can be modeled to expand the outreach of the SAP.

SoCal Urban Farms specializes in using "Tower Gardens" to sustainably grow produce. This system was created by Joe Wesley and Paul Stricker and allows for higher productivity, lower use of resources, and significantly less real estate. This system is proven to be more environmentally responsible because it does not use soil, consumes 98% less water than conventional gardening, and grows produce 30-50% faster than in soil. To inspire and encourage others, SoCal offers products and services for residential usage, like the "Tower Gardens" you see on the left. They work with others to plan community gardens, rooftop gardens, and greenhouses. SoCal Urban Farms also donates food to the needy of San Diego. The "Tower Gardens" are an innovative urban farming technique that could be incorporated into our project at a later time.

We are basing our timeline roughly around the typical agricultural season. This is typically from April until November. Most plants needs 90 days to complete a full harvest cycles. We would like to have all the supplies collected and land reserved before the first of April. Our first round of crops would include: Lettuce, Spinach, Bell Peppers, Green Onions. we picked multiple plants to increase biodiversity and an array of goods to harvest. The 90 day cycle would come to a close around July. We would take about two weeks maximum to clear our the remaining crops, distribute the collected harvest, and prepare for the second round of crops. Our second round of crops would begin end of July and would include: Tomatoes, Broccoli, Blueberries and assorted herbs. Herbs would consist of Oregano, Basil, Lavender, and Mint. We are hopeful to receive a decent bounty from this harvest before weather gets too cold. This plot will need very little preparation for winter months as opposed to traditional farming thanks to the hydroponic technique.