Illinois nonprofits can apply from Nov. 2 for local food infrastructure grants of up to $250,000
Gov. JB Pritzker announced a $1.8 million round of Local Food Infrastructure Grants on Oct. 8. Nonprofits, local governments and small farms and food businesses can seek money for cold storage, refrigerated vehicles and processing equipment until noon on Jan. 6, 2027.
Springfield. Illinois nonprofits can apply from Nov. 2 for a share of $1.8 million in state Local Food Infrastructure Grants, which pay for the refrigerated vehicles, cold storage, livestock processing, community kitchens and other equipment that move food grown in the state to the people who eat it.
Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Agriculture announced the new round on Oct. 8. Individual projects may receive $1,000 to $75,000 and collaborative projects $1,000 to $250,000. In a collaborative project, only the lead applicant receives the money, the department says. Applications close at noon on Jan. 6, 2027.
Who can apply
The money must go to buying, leasing to own, renting, building or installing infrastructure to process, store, aggregate or distribute value-added agricultural products. Illinois farms, cooperatives, slaughter and processing facilities, food businesses and food hubs with fewer than 50 employees are eligible, and so are Illinois nonprofit organizations and units of local government. The governor's announcement sets no size limit for nonprofits.
Recipients must match a quarter of the grant unless the project is high need, meaning it fills a critical gap in a community's food infrastructure or mainly serves underserved farmers and communities, according to the department's guidance. Only costs incurred after the application date count, and they must be incurred by June 30, 2027.
Registering first
Every applicant must pre-register before applying: with the federal SAM.gov registry, on the state's Grant Accountability and Transparency Act portal, and in the Euna Grants system where the application is filed. The governor's office said registration can take two to four weeks. The department plans resource slides and a podcast about the program in late October.
The state has distributed nearly $4 million over two earlier funding cycles since the program began in fiscal 2025, the governor's office said. The department's list of the last round's awards shows 61 grants. Among them, Beyond Hunger, an Oak Park nonprofit, received $75,000 for a refrigerated van to deliver fresh produce, meat and dairy, and Evanston Grows received $75,000 for a refrigerated vehicle to carry produce from its growing sites to farm stands, food pantries and community partners.
Last round's recipients may apply again, but not for the same project. Under the state's Local Food Infrastructure Grant Act, a project funded in one cycle cannot be funded in the next, and a new application must have its own purpose, activities and budget, the department says.
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