Wisconsin takes applications until Oct. 1 for $5 million in grants to buy food made or grown in the state
The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection opened the round on Sept. 1, the second of two the state budget pays for. Nonprofits must spend every dollar on food given away at no cost; the first round's $5 million went to two organizations.
Madison. Nonprofit food banks, food pantries and other food assistance organizations in Wisconsin have until 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 1 to apply for $5 million in state grants to buy food produced or processed in Wisconsin and give it away at no cost. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection opened the round on Sept. 1.
It is the second round of the Food Security and Wisconsin Products Grant Program. The 2025-27 state budget, which Gov. Tony Evers signed on July 3, 2025, set aside $5 million for it in each of its two fiscal years.
Only food, and mostly Wisconsin's
The grants reimburse purchases after they are made, and no match is required. The whole budget must go to food for people, bought from Wisconsin farmers, processors or local distributors, with at least 51 percent of each item produced or processed in the state. Staff time, storage, distribution, administration and overhead cannot be charged, and grantees may not impose membership requirements on partner organizations.
There is no minimum request, and a single applicant may ask for the full $5 million. Projects must reach several counties across the state, and the department encourages organizations to apply together; a pantry that serves only a county or two may apply, but is encouraged to do so with others. Partnerships with producers, distributors and food sites count for 25 of the 100 points reviewers award.
The first round and what comes next
The first round, with applications due Nov. 5, 2025, went to two organizations. Hunger Task Force, a Milwaukee food bank, and Feeding Wisconsin, the statewide association of the Feeding America food banks in Wisconsin, were awarded $2.5 million each, the governor's office announced on Jan. 7.
Hunger Task Force used its grant to start a program called Connecting Farms to Families, which buys from 250 farms, Wisconsin Public Radio reported in August. Matt King, its chief executive, told the station that more than 150 emergency food organizations in 58 counties were receiving the food.
The department plans to score applications by Oct. 20 and notify those selected by Nov. 15. Projects may start Dec. 1 and must end by Nov. 30, 2027. Grantees report each quarter on what food they bought, from whom and where it went, and 10 percent of each award is held back until the department approves the final report.
The budget authorizes the grants only in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 fiscal years, and tells the department to draw up its 2027-29 budget request as though the second year's $5 million had not been appropriated.
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