SitemapUSDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has invested $41.5 million in 38 projects as part of the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP). This includes $36.3 million in 27 Nutrition Incentive Program projects and $5.2 million in 11 Produce Prescription Program projects.
GusNIP is a collection of three competitive grant programs that provide funding opportunities to conduct and evaluate projects providing incentives to income-eligible consumers. The program’s goal is to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables, and prescriptions for fresh fruits and vegetables, and provide support services to potential applicants, nutrition incentive projects, produce prescription projects, and GusNIP as a whole.
Nutrition Incentive Program projects develop and evaluate projects to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables by providing incentives at the point of purchase among income eligible consumers participating in the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam and the United States Virgin Islands, and income-eligible consumers participating in the USDA Nutrition Assistance Program Block Grants in Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands.
Produce Prescription Program projects demonstrate and evaluate the impact of fresh fruit and vegetable prescriptions. The goals of the program are to increase procurement and consumption of fruits and vegetables, reduce individual and household food insecurity, and reduce healthcare usage and associated costs. In addition, projects present educational opportunities relating to nutrition to participants and connect the food and healthcare systems.
2025 Nutrition Incentive New Awardees:
South Dakota State University
Community Food & Agriculture Coalition
Market Umbrella/Crescent City Farmers Market
Mid-America Regional Council Community Services Corporation
Auburn University
No More Empty Pots
Tennessee Department of Health
Jackson Medical Mall Foundation
Indiana Department of Health
The Regents of the University of California, San Diego
Every Day is a Miracle, Inc.
2025 Nutrition Incentive Supplemental Awardees:
Iowa's Healthiest Initiative
Farm Fresh Rhode Island
Hunger Free Oklahoma
Washington State Department of Health
Community Farm Alliance
University of California San Diego
New Mexico Farmers Marketing Association
Utah Department of Health and Human Services
Pinnacle Prevention
Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project
Field and Fork Network
D.C. Central Kitchen
City Green
Banco De Alimento
Crossroads Community Food Network, Inc.
Clemson University.
2025 Produce Prescription Program Awardees:
Arizona Veterans Research and Education Foundation
Banco de Alimento Puerto Rico, Inc.
Children’s Hospital Corporation
County of Alameda Public Health Department
Desert Mission Inc.
New Mexico Farmers’ Marketing Association\
Rural Health Network of SCNY, Inc.
Rush University Medical Center
The Food Trust
University of Maryland, College Park
Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation.
To read the full story from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, click here.