Body of News Release
Marin County, CA – Roughly $1.4 million in local tax revenue is available this year in Marin County for groups dedicated to supporting sustainable food systems and natural resources on working lands. Marin County Parks has opened another grant application period for a program called Food, Agriculture, and Resilient Ecosystems, or FARE for short. Online submissions are accepted through September 12 via Submittable.com.
The 2025 grants aim to support projects and programs that enhance food systems, promote climate-beneficial management, and increase natural resource values on Marin's working lands. Programs that benefit populations traditionally experiencing inequity with food security and health are prioritized.
The first round of FARE grants in 2024 resulted in several significant accomplishments. They included:
- Fibershed's collaboration with tribal communities to plant 1,800 flood sedges (wetland-friendly plants similar to tall grass) for traditional basketry with local students
- The North Bay Children's Center creation of new educational garden facilities
- Kitchen Table Advisors building land lease pipelines to connect underserved specialty crop growers with agricultural landowners
Program coordinator Rachel Lane said last year’s FARE grantees showed Marin County Parks about the impact of community-led solutions, from restoration to school food system improvements. “Their valuable feedback has directly shaped how we’ve updated the program,” she said. “For Round 2, we’ve streamlined the application process, added a new community and school gardens grant category, and expanded support services including permitting assistance and garden strike crews.”
Ideal FARE applicants are organizations involved with community gardens, local food supply sustainability, increasing access to farmland for underserved communities, carbon-capture farming practices, environmental restoration on working lands, and improving ecosystem services for water quality and soil health, wildlife corridors and habitat improvements.
To be eligible for the funding, applicants must use the funding in Marin County. Those invited to apply include public agencies, special districts, joint powers authorities (JPAs), educational institutions, Native American tribes, federally recognized nonprofits, or fiscally sponsored projects of an eligible organization.
FARE is a result of the 2022 passage of Measure A, the countywide quarter-cent sales tax otherwise known as the Marin Parks, Open Space, and Sustainable Agriculture Transactions and Use Tax Ordinance. By law, a portion of Measure A funds must be used to support sustainable food systems.
Through Measure A, voters in Marin approved a competitive grant program to help address the critical funding gaps in areas that voters identified as high priorities. Measure A funding for FARE is projected to total $7.2 million, or $800,000 annually, until Measure A sunsets in 2030.