SECTION 1. GRANTS TO ASSIST MUNICIPALITIES TO HELP 
LOCAL FARMERS TO GROW FOOD CROPS OR 
RAISE CERTAIN LIVESTOCK TO BE SOLD LO-
CALLY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, 
through the respective State Department of Agriculture, 
may make a grant in accordance with this section to a 
municipality to enable the municipality to facilitate the 
ability of local farmers to grow food crops or raise live-
stock to be sold to the local community. 
(b) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of 
a grant under this section shall not exceed $100,000. 
(c) USE OF GRANTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A municipality to which a 
grant is made under this section shall use the grant, 
subject to paragraph (2), to establish a community- 
supported agriculture project, by— 
(A) leasing municipal land to a partici-
pating farmer; 
(B) providing a loan guarantee for a loan 
made for the purchase or lease of equipment or 
facilities to be used by a participating farmer; 
(C) establishing a kitchen certified by rel-
evant health authorities for use by farmers or 
nongovernmental farming associations oper-
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ating, as determined by the municipality, locally 
or regionally; or 
(D) establishing a plant for the processing 
of food crops or livestock, which is certified by 
relevant health authorities for use by farmers or 
nongovernmental farming associations oper-
ating, as determined by the municipality, locally 
or regionally. 
(2) REQUIREMENTS
RELATING
TO
MINIMUM 
OUTPUT, LOCAL SALE, AND UNDER-SERVED COMMU-
NITIES.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—A lease entered into or 
a loan guarantee provided pursuant to this sec-
tion shall provide that the municipality may ter-
minate the lease or rescind the loan guarantee, 
as the case may be, if, during any year for 
which the lease or loan guarantee is in effect— 
(i) the total value of the food crops or 
livestock produced from the land involved 
is less than— 
(I) $2,500, in the case of the 
first year of operation; 
(II) $3,500, in the case of the 
second year of operation; or 
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(III) $5,000, in the case of any 
subsequent year of operation; 
(ii) at least 30 percent of the sales of 
the food crops or livestock are not made in 
an under-served community within 50 
miles of the community-supported agricul-
tural project; or 
(iii) at least 70 percent of the sales of 
the food crops or livestock are not made lo-
cally or regionally. 
(B) LOCAL OR REGIONAL SALE.—An agri-
cultural product shall be considered to be made 
available for sale locally or regionally for pur-
poses of this section if the product is distrib-
uted within the locality or region where pro-
duced, in a manner which— 
(i) ensures that information regarding 
the product origin, production practices, or 
other similar information which is a source 
of value to the end-use consumer is typi-
cally conveyed; 
(ii) facilitates the likelihood that the 
income of the community-supported agri-
culture operation is increased through 
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maximization of the share of the retail 
food price retained by the producer; 
(iii) ensures that consumers are pro-
vided with a product produced, processed, 
and distributed in the locality or region 
where the end-use consumers acquire the 
product; and 
(iv) ensures that the product has trav-
eled less than 200 miles. 
(3) REQUIREMENTS
RELATING
TO
TERMI-
NATION OF LEASE OR RESCINDING OF LOAN GUAR-
ANTEE.—If the municipality determines that a lease 
entered into or a loan guarantee provided pursuant 
to this section will be terminated pursuant to para-
graph (2), the municipality— 
(A) shall announce the impending termi-
nation and seek to transition the operation for 
which the lease was entered into or loan guar-
antee was provided as a going concern to a new 
operator under the terms and conditions of this 
Act; and 
(B) may convert the operation to another 
use if, during the 6-month period beginning 
with the announcement, the municipality does 
not receive an application for the lease or loan 
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guarantee from such a new operator who is eli-
gible for the lease or loan guarantee under such 
terms and conditions. 
(4) PUBLIC BIDDING REQUIRED.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The municipality shall 
solicit bids from the general public for the 
leases and loan guarantees to be provided by 
the municipality pursuant to this section, and 
shall submit the bids to the State Department 
of Agriculture for review and award of funding 
in accordance with the schedule of priorities set 
forth in subparagraph (B). 
(B) PRIORITY
FOR
CERTAIN
PARTICI-
PATING FARMERS.—The municipality shall con-
duct the bidding in a manner that results in, 
and the Secretary of Agriculture, through the 
respective State Department of Agriculture, 
shall award grants and loan guarantees to mu-
nicipalities that have demonstrated that they 
have conducted bidding in a manner that re-
sults in applications by participating farmers 
who are socially disadvantaged farmers (as de-
fined in section 355(e) of the Consolidated 
Farm and Rural Development Act) or begin-
ning farmers or ranchers (as defined in section 
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7405(a) of the Farm Security and Rural In-
vestment Act of 2002) being considered first in 
the order of priority to receive funding. 
(d) LIMITATIONS
ON AUTHORIZATION
OF APPRO-
PRIATIONS.—For grants under this section, there are au-
thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary not more than 
$40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2014. 
SEC. 2. GRANTS TO ENABLE LOCAL NONGOVERNMENTAL 
FARMING ASSOCIATIONS SUPPORT THE FOR-
MATION OF COMMUNITY-SUPPORTED AGRI-
CULTURAL PROJECTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture may 
make a grant to enable a local nongovernmental farming 
association that promotes community-based farming, or a 
qualified farmer, to provide technical, advisory, and other 
assistance to support the formation of a municipally-based 
community-supported agricultural project. 
(b) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of 
a grant under this section shall not exceed $25,000. 
(c) USE OF GRANTS.—The recipient of a grant made 
under this section shall use the grant to— 
(1) provide public information about the assist-
ance available pursuant to this Act; 
(2) provide technical and advisory assistance to 
participating farmers who enter into a lease or re-
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ceive a loan guarantee from a municipality pursuant 
to section 1; or 
(3) conduct training sessions on subjects rel-
evant to starting, operating, maintaining, or mar-
keting crops produced by participating farmers. 
(d) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED FARMER.—In this 
section, the term ‘‘qualified farmer’’ means a farmer who 
has established a profit-making enterprise such as a farm, 
a community-supported agriculture operation, or a farm-
ers’ market, which has been in operation at least 5 years 
or a designated representative of such enterprise. 
(e) MEDIATION CONDITION.—As a condition of re-
ceiving a grant under this section, the grantee shall agree 
that, if a dispute arises between a participating farmer 
and a municipality from which the farmer has entered into 
a lease pursuant to section 1, concerning ownership rights 
to infrastructure improved with funds provided under this 
Act, or other matters with respect to the funds or activi-
ties engaged in pursuant to this Act, the parties shall use 
the services of the Certified State Agricultural Mediation 
Program of the Farm Service Agency of the Department 
of Agriculture. 
(f) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA-
TIONS.—For grants under this section, there are author-
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ized to be appropriated to the Secretary not more than 
$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2014. 
SEC. 3. GRANTS TO PROVIDE START-UP FUNDS TO FARM-
ERS WHO MUST DIVERSIFY THEIR OPER-
ATIONS IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN COM-
MUNITY-SUPPORTED 
AGRICULTURAL 
PRO-
JECTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture may 
make a one-time grant to provide start-up funding to an 
agricultural producer who must diversify the agricultural 
operations of the producer in order to participate in a 
community-supported agricultural project. 
(b) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of 
a grant under this section shall not exceed $10,000. 
(c) USE OF GRANTS.—An agricultural producer to 
whom a grant is made under this section shall use the 
grant to begin or participate in a community-supported 
agricultural project under this Act. 
(d) LIMITATIONS
ON AUTHORIZATION
OF APPRO-
PRIATIONS.—For grants under this section, there are au-
thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary not more than 
$4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2014. 
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SEC. 4. MARKETING ASSISTANCE FOR COMMUNITY-SUP-
PORTED AGRICULTURE PROJECTS. 
The Secretary of Agriculture shall provide marketing 
assistance to a participating farmer who has received a 
lease or loan guarantee under section 1 that has not been 
terminated, to assist the farmer in marketing to commu-
nity institutions, including schools, child care centers, and 
senior centers. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) 
COMMUNITY-SUPPORTED
AGRICULTURAL 
PROJECT.—The term ‘‘community-supported agricul-
tural project’’ means a contract under which a group 
of consumers, a nonprofit organization, or a public 
agency which represents consumers is obligated to 
purchase a specified amount of one or more agricul-
tural products directly from one or more agricultural 
producers during a specific period. 
(2) FARM VENDOR.—The term ‘‘farm vendor’’ 
means a farmer, a member of the family of a farm-
er, or an employee of a farmer, who sells at a farm-
ers’ market agricultural products produced only by 
the farmer. 
(3) LIVESTOCK.—The term ‘‘livestock’’ means 
cattle, bison, deer, swine, sheep, goats, and poultry, 
whether raised directly for human consumption or 
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for the production of milk or eggs for human con-
sumption. 
(4) MARKETING ALLIANCE.—The term ‘‘mar-
keting alliance’’ means a legally recognized entity 
from which farmers and managers of farmers’ mar-
kets can obtain technical support on issues relating 
to farmers’ markets. 
(5) MUNICIPALITY.—The term ‘‘municipality’’ 
includes any city, town, borough, county, parish, dis-
trict, transportation district, assessment jurisdiction, 
or other public body, or any other political subdivi-
sion within the territorial limits of the United 
States, created by or pursuant to State law or the 
law of an Indian tribe or tribal organization, with 
the authority to impose a tax, charge, or fee. 
(6) NONGOVERNMENTAL
FARMING
ASSOCIA-
TION.—The term ‘‘nongovernmental farming asso-
ciation’’ means any of the following entities that has 
legal standing: 
(A) A group of agricultural producers that 
operates as a marketing alliance. 
(B) A cooperative association, each of 
whose owners and members is an agricultural 
producer. 
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(C) A group of two or more agricultural 
producers or farm vendors who sell an agricul-
tural product through a common distribution 
channel. 
(D) A nonprofit organization with exper-
tise in farming. 
(E) A network or association of agricul-
tural producers. 
(7) PARTICIPATING FARMER.—The term ‘‘par-
ticipating farmer’’ means an agricultural producer 
who has made a binding commitment to participate 
in a community-supported agricultural project. 
(8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes the 
several States, the District of Columbia, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin 
Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. 
(9) UNDER-SERVED
COMMUNITY.—The term 
‘‘under-served community’’ means an urban, rural, 
or tribal community which has— 
(A) limited access to affordable, healthy 
foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables, in 
retail grocery stores or farmer-to-consumer di-
rect markets; 
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