Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DP16-1607: Sodium Reduction in Communities Program

Answer: Applicants may propose to work with multiple entities that serve and/or sell food within two selected venues, each venue with the potential for reaching at least 5,000 people per day. For this FOA:

• “Venue” is defined as a type of setting (e.g. hospitals or senior meal programs)
• “Entity” is defined as specific institutions/places within the venue (e.g. Hospital A, Hospital B, Hospital C; or Senior meal site A, senior meal site B, senior meal site C).

Note: Priority venues include: public and private sector worksites; public and private sector programs that purchase and provide food to congregate populations (e.g., senior meal programs, schools, early childhood education centers, programs that serve people in institutionalized settings, etc.); hospitals; and small regional chain restaurants. Applicants may propose to work in a venue beyond the priority venues listed but must provide sufficient justification for working in any other venue by describing the potential reach and impact, and evidence that supports working in this venue.

Priority will be placed on proposals that will reach the largest populations.

Answer: As part of Section C, titled “Organizational Capacity”, applicants must have demonstrated capacity to reach at least 500,000 people. The FOA does not define how this is calculated.  For more information, please refer to “Target Populations” section of the FOA.

Answer: The ceiling for individual award range is $500,000/year. The number of entities funded will depend on the amount of available funding and the number and types of applicants that compete successfully.

Answer: A technical assistance conference call will take place January 28, 2016 from 3:30- 5:00 PM U.S. Eastern Time.  At this time, the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP) will review the FOA in detail for participants. Potential applicants may continue to ask questions of the Procurements and Grants Office (PGO) and DHDSP by submitting questions to Hadley Hickner (xxm5@cdc.gov).  Questions and Answers will be posted on the website at http://www.cdc.gov/salt/foa.htm. Technical assistance regarding electronic submissions will be provided by Grant solutions staff as needed.

Answer:  No. This call will not be recorded. Questions and Answers from the call will be posted on the website at http://www.cdc.gov/salt/foa.htm.

Answer:  No. A Letter of Intent is requested but optional for this FOA. The LOI must be postmarked by March 1, 2016. The LOI serves as a preliminary, non-binding indication of an organization’s intent to submit an application.

Answer:  With funding through this FOA, applicants are asked to focus on population efforts to reduce sodium. It is acceptable to include high blood pressure control efforts as long as they align with the objectives and outcomes of this FOA.

Answer:  Cost sharing or matching funds are not required for this program. Although there is no statutory match requirement for this FOA, leveraging other resources and related ongoing efforts to promote sustainability is strongly encouraged.

Answer:  A cross-site evaluation is an evaluation that looks across the funded sites to identify themes, patterns, achievements, and barriers. The purpose of a cross-site evaluation is not to compare funded communities against each other, but to identify common lessons across the communities while also recognizing that each community has unique characteristics and context. The cross-site evaluation of the funded sites will be primarily focused on outcomes and the extent to which the FOA-identified outcomes have been achieved. While implementation of lessons learned will also be included in the cross-site evaluation, process measures are not a primary focus for this FOA.

Answer:  CDC will provide substantial support and technical assistance to grantees.

Answer:  All eligible applications will be initially reviewed for completeness by CDC’s Procurement and Grants Office (PGO) staff. In addition, eligible applicants will be jointly reviewed for responsiveness by CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and PGO. Non-responsive applications will not advance to the next phase of the review. Applicants will be notified that the application did not meet eligibility and/or published submission requirements. An objective review panel will evaluate complete and responsive applications according to the criteria listed in the Review and Selection Process section of the FOA. Applications will be funded in order by score and rank determined by the review panel. In addition, CDC reserves the right to fund applications out of rank order depending on the distribution of sodium reduction interventions across venues and the geographic distribution of the highest scoring applications. Priority will be placed on proposals that will reach the largest populations. CDC will notify applicants that are approved but unfunded and unapproved applicants during the same period when funded applicants are notified. Awardees will receive an electronic copy of the Notice of Award from CDC PGO. The NOA shall be the only binding, authorizing document between the awardee and CDC. Approved but unfunded applications remain valid for one year and may be funded if additional resources become available.

Answer:  CDC will work with awardees to operationalize the required outcome performance measures and assist with the identification of sound data collection approaches and/or the availability of existing data collection instruments.

Answer:  Current SRCP funding will end September 29, 2016. No continuation opportunity will be offered. The new SRCP (DP 13-1607) will be open to all eligible entities. Current SRCP grantees will have to apply according to the same criteria as all other applicants.

Answer:  In most cases, awardees may not use HHS/CDC/ATSDR funding for the purchase of furniture or equipment (pg. 31). Any such proposed spending must be clearly identified in the budget. Awardees will not be permitted to use funding under this FOA for purchasing kitchen equipment for a cafeteria or a restaurant.

Answer:  Eligible applicants include:

• State governments (i.e. any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any agency or instrumentality thereof exclusive of local governments) 
• County governments
• City or township governments
• Special district governments
• Independent school districts
• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
• Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
• Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Private institutions of higher education
• For profit organizations other than small businesses
• Small businesses
• Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above) subject to any clarification in text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" of the FOA

Answer:  Each applicant should identify two venues and recruit specific entities under each venue.  Applicants may propose to work with entities that provide food to congregate populations generally and/or applicants may specific a particular congregate population with which to work. When determining which venues to select, we encourage applicant to consider the time and resources that it will take to address each venue. Each additional type of congregate meal program selected will likely require more time and resource investment to achieve and measure outcomes. 

Answer:  Applicant should provide justification for the collaboration with the selected food sector organization/group. The examples listed in the FOA are examples of potential food sector partners and do not represent an exhaustive list of groups. Applicants should provide letters of commitment to the project for the selected organizations/groups.

Answer:  If selecting a venue that is operated at national level, the applicant should provide an explanation of how decisions are made at individual or regional locations.  The intent is that the entities with which the applicant is proposing to work will have the authority to make changes at the local/entity level.

Answer:  The organization applying for the award must have the organizational capacity to reach 500,000. The applicant must specify two venues with entities that serve and/or sell food, reaching at least 5,000 people per day.  For more information on defining venues and entities, please see page 7 of the FOA.

Answer:  For this FOA, a venue is defined as a type of setting (e.g. hospitals or senior meal programs) and entity is defined as specific institutions/places within the venue (e.g. Hospital A, Hospital B, Hospital C; or Senior meal site A, senior meal site B, senior meal site C). Applicants may propose to work in a venue beyond the priority venues listed on Page 7 of FOA but must provide sufficient justification for working in any other venue by describing the potential reach and impact, and evidence that supports working in this venue. Priority will be placed on proposals that will reach the largest populations.

Answer:  Current SRCP funding will end September 29, 2016. No continuation opportunity will be offered. The new SRCP (DP 13-1607) will be open to all eligible entities. Current SRCP grantees will have to apply according to the same criteria as all other applicants.

Answer:  The indirect costs are a part of total award amount (total financial assistance).

Answer:  CDC will acknowledge receipt of Letters of Intent, but CDC will not provide any feedback on the letters. The Letters of Intent are used for planning purposes.

Answer:  Only one application per organization will be accepted.

Answer:  Nothing prohibits an organization from applying in coordination with another. However, one primary applicant (organization) of the multiple coordinating organizations is to submit an application for funding under the registrations of a DUNS number and SAM in Grants.gov. If awarded, actual performance of programmatic activities under a cooperative agreement (grant) is to be managed and administered by a primary awardee. Therefore, arrangements of sub-awardee or contractor relationships are necessary before submission of the application. An establishment of a consortium relationship is too late at this time for registration of DUNS number and SAM.

Answer:  International organizations do not fit under any eligibility category of the FOA (please see page 17 of the FOA for a complete list).

Answer:  Each venue should have the potential to reach 5,000/day across all sub-awardees. Priority will be placed on proposals that will reach the largest populations.

Answer:  The required performance measures are an aggregate for each awardee. Therefore, one required (bolded) performance measure should be selected across the primary awardee’s work plan, not necessarily in by each sub-awardee.

Answer:  As part of the Project Description, section (c), titled “Organizational Capacity of Awardees to Implement the Approach”, applicants must have demonstrated capacity to reach at least 500,000 people. The FOA does not define how this is calculated. For more information, please refer to “Target Populations” section of the FOA.

Answer:  In addition to the Year 1 detailed workplan, applicants must provide a high-level plan for subsequent years that describes an overall integrated approach to achieving sodium reduction. This plan does not need to include specific activities, but rather a general statement describing what the applicant expects to accomplish in subsequent years of the FOA. The optional workplan template provided includes a “narrative” section under each venue. High-level description of plans for the remainder of the FOA can be entered here.

About 120 days before the completion of the first year project, CDC will publish a guidance for Annual Progress Report (APR) in Grants.gov, which serves as a non-competing continuation application for the 2nd year. In this guidance, detailed guidance will be provided for required level of detailed work-plans for year 2 as well as reporting of the actual progress made in the proposed/approved work plans in the year 1.

Answer:  At least 1 required (bolded) performance measure should be identified for each individual, corresponding outcome in all levels (short term, intermediate, and long term).

Answer:  The FOA does not describe that an applicant is limited to a particular congregate population with which to work. We encourage the applicant to consider the time and resources that it will take to address each venue and entities within that venue. Each additional type of congregate meal program selected will likely require more time and resource investment to achieve and measured outcomes. A written justification for selecting venues and entities should be provided. Priority will be placed on proposals that will reach the largest populations.

Answer:  In the FOA, hospitals are listed as a separate venue. Work with hospitals should primary focus on retail settings to avoid confliction or infringement on medically prescribed therapeutic patient meals. For this reason, we suggest considering hospitals as a separate venue; however, applicants could make a case for including hospitals as congregate meal sites.

Answer:  The award ceiling $500,000/budget period. The award floor is $300,000/budget period.

Answer:  Applicants are expected to work with organizations that have a role in achieving the FOA outcomes, specifically: 1) at least two types of venues that serve and/or sell food, reaching at least 5,000 people per day and 2) at least one organization/group that is a part of or that represents some component of the food sector (e.g. vendors, suppliers, and/or related trade association affiliates).

Answer:  An applicant may collaborate with any organization or group that represents some component of the food sector that may facilitate reductions in sodium levels of commercially processed and restaurant foods offered or sold by the applicant’s selected venues. The applicant should specifically describe how they will collaborate with that organization(s) while implementing and evaluating expansive and sustainable intervention strategies in venues that serve large populations. A non-exhaustive list of food sector organization/group examples, noted in the FOA include: vendors, suppliers, or other related trade association affiliates.

Answer:  There is no cap on the indirect cost rate, which is negotiated with a cognizant Federal agency. Accordingly, there is no cap on indirect costs. Total Indirect Costs should be included in the Budget Narrative. If requesting indirect costs in the budget, a copy of the indirect cost-rate agreement is required. If the indirect costs are requested, include a copy of the current negotiated federal indirect cost rate agreement or a cost allocation plan approval letter for those grantees under such a plan.

Answer:  All applicants should include a propose budget for travel for at least two representatives to attend a CDC-sponsored meeting (not to exceed three days) related to the strategies being implemented as part of this FOA. CDC will provide guidance for additional meetings in subsequent continuation applications as necessary.

Answer:  Costs for a food contract and procurement of equipment are allowable costs if the procurements of foods and equipment are necessary for achieving the goals and purpose of project under the FOA and if the costs are allowable, reasonable, and allocable in accordance with USG Code of Federal Regulations (see 45CFR75, Subpart E). When determining whether or not proposed activities are in line with the FOA outcomes (see page 6 of the FOA), applicants should first answer the 4 questions on page 10 of the FOA. Applicants must also propose at least one measure in bold for each outcome area in which the applicant is working (refer to pages 10-12 for outcome areas and respective performance measures).

Answer:  Generally, awardees may not use funds to purchase furniture or equipment. Any such proposed spending must be clearly identified in the budget. Applicants must consider whether the proposed spending is necessary to achieve the purpose and outcomes under the FOA and that costs are reasonable and consistent with the program strategy outlined in the project narrative of the FOA.

Answer:  If proposed activities are in line with the intent of the FOA and will allow the applicant to achieve the outcomes identified in the FOA, the application and activities will be considered and scored according to the objective review criteria located on pages 30-33 of the FOA.

Further, the Evaluation and Performance Measurement Plan does not specify the level that data collection should occur. The applicant should be able to address the 4 evaluation questions listed on page 10 of the FOA and should propose at least one performance measure in bold for each outcome area in which the applicant is proposing to work (pg. 10-12).

CDC will work with awardees to operationalize the required outcome performance measures and assist with the identification of sound data collection approaches and/or the availability of existing data collection instruments. Applicants may propose additional outcome measures than those listed above. Applicants must provide a rationale for proposing measures that are not included.

Answer:  An applicant may propose to work with non-federal, profit or non-profit contractual organization(s). These contracts must be specified in the application and the organization must significantly contribute to the implementation of program strategies and achievement of project outcomes. The grantee must procure its contractor in accordance with its own established procurement policies, which are in compliance with USG Code of Federal Regulations (see 45CFR75, subpart D, section 326-335, Procurement Standards). Therefore, if in compliance, the grantee can procure goods and services from a for-profit organization. Please note that food/meal costs are allowable if they are necessary for programmatic purposes.

As indicated in the FOA’s project description, applicants will also be required to work with at least one organization/group that is a part of or that represents some component of the food sector (e.g. vendors, suppliers, and/or related trade association affiliates). The FOA does not prohibit an organization from serving as both a contractor to implement the approach and a food sector partner with which the applicant will collaborate.

Answer:  Applicants should provide letters of support from partners that detail their commitment to the selected strategies and to achieving the selected outcomes. The specific expectation, role and/or level of commitment outlined in the letter should be based on the outcomes identified in the applicant’s application and negotiated between the applicant and the partner considering each organization’s priorities. Letters of support/commitment can be included as Appendices.

Answer:  With the funding through this FOA, applicants are asked to focus on two venues. An applicant may propose work with three venues as long as efforts align with the objectives and outcomes of the FOA, but should consider the time and resources it will take to address each venue.

Answer:  No. For FY 2016, The Sodium Reduction in Communities Program is funded with basic budget authority funds.

Answer:  In the year 1 workplan, the applicant will need to identify all expected performance measures that will be addressed during the project period based on the interventions selected. Performance measurement helps demonstrate achievement of program outcomes and drives continuous program improvement. In order to accurately monitor progress, performance measures require sound baselines and valid target measures. The applicant has the ability to create lower targets for year 1, if movement in a performance measure is anticipated to be slower in year 1 when compared to subsequent years. The applicant must provide adequate justification for why those measures are projected to be lower. The voluntary workplan template includes a “narrative” section for each venue, in which applicants can identify high-level descriptions of plans for the remainder of the FOA; this could potentially include performance measures that you expect to track during subsequent budget periods. Alternatively, applicants may include all planned performance measures in the application narrative. Awardees will be required to submit a more detailed Evaluation and Performance Measurement plan within the first 6 months of the award.

Answer:  Reach estimates are the total reach for the entire 5-year project period. Awardees will be expected to report reach annually for each of the five years, including the aggregate of reach for the entire project period. The calculation used to determine reach is by the applicant’s discretion; the FOA does not outline a definition. Priority will be placed on proposals that reach the largest populations.

Answer:  The expectations for letters of commitment are as follow:

1. Letter of commitment from at least one organization/group representing some component of the food sector
2. At least 1 letter from an entity of each venue identified in the application (applicants should select 2 venues)

Therefore, it is acceptable for an applicant to submit a letter of commitment by a partnered hospital system, representing one or multiple hospitals engaged in activities under the venue ‘hospitals’. At least one other letter of commitment will be expected from an entity of a different venue.

Answer:  The applicant should first refer to its organization’s established policy classification of “equipment” and “supplies”. In the absence of the non-Federal entity’s own established policy for classification of equipment, the entity should use the federal government defined equipment classification policy in the Code of Federal Regulations (45CFR75) which defines equipment as tangible personal property (including information technology systems) having a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization level established by the non-Federal entity for financial statement purposes, or $5,000. Any kitchen equipment means equipment in a kitchen, a restaurant, and a cafeteria uses for foods preparation/cooking such as refrigerator and any other cooking equipment that can be defined as cited in the Code of Federal Regulations (45CFR75). Applicants must consider whether the proposed spending for equipment and supplies is necessary to achieve the purpose and outcomes under the FOA and that costs are reasonable and consistent with the program strategy outlined in the project narrative of the FOA. Any such proposed spending must be clearly identified in the budget.

Answer:  The 12-point font requirements do not apply to logic models/charts/graphs. The logic model should be included in the project narrative. Awardees will be required to submit a more detailed Evaluation and Performance Measurement plan within the first 6 months of award, as described in the Reporting Section of this FOA. Updated logic models may be submitted at this time as well.

Answer:  Eligibility is unrestricted for this FOA, however each applicant must have the organizational capacity to reach 500,000. As noted in the FOA, priority will be placed on proposals that will reach the largest populations. (FOA pages 7, 17, 33)

Answer:  Although the FOA does not specify a formula for determining reach, organizational reach should measure the actual and potential number of people or entities served by the intervention and reflect the interventions’ scope. Since proposed media/consumer information activities cannot be a stand-alone activity under the FOA, it is not advisable to rely on mass media campaigns to measure organizational capacity. The organization applying for the award must have the organizational capacity to reach 500,000. The applicant must specify two venues with entities that serve and/or sell food, reaching at least 5,000 people per day.

Answer:  As part of the Project Description, section (c), titled “Organizational Capacity of Awardees to Implement the Approach”, applicants must have demonstrated capacity to reach at least 500,000 people. The FOA does not define a formula for calculating reach. CDC suggests clearly defining organizational capacity, reach and impact of all interventions. Please note: Nothing prohibits an organization from applying in coordination with another. However, one primary applicant (organization) of the multiple coordinating organizations is to submit an application for funding under the registrations of a DUNS number and SAM in Grants.gov. If awarded, actual performance of programmatic activities under a cooperative agreement (grant) is to be managed and administered by a primary awardee. Therefore, arrangements of sub-awardee or contractor relationships are necessary before submission of the application. An establishment of a consortium relationship is too late at this time for registration of DUNS number and SAM.

Answer:  Applicants must prepare an overall budget in a summary format for each of 5 years budget periods of the project period for SRCP. In addition, a detailed budget must be prepared for the first year budget period in a summary format with justifications showing (1) computation of $ amounts and (2) narrative justification of the budget costs category line items. The summary budgets for each of the 5 years budget periods and the detailed budget for the first year budget period must be submitted into www.grants.gov as a separate attachment.

A single project period for SRCP consists of 5 annual budget periods. Annual awards are subject to the availability of funds and satisfactory performance of agreed to project activities. Approximately 120 days before the end of first year budget period, awardees are required to submit Annual Performance Report (APR) for the first year performance period including a detailed budget for the non-competing continuation funding year subsequent to the end of the first year budget period. This same process will be repeated for the remaining budget periods in the project period for non-competing continuation funding. Awardees will be required to submit detailed annual budgets at the time of submitting APR for continuation funding.

Please review the Award Information on pages 16-17 of the FOA for more information. For additional guidance on completing a detailed budget, see Budget Preparation Guidelines at: http://www.cdc.gov/grants/interestedinapplying/applicationresources.html.

Answer:  The FOA describes a venue as a “type of setting” but does not provide criteria for categorizing each venue. Applicants should use their best judgment and consider available resources and bandwidth when arbitrating criteria for venue categorization. Applicants may propose to work in a venue beyond the priority venues listed in the FOA but must provide sufficient justification by describing the potential reach and impact, and evidence that supports working in this venue. Additionally, the applicant will be required to recruit specific entities within the venues to implement sodium reduction strategies/interventions listed on page 7 of the FOA.

Answer:  Applicants should identify two venues and recruit specific entities within the venues to implement sodium reduction strategies/interventions. The selected strategies/interventions should be outlined in the venue-specific logic model (see FOA page 5). In addition, there is an expectation that awardees will work with at least one organization/group that is part of or that represents some component of the food sector (e.g. vendors, suppliers, and/or related trade association affiliates). This activity does not require a logic model. The food sector partner may work to, but is not limited to, enhance the strategies/interventions of identified venues. Throughout the five years of the project period, CDC will work individually and collectively with each of the awardees to answer the evaluation questions based on the program logic model.

Answer:  Yes.

Answer:  Applicants are not required to pursue all of the outcomes listed in the FOA. For each outcome identified, applicants are required to select as least one bolded performance measure. Applicants may propose additional outcomes and measures with justification provided.

Answer:  The total application does not have a page limit. However, the FOA does describe page limits for specific sections of the application, including:

• Project Abstract Summary (1 page limit)
• Project Narrative (20 page limit), which includes the work plan and the evaluation and performance measurement plan
• There is no limit to the number of attachments that can be uploaded (please review the list of acceptable attachment). The FOA has been amended to allow work plans to be uploaded as attachments. The uploaded plan will still be counted towards the Project Narrative page limit.

Please note: A template for the work plan can be found at www.cdc.gov/salt/foa.htm. Applicants are not required to use the template; however, it does represent the required elements that will be used to track performance annually. If the provided work plan template is used, the instruction pages do not count towards the page limit. The template is in a locked format and therefore unused lines cannot be removed. If this causes an applicant to exceed the 20 page limit by a minimal amount, all pages will still be reviewed.

Answer:  The FOA requires at least 1 required (bolded) performance measure identified for each outcome. Applicants will need to address both percentage and number for every selected performance measure.

Answer:  Formulas for measures are not provided in the FOA as approaches should be based on the grantees availability and accessibility of data and data collection instruments. CDC will work with awardees to operationalize the required outcome performance measures and assist with the identification of sound data collection approaches and/or the availability of existing data collection instruments. Applicants should use formulas that best describe the reach and impact that selected interventions have on people and entities. For more information, see CDC Guidance on calculating reach and impact: http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/programs/spha/docs/reach_impact_tip_sheet.pdf[PDF-365K].

Answer:  According to the Federal Regulations CFR 45 Part 93 – New Restrictions on Lobbying, no person seeking to apply for or currently receiving a Federal contract, grant, loan or cooperative agreement should pay any person (in any way affiliated with the awarding agency) to influence the decision to award Federal contracts, grants, loans, cooperative agreements and the extension, continuation, renewal, amendment, or modification of any Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement.

Anyone who intends to apply for or is receiving a Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement from an agency is required to certify that they have not made, and will not make any payments as prohibited by paragraph (a) of this section. Applicants are required to certify this on SF 424 - Application for Federal Assistance (Page 4 # 21). Only if applicants have agreed to make payments or have already engaged in making payments in a manner that is prohibited, must the applicant disclose the specific activities by filing a disclosure form with the agency that they are requesting or receiving a Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement from.

Answer:  Executive Order 12372 references Intergovernmental Reviews. According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a list of participating states can be found at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_spoc. The SPOC list is updated as of 12/23/2015. States that are not listed on this page have chosen not to participate in the intergovernmental review process, and therefore do not have a SPOC. If an applicant is located within a State that does not have a SPOC, application materials may be sent directly to a Federal awarding agency. For applicants within States that are not participating, the recommendation is to print out the full list of participating States, (a) include a copy with the application as a verification and (b) maintain a copy of this verification for records and future referencing.

Answer:  As stated on page 41 of the FOA, acceptable attachments include:

• Project Abstract
• Project Narrative
• Budget Narrative
• CDC Assurances and Certifications
• Table of Contents for Entire Submission
• Letters of Support

The program has also determined that the following attachments are acceptable, if relevant to the applicant.

• Resumes/CVs
• Organization Charts
• Non-profit organization IRS status forms, if applicable
• Indirect Cost Rate, if applicable
• Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)
• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Additionally, the FOA has been amended to include: “Applicants may upload work plans as attachments as a PDF file on www.grants.gov”. Please see page 15 of the FOA for further guidance on submitting work plans.

Answer:  Collaborations, including the applicant’s required collaboration with organizations/groups that are a part of or that represent some component of the food sector, should be described in the project narrative of the application. Evidence of this commitment must be documented with letters of support/commitment from food sector organizations/groups. Please see page 22 of the FOA for more information on submitting letters of support.

Answer:  Within a venue, selected interventions do not need to be identical from entity to entity. Applicants should ensure that all anticipated interventions selected by the multiple entities within a venue are reported in the venue-specific work plan.