The District of Columbia Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF) has announced the FY2027 Produce Prescription (Produce Rx) Program under an official Notice of Funding Availability. The District anticipates ONE competitive grant of up to $500,000 to expand Food is Medicine interventions for local Medicaid and other public insurance beneficiaries. The $500,000 amount is both the entire anticipated competition pool and the maximum of the sole applicant award; no second applicant award is announced.
Produce Rx programs allow clinical providers to prescribe healthy food that beneficiaries may redeem from participating retailers at no cost. The initiative focuses on beneficiaries with diet-related chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease and stroke, and perinatal conditions such as gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. Eligible organizations must show demonstrated experience administering Food is Medicine interventions for publicly insured populations, integrating food prescription activities into clinical workflows, and partnering with retailers to provide food redemption. Applicants must maintain required DC and IRS good standing and provide Clean Hands certification.
The application opportunity is announced but the complete controlling RFA is NOT YET RELEASED as of October 29, 2026. DHCF expects to release it on or around November 6, 2026. Matching, full expenditure restrictions, review criteria and final forms are not established in the available NOFA and must be verified from the eventual RFA. The anticipated grant term runs from award through September 30, 2027, with up to two possible option years contingent on funding.
The official NOFA sets a December 7, 2026 deadline of 4:00 p.m. (time zone not stated in the NOFA) and anticipates a November 16 preproposal conference at 11:00 a.m. Instructions presently direct completed applications to DHCF care of becky.normile@dc.gov, subject to correction or supplementation in the forthcoming RFA. Do not confuse this applicant grant with a government contract to purchase or deliver ordinary commercial goods.
Official two-page NOFA: https://communityaffairs.dc.gov/sites/moca/files/dc/sites/moca/page_content/attachments/DHCF%20Produce%20Rx%20FY27%20NOFA.pdf. District grant clearinghouse: https://communityaffairs.dc.gov/node/26. Research verified October 29, 2026. The complete RFA is forthcoming; applicants should verify the controlling application requirements when it is released.