Deadline: 7-Dec-23
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture is inviting applications to increase the knowledge of agricultural science and improve the nutritional health of children.
Purpose and Priorities
- The primary goals of FASLP are to:
- Increase capacity for food, garden, and nutrition education within host organizations or entities and school cafeterias and in the classroom;
- Complement and build on the efforts of the farm to school programs implemented under section 18(g) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act;
- Complement efforts by the Department and school food authorities to implement the school lunch programs established under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the school breakfast program established by section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966;
- Carry out activities that advance the nutritional health of children and nutrition education in elementary schools and secondary schools; and
- Foster higher levels of community engagement and support the expansion of national service and volunteer opportunities.
- FASLP supports projects that bring together stakeholders from the distinct parts of the food system to increase the capacity for food, garden, and nutrition education within host organizations or entities, such as school cafeterias and classrooms, while fostering higher levels of community engagement between farms and school systems. The goal of these efforts is to not only increase access to school meals for underserved children, but also to dramatically improve their quality and to decrease food loss and waste through student, school, and community engagement.
Funding Information
- The anticipated amounts available for the Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program (FASLP) in FY 2024 and FY 2025 is approximately $1,920,000 for each fiscal year. USDA is not committed to fund any particular application or to make a specific number of awards.
- Applicants must propose a FASLP project for a period of up to two years for a FASLP-P grant or a FASLP technical assistance plan for three years for a FASLP-TA grant. Applicants should request a budget commensurate with the proposed project. No single FASLP-P or FASLP-TA award request may exceed $240,000 total.
Activities
- FASLP is also focused on the development of leadership skills, knowledge, and qualities necessary to prepare students for food and agricultural and related careers in the private sector, government, and academia. Specific activities may include:
- Developing practical applications to increase understanding of leadership roles, including critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills; ethics and professionalism; and working in teams; Connecting the academic classroom experiences with daily leadership roles and organizational activities;
- Providing opportunities for mentoring and shadowing; and
- Organizing leadership academies, workshops, trainings, etc.
- Proposals may include the following activities, but are not limited to:
- Expanding farm-to-school programs beyond lunch to bring local or regional food products into the School Breakfast program;
- Operating service projects (e.g., AmeriCorps, VISTA, Food Corps, local service corps programs, etc.) that support farm to school initiatives in schools;
- Readying producers to participate in school food service by providing training on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and other food safety-related topics;
- Providing technical support in the form of face-to-face and/or virtual trainings, consultations, webinars, etc.;
- Developing promotional campaigns in support of farm-to-school initiatives.
Expected Deliverables
- Expected deliverables for the FASLP-TA grant are:
- Common metrics: Identify and/or develop common FASLP metrics and processes that can be used in year three to collect nationally aggregatable data, using annual FASLP reports, expertise of current FASLP awardees, and other informed resources, as appropriate.
- Report: By the end of year three, produce an annual report of FASLP which:
- Aggregates common metrics data across current FASLP projects which highlights impacts for FASLP goals and priorities;
- Strengthens the evidence-base of effective FASLP approaches to meet program goals – i.e., identify and confirm what works;
- Provides examples of projects and strategies that: are innovative; can be tailored to community specific characteristics and needs; and leverage and extend FASLP goals;
- Identifies outreach gaps and opportunities to increase awareness and understanding of how FASLP can better engage underserved youth and communities.
- Project director meetings: Collaborate with organizers of community nutrition project director meetings to ensure that FASLP needs and interests are met where program areas have been combined; attend annual project director meetings with other FASLP awardees and NIFA staff.
- Capacity: Facilitate strengthened relationships among FASLP grantees, sharing of best practices, networking across FASLP projects, and development of stakeholder project reports among current grantees; establish a model or process for continued sharing, networking, and reporting in future years.
- Food loss and waste: Include food loss and waste reduction data aggregation and reporting as an integral component of FASLP.
- Technical assistance: Provide technical assistance to FASLP project awardees, as needed.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligibility for FASLP is limited to the following groups: state agricultural experiment stations; colleges and universities; university research foundations; other research institutions and organizations; Federal agencies; national laboratories; private organizations, non-profit organizations, foundations, or corporations; individuals; or any group consisting of two or more entities described herein.
- The eligibility requirements are limited to the applicant. Project partners and collaborators need not meet the eligibility requirements. Failure to meet the eligibility criteria by the application deadline will result in exclusion from consideration. For those new to Federal financial assistance, NIFA’s Grants Overview provides highly recommended information about grants and other resources to help applicants understand the Federal awards process.
- Duplicate or Multiple Submissions – duplicate or multiple submissions are not allowed. NIFA will disqualify both applications if an applicant submits duplicate or multiple submissions. For those new to Federal financial assistance, NIFA’s Grants Overview provides highly recommended information about grants and other resources to help applicants understand the Federal awards process.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.