Farm to School Grant Program in the US

Deadline: 6-Jan-23

The Food and Nutrition Service is seeking applications for the Farm to School Grant Program.

Objectives

• Implementation Grant Activities:  Proposed Implementation grant activities must support the required objective, improve access to local foods in eligible schools through comprehensive farm to school programming that includes local procurement and agricultural education efforts
• State Agency Grant Activities: Proposed State Agency grant activities must support the required objective, improve access to local foods in eligible schools through comprehensive farm to school programming that includes local procurement and agricultural education efforts.
• Turnkey – Action Planning Activities: Develop a Farm to School Action Plan to facilitate launching or scaling farm to school activities.
• Turnkey – Agricultural Education: Plan, implement, and evaluate the integration of farm to school topics into school, childcare, and/or summer site curriculum.
• Turnkey – Edible Garden: Plan, implement, and evaluate a food production operation that produces food for school, childcare, and/or summer site activities.

Funding Information

• Estimated Total Program Funding: $12,000,000
• Award Ceiling: $500,000
• Award Floor: $10,000.

Activities

• Authorizing language in Section 18(g) of the NSLA (42 U.S.C 1769(g)) directs the Secretary of Agriculture to award competitive grants, designed to improve access to local foods in eligible schools, for activities such as:
  • Training;
  • Supporting operations;
  • Planning;
  • Purchasing equipment;
  • Developing school gardens;
  • Developing partnerships; and
  • Implementing farm to school programs.

Eligibility Criteria

• Entities not meeting the eligibility definitions will be deemed ineligible and removed from competition without further consideration. The following are eligible entities, which are described in more detail:
  • Eligible schools, including nonprofit private and charter schools, which operate the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and/or School Breakfast Program;
  • Eligible Child Care Institutions, including non-school based institutions that have an agreement with the State agency to operate the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP);
  • Eligible Summer Institutions, including non-school based institutions that have an agreement with the State agency to operate the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP);
  • State agencies;
  • Local agencies;
  • Indian Tribal organizations (ITOs)
  • Agricultural producers or groups of agricultural producers; and
  • Non-profit entities.
  • Entity type must be clearly indicated and unambiguous in all application materials. If USDA cannot determine the applicant to be an eligible entity based on information contained within the application, the applicant may be subject to removal from consideration.

Ineligible

• The following entities are ineligible to receive a grant for the Farm to School Grant Program. Applicants identified as any of the entity types described will have their application removed from competition without further consideration. Please note that the list is not a comprehensive list of all ineligible entity types. This section is provided as a resource to address frequently asked questions which FNS often receives from one or more of the entity types described .
  • Individuals, such as individual parents or teachers, are ineligible for the Farm to School Grant Program.
  • Institutions of higher education, including colleges and universities, are not eligible for the Farm to School Grant Program. Note that for the purposes of this RFA, Indian Tribal Colleges and university foundations are considered institutions of higher education and are not eligible as the lead applicant. Institutions of higher education are ineligible regardless of 501(c)(3) status. Institutions of higher education can be key partners.
  • Hospitals, as defined by Section 1861 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x) are ineligible for the Farm to School Grant Program. Note that for the purposes of this RFA, hospital foundations are considered ineligible entities and are not eligible as the lead applicant. Hospitals and hospital foundations are ineligible regardless of 501(c)(3) status. Hospitals and hospital foundations can be key partners.
  • Cooperative extension services are ineligible for the Farm to School Grant Program. Cooperative extension service is defined by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture as “a nationwide, noncredit educational network that addresses public needs by providing non-formal higher education and learning activities to farmers, ranchers, communities, youth and families throughout the nation.”
  • Cooperative extension services are ineligible regardless of 501(c)(3) status. Cooperative extension services can be key partners.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.

 

For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=343898