The USDA Farm to School Grant Program is designed to increase the availability of local foods in schools and help connect students to sources of their food through education, taste tests, school gardens, field trips, and local food sourcing for school meals. The grants are intended to launch new farm to school programs or expand existing efforts.
The fiscal year 2024 Farm to School Grant awards projects of 24 months in length for funding up to $500,000. Eligible applicants include schools and other institutions that operate child nutrition programs, tribal organizations, agricultural producers or groups of agricultural producers, nonprofit entities, and state and local agencies.
Applicants are required to provide matching support of at least 25 percent of the total project budget in the form of cash or in-kind contributions. The Request for Applications (RFA) offers three tracks—Implementation, State Agency, and Turnkey—to support a variety of projects and implementation stages.
Deadline: The RFA period is now open; the closing date is January 12, 2024. Awards will be announced approximately six months after the RFA closes.