The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it has improved and expanded its Farm to School Grant program and would invest up to $18 million to connect locally grown food to child nutrition programs.
The Farm to School Grant announcement was made alongside U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s latest Make America Healthy Again report, which called for more whole, unprocessed foods in children’s diets.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said the grants are “one of the best ways we can deliver nutritious, high-quality meals to children, while also strengthening local agriculture.” “These grants will open new doors for small family farms, expand access to healthy food in schools, and inspire the next generation of Great American Farmers,” Rollins said in the news release.
State agencies, tribal organizations, child nutrition programs, nonprofits, agricultural producers and groups of producers can apply for grants from $100,000–500,000 to support new and existing farm-to-school projects.
