USDA Offers Farm to School Grants
USDA annually awards competitive Farm to School grants that support planning, developing, and implementing farm to school programs. The Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program is designed to increase the availability of local foods in schools and connect students to the sources of their food through education, taste tests, school gardens, field trips, and local food sourcing for school meals. Grants can launch new farm to school programs or expand existing efforts. The fiscal year (FY) 2025 Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program is now accepting applications with three separate grant tracks available, outlined below.
Track 1: Implementation Grant
What are the grant objectives for this track? The objective of the 2025 Farm to School Implementation Grant is to improve access to local foods in eligible Child Nutrition Program (CNP) sites through comprehensive farm to school programming that includes both local sourcing and agricultural education efforts.
Who is eligible to apply? Eligible applicants for the Implementation grant may include schools and other institutions that operate child nutrition programs, Indian Tribal Organizations, agricultural producers or groups of agricultural producers, non-profit entities, and local agencies. Note that state agencies are not eligible for Farm to School Implementation Grants.
What is the project duration and funding amount for this grant? The FY 2025 Farm to School Implementation Grant has a project duration of up to 24 months with a maximum funding amount of $500,000.
Is there a matching fund requirement? 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) for Implementation Grants is here.
Track 2: State Agency Grant
What are the grant objectives for this track? The 2025 Farm to School State Agency Grant is intended to promote agricultural education and increase the amount of local food served in eligible CNP operations by funding state agencies to support and grow farm to CNP efforts in their states.
Who is eligible to apply? State agencies are the only entity eligible for the FY 2025 Farm to School State Agency Grant.
What is the project duration and funding amount for this grant? The FY 2025 Farm to School State Agency Grant has a project duration of up to 24 months with a maximum funding amount of $500,000.
Is there a matching fund requirement? 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 RFA for State Agency Grants is here.
Track 3: Turnkey Grant
What are the grant objectives for this track? The objective of the 2025 Farm to School Turnkey grants is to simplify the proposal-writing process by providing pre-designed activities to simplify applications for frequently proposed farm to school projects. There are three Turnkey Grant project tracks available in FY 2025: Action Planning, Agricultural Education, and Edible Gardens. Applicants may only apply to one project track. The project types are summarized as follows:
Turnkey – Action Planning grantees will develop a roadmap for launching or enhancing farm to school activities.
Turnkey – Agricultural Education grantees will incorporate agricultural education into curricula.
Turnkey – Edible Gardens grantees will implement a food production operation.
Who is eligible to apply? Eligible applicants for the Turnkey Grant may include schools and other institutions that operate child nutrition programs, Indian Tribal Organizations, agricultural producers or groups of agricultural producers, non-profit entities, and local agencies.
What is the project duration and funding amount for this grant? The FY 2025 Farm to School Turnkey Grant has a project duration of up to 24 months with a maximum funding amount of $500,000.
Is there a matching fund requirement? 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 RFA for Turnkey Grants is here.
Applications for all 2025 Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grants are due January 10, 2025. For more information on these grants or how to apply with Morrison’s assistance, please contact the Morrison Grants Team by email at grants@morrisonco.net or call us at 530-893-4764.