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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released their request for applications for the Fiscal Year 2022 Farm to School Grant Program. There is an estimated $12 million in funds available with a maximum award amount of $500,000 per grant project depending on eligibility. Applications are due January 10, 2022.

The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (NSLA) established a Farm to School Program in order to assist eligible entities, through grants and technical assistance, in implementing farm to school programs that improve access to local foods in eligible schools.

• Institutions, including schools, school districts, and non-school based sites, that operate the National School Lunch and-or Breakfast Program(s), CACFP, and/or SFSP
• State agencies
• Local agencies
• Indian tribal
• Agricultural producers or groups of agricultural producers
• Non-profit entities

• Personnel and Contractors
• Equipment and Supplies
• Meeting expenses
• Travel, i.e. reimbursement for local travel and hotel costs for school nutrition managers to attend workshops and training.
• Trainings
• Food Expenses: Food purchases should be limited to educational purposes only, such as: farm to school sample tables, taste tests, or promotional use.
• Partnerships: Partners essential to the proposed project and partners may require funding from USDA to participate in the proposed project. These funds may be included in applicant budgets as sub-grantees or line item contractors.

• Applications that serve a high proportion of children (at least 40 percent or more) who are eligible for free or reduced price meals.
• Applications from Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) and eligible entities where the leader, and/or 80 percent of the board, and/or 50 percent of the staff are Native Americans and the proposed projects are serving Native American communities.
• Applications from eligible entities where the leader, and/or 80 percent of the board, and/or 50 percent of the staff are Black/African American, and the proposed projects are serving Black/African American communities.
• Applications from eligible entities where the leader, and/or 80 percent of the board, and/or 50 percent of the staff are people of color and the proposed projects are serving communities of color (defined as Black/African American, American Indian, Alaskan native, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, and/or Pacific Islander).
• Applications from small- to medium-sized agricultural producers or groups of small- to medium- sized agricultural producers. Please refer to the specific eligibility criteria in Section 3.0 for the definition of an eligible small- to medium-sized agricultural producer.
• Projects located in or targeting Opportunity Zones.
• Projects operating in and serving eligible schools/sites located in rural areas.

• Awards for Action Planning and Edible Garden projects may be awarded up to $500,000.
• Awards for Agricultural Education Curriculum projects may be awarded up to $50,000.
• Producer Training projects may be awarded up to $50,000.
• Implementation grants and State Agency grants may be awarded between $50,000 and $500,000 depending on entity type.

For all grant types, Federal funds should constitute no more than 75 percent of the total project budget. Applicants may not use any federal funds as the source of any part of their match. The grant recipient must show evidence of matching support of at least 25 percent of the total budget in the form of cash or in-kind contributions, including facilities, equipment, or services provided by State and local governments, non-profit organizations, and private sources.

Applications are due January 10, 2022.

The Request For Applications can be found here.

For more information on this grant 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.