Grants to USA schools, government agencies, tribal organizations, nonprofit organizations, and agricultural producers for programs to increase access to local foods for eligible schools. Applicants are advised that required registrations may take several weeks to complete.

Designed to increase the availability of local foods in schools, these grants can help new farm to school programs get started or expand existing efforts. These grants are intended as one-time infusions of funds to help grantees accomplish farm to school objectives that will be sustained over the long term. Funds support a wide range of activities from training, planning, and developing partnerships, to creating new menu items, establishing supply chains, offering taste tests to children, purchasing equipment, planting school gardens, and organizing field trips to agricultural operations.

Grant Tracks

Turnkey Grant

• The Turnkey grant is intended to streamline the application process by providing a pre-designed project work plan with a specific set of activities to complete common farm to school projects. FNS has identified model program designs that organizations can replicate, with flexibility in determining the steps taken to accomplish each prescribed activity. This simplifies the grant process while honoring the flexibilities required for each unique community to implement farm to school programs the way they best see fit.
• Applicants interested in the Turnkey track may choose from one of four projects: (1) Farm to School Action Plan Development; (2) Agricultural Education Curriculum development and delivery; (3) Edible Garden projects; or (4) USDA Farm to School Producer Training.
  
• For details on required activities for each project type, see pages 8-11 of the RFA document in Attached Files below. 

Implementation and State Agency Tracks

• The Implementation and State Agency tracks provide an opportunity for applicants to propose projects that support innovative, original ideas, and/or encompass a broader scope than the discrete projects and activities prescribed under the Turnkey track.
  
• Required Objective: Improve access to local foods in eligible schools through comprehensive farm to school programming that includes local procurement and agricultural education efforts.
• For examples of activities, see pages 12-14 of the RFA below. 

In addition to the general program purpose and priorities outlined above, USDA emphasizes the following priorities for FY 2022:

• 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, as defined by 26 USC Subtitle A, CHAPTER 1, Subchapter Z: Opportunity Zones and identified in IRS Notice 2018-48, 2018–28 Internal Revenue Bulletin 9, July 9, 2018, and IRS Notice 2019-42, 2019–29 Internal Revenue Bulletin, July 15, 2019