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Volume 8, Issue 12, September 2022
Farm to School Year in Review
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The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Farm to School Program has had a busy year working to launch, support, and grow Farm to School programming across the country. Enjoy these grantee highlights from fiscal year (FY) 2022 and check out exciting new opportunities for the year ahead. We look forward to seeing Farm to School programs continue to flourish in the coming year!
The USDA Farm to School Program Announced the Fiscal Year 2022 Farm to School Grant Awards
The USDA FNS Farm to School Program announced the FY 2022 Farm to School Grant awards this past July. For the 2022-2023 school year, the Farm to School Grant Program has awarded more than $10 million in grants to 123 farm to school projects spanning 44 States and the District of Columbia with seven projects serving Native American communities. These grants will serve more than 3 million children at more than 5,000 schools.
Read more about the 2022 Farm to School Grant awardees HERE!
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USDA Farm to School Team Hosted the Annual State Agency Meeting and Grantee Gathering
USDA FNS Farm to School Team was delighted to connect with Farm to School State Agency staff and new grantees at the 2022 USDA Farm to School State Agency Meeting and Grantee Gathering from September 19-23, 2022. The agenda was packed with informative and interactive presentations, grantee site visits, and opportunities for networking and idea sharing.
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Tennessee School District Innovates in Local Procurement
In northwest Tennessee, Obion County School District, a FY 2021 Farm to School Turnkey Action Planning grantee, purchased a whole bovine for the first time from a local farmer for use in school meals. The entire bovine, purchased from Giffin Farms, was processed and packaged into ground beef and incorporated into a variety of school meals throughout the school year. This innovation in local sourcing and processing improved the district’s ability to weather supply chain disruptions and labor shortages.
Read the full article HERE!
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Urban Agriculture Takes Root in Massachusetts
Codman Academy Charter Public School (CACPS), a FY 2021 Farm to School Implementation grantee, continues expanding their urban agriculture programming in Dorchester, Massachusetts. CACPS partnered with local non-profit Green City Growers (GCG) and the Codman Square Health Center to offer students hands-in-the-dirt education in a new urban garden. Students harvested lettuce to make salads, carved pumpkins, created pollinator seed balls, and harvested sweet potatoes, all in an urban setting!
Read the full article HERE!
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Denver Urban Gardens Encourages Healthy Minds and Healthy Bodies
Denver Urban Gardens’ (DUG) Growing Gardeners Initiative, a FY 2021 Farm to School Turnkey Grantee, created a system of resources for bringing young children into the garden. Hands-on DUG lessons like investigating composting worms under magnifying glasses, cooking and trying new foods in garden clubs, and planting seeds and seedlings for the season provide children opportunities for cultivating the wonder and joy of experiential learning while connecting to the earth and soil.
Read the full article HERE!
Launched This Fiscal Year:
I’m New to Farm to School Website
Are you new to farm to school? Would you like to get your program up and running at your school? Let the USDA Farm to School Program team help you.
The “I’m New to Farm to School” webpage has been developed by the USDA Farm to School Program as a one stop shop of information and resources to help you to start your farm to school project journey. On this webpage you will find information about the history of the Farm to School Program, the Farm to School Grant, the Farm to School Census, various technical assistance and trainings, and more!
Visit the "I'm New Page" by clicking below:
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Farm to School Program Stickers Order Page
As farm to school efforts continue to grow across the country, we invite you to spread the word!
Order these FREE fun 2-inch stickers to share with students to encourage them to go “Loco for Local”!
The following entities may order stickers:
- Child nutrition program operators
- Schools participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program
- Child care institutions and facilities that participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program
- Summer meal sites that participate in the Summer Food Service Program
- State agencies administering the child nutrition programs
- State Departments of Agriculture
Farm to School Resources are LIVE in the ICN CNSS Resource Hub
The Institution for Child Nutrition's (ICN) Child Nutrition Sharing Site (CNSS) Resource Hub is a one stop shop for all operation-related child nutrition program resources, and now features a section for farm to school resources.
These free resources from various farm to school stakeholders cover a variety of topics, such as building your farm to school team, promoting your farm to school program, native/traditional food resources, and more.
Farm to School Seeding Success Webinar Series
The USDA Farm to School Team wrapped up their 2022 Seeding Success webinar series this past June. This annual series provided engaging content and resources around grant requirements, school gardens, the value of data tracking, procurement, and successful teams.
Click below to view the four-part 2022 Seeding Success Webinar Series
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USDA Farm to School Program Released Several Updated Fact Sheets!
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2023 Farm to School Grant Program Announcement Coming Soon!
FNS plans to release the Request for Applications (RFA) for the FY 2023 Farm to School Grant Program in the near future. This annual grant opportunity will help reach more communities seeking to incorporate local products into school meals, integrate agricultural education in the classroom, and cultivate and expand farm to school efforts. Stay tuned for the latest updates on the next Farm to School Grant RFA by following the Dirt and by visiting the USDA Farm to School website.
USDA Gears up for 2022 Census of Agriculture Distribution this November
This fall, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will send the 2022 Census of Agriculture to nearly 3 million agricultural producers across the country. The Agriculture Census includes every operation – large or small, urban or rural – from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products are produced and sold, or would normally be produced and sold, in the ag census year.
Get the word out about the 2022 Census of Agriculture using census Partner Tools, including frequently asked questions, past and current ag census data, and more. Follow NASS on Twitter for the latest census updates.
Click below to learn more about the 2022 Census of Agriculture
White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health – It’s almost here!
It’s official! The White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health will be on September 28th – the first of its kind in over 50 years. Over the last 50 years, the federal nutrition assistance programs have grown to serve about one in four Americans each year. However, tens of millions of Americans, including children, experience food insecurity, and millions more suffer from diet-related diseases and health disparities. These disparities are largely rooted in structural barriers which – among other things – limit access to healthier foods. We must and will do more.
Read Under Secretary Stacy Dean’s entire blog to see what’s in store for the conference.
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Get excited with Save the Children, because they are less than one week away from the Rural Child Hunger Research and Innovation Lab Open Call on September 19th!
The Innovation Lab’s inaugural funding opportunity is designed to catalyze community-driven innovation that ensures rural children have the nourishing food they need to thrive. Save the Children invests in the ideas and wildest ambitions of folks who are reimagining our rural food system.
Can you think of a person, team, or organization with an innovative, community-driven idea or program to help rural families access nutritious food? This opportunity to apply for up to $100k in flexible funding might be for them!
Interested? Click here for a one-pager for more information on eligibility, grantee experience, and background on the Lab. You can also hear more about the Lab through this video. Sign up here to receive updates about the Open Call. Finally, you can find all details and the application timeline at www.RuralHungerInnovation.org.
Please help Save the Children spread the word by forwarding this opportunity by email, social media, or word-of-mouth and bcc Esther Liew at eliew@savechildren.org.
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NIFA’s Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program
USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program seeks to improve food and nutrition security in low-income communities through a food systems approach and Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) framework. The CFPCGP includes two types of projects: Community Food Projects (CFP) and Planning Projects (PP). These projects are designed to increase food security in communities by bringing sectors within the whole food system together to assess strengths, establish linkages, and create sustainable food systems that improve the self-reliance of community members over their food needs.
Application Due Date: October 7, 2022
From Learning to Leading: Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals
The primary goal of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) From Learning to Leading: Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals Program (NEXTGEN) is to enable 1890 institutions, 1994 institutions, Alaska Native-serving institutions and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions (specifically, the certified Hispanic-serving agricultural colleges and universities (HSACUs)), and insular area institutions of higher education located in the U.S. territories to build and sustain the next generation of the food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences (FANH) workforce primarily through student scholarship support, paid internships, fellowships, and job opportunity matching, and facilitating pathways to employment in the federal sector.
Application Due Date: October 25, 2022
USDA Announces Regional Food Business Centers
USDA recently announced the availability of approximately $400 million to provide essential local and regional food systems coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building services through USDA’s new Regional Food Business Centers. This groundbreaking Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) program for local and regional food systems and will set the stage for strong and productive partnerships across the country to support farmers and food businesses. The Regional Food Business Centers Request for Applications is now open.
Application Due Date: November 22, 2022
Visit the Regional Food Business Centers Webpage here for more information.
USDA Invests Nearly $2 Billion, Leverages American Agriculture to Feed Kids & Families
USDA will provide nearly $2 billion in additional funding to food banks and school meal programs for purchasing American-grown foods. The additional support will help school meal program operators cope with supply chain challenges and rising food costs as they continue to provide nutritious foods to kids and families in need.
The funds, provided through USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation, or CCC, will be used in three ways:
- Nearly $1 billion to purchase food for emergency food providers like food banks;
- Nearly $500 million to expand the Local Food Purchase Assistance, or LFPA, cooperative agreement program; and
- Nearly $500 million for schools across the country to purchase food for their breakfast and lunch programs.
USDA Opens People’s Garden Initiative to Gardens Nationwide
USDA is expanding its People’s Garden Initiative to include eligible gardens nationwide. School gardens, community gardens, urban farms, and small-scale agriculture projects in rural, suburban and urban areas can be recognized as a “People’s Garden” if they register on the USDA website and meet criteria including benefitting the community, working collaboratively, incorporating conservation practices and educating the public. Affiliate People’s Garden locations will be indicated on a map on the USDA website, featured in USDA communications, and provided with a People’s Garden sign.
To learn more, view this video: https://youtu.be/AeWzB6qFiiA
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The Dirt is a monthly publication of USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, Farm to School Program, providing news and resources for former, current, and future Farm to School grantees, and for all readers who want to know what is new and exciting in farm to school.
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Hungry for more information about the USDA Farm to School Program?
Please go to the USDA's Farm to School Program Website and discover more about our Farm to School Grant Program, Farm to School Census, and Technical Assistance and Training.
Contact us at farmtoschool@usda.gov
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