Volume 9, Issue 2, October 2022

Celebrating National Farm to School Month

Crunchin’ Around the Country

Farm to school stakeholders across the country are celebrating National Farm to School Month by crunching into local produce, visiting local farms, hosting trainings and events, and more! Check out these regional Farm to School Month highlights:

• Mid-Atlantic: The Pennsylvania Farm to School Network celebrated with a call to action, encouraging farm to school stakeholders across the State to engage in school gardening, procure local foods for school meals, and spread the word about #PAfarmtoschool. Meanwhile in New Jersey, educators and food service professionals toured school gardens and received hands-on farm to school training facilitated by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.
• Midwest: The 2022 Great Lakes Apple Crunch celebrated local farmers, healthy kids, and strong communities in the Midwest. Schools, early care education sites, hospitals, colleges, group organizations, and families supported local farmers by collectively crunching into local apples across the region.
• Mountain Plains: The Mountain Plains Crunch Off competition encouraged States in the region to get the most folks crunching into locally grown produce. The USDA Food and Nutrition Service Mountain Plains Regional Office made this promotional video to stir up some friendly competition. Missouri was among the eight States in the region that participated, and the Governor of Missouri issued an official proclamation of October as Farm to School Month in the State.
• Northeast: CT Grown for CT Kids Week was held in Connecticut from October 3-7. During the annual week-long celebration food service directors, farmers and students gathered through farm to school activities and consumption of local products across the State. Elsewhere in the region the New Hampshire Department of Education hosted its second annual New Hampshire Great Apple Crunch on October 3 and Farm Fresh Rhode Island held their Apple Crunch Day on October 19.
• Southeast: The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries organized a tour of Scott’s Orchard in Hazel Green, Alabama on October 18 for group of third grade students and Child Nutrition Program Directors in honor of their annual Apple Crunch.
• Southwest: Students at Westdale Heights Academic Magnet (WHAM) School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana celebrated Farm to School month by attending an on-campus Farmers Market. The market was part of a Kids Farm Fresh Field Day hosted by the Big River Economic and Agriculture Development Alliance (BREADA), a 2021 USDA Farm to School grantee. Students in each grade learned about fresh local food and sampled vegetable soup made from local ingredients. 
• West: From October 24 – 28 the Community Alliance with Family Farmers coordinated their annual California Crunch Week. Hundreds of school cafeterias, hospitals, and businesses across the State will crunch on locally grown produce to celebrate local farmers and healthy food. Elsewhere out west, the Governor of Oregon issued the State's first ever Farm to School Month Proclamation.

The 2023 Farm to School Grant Request for Applications is Now Open

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service Farm to School Program is excited to announce that the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Farm to School Grant Request for Applications (RFA) is now open! USDA expects to award up to $12 million in competitive grants to eligible entities through the program in FY 2023. Apply by January 6, 2023.

Register for the FY 2023 Farm to School RFA Webinars

To learn more about the details of the RFA and get tips for submitting a competitive Farm to School Grant Application, attend the upcoming webinars:

Tuesday, November 8, 2022| 2:30pm ET– Getting Familiar with the FY 2023 Farm to School RFA. This webinar will provide an overview of the FY 2023 Farm to School Grant Program RFA, including updates to eligibility, turnkey programs, and how to submit a completed application on grants.gov. 

Wednesday, November 9, 2022 | 2:30pm ET– Getting Your Grant Package Together. This webinar will explore the key characteristics of a competitive Farm to School Grant application.

If you are unable to attend, both webinars will be recorded and made available on the Resources for Grant Applicants page. 

New Release: Farm to School State Formula Grant Implementation Memo

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) recently released a policy memo titled Supply Chain Resiliency: Farm to School State Agency Formula Grant. FNS will provide up to $60 million in American Rescue Plan Act (P.L. 117-2) funds to State agencies administering the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). The funds – distributed non-competitively – will support State agencies in increasing school meal program operator’s capacity to procure and use local foods in school meals, as well as to provide agricultural education. The formula provides each State agency a minimum grant of $600,000 to use over four years and distributes the remaining funds according to each State’s share of total NSLP enrollment, resulting in an average of $1,111,111 per State.

USDA ERS Chart of Note: School Districts Get Locally Produced Foods from a Variety of Sources

A recently published Chart of Note from the USDA Economic Research Service used data from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s 2019 Farm to School Census to show the variety of sources school districts purchase local foods from.

USDA Releases Summer Food Service Program Final Rule

On September 19, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service released the Final Rule: Streamlining Program Requirements and Improving Integrity in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). The final rule updates the regulations for the Summer Food Service Program, which provides free healthy meals and snacks to children and teens in low-income areas. The updates will improve customer service, strengthen program integrity, increase flexibility, and reduce administrative burden.

USDA FNS Highlights White House Conference National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health

On September 28, the White House hosted a Conference and released a National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. As a follow-up to the Conference, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) released a report highlighting our accomplishments over the past several decades with a look to our future work. Dr. Sarah Bleich, FNS Director of Nutrition Security and Health Equity, was featured in a video on what the White House Conference means to her.

USDA Launches $100 Million Healthy School Meals Initiative

On September 23, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service launched the first phase of its $100 million Healthy School Meals Incentives Initiative by releasing a request for applications for a non-governmental organization to manage grants of up to $150,000 each to small and/or rural school meal programs, establish an awards program to recognize school districts that are excelling in their meal quality, and support schools in bringing best practices into their lunchrooms.

Apply by November 28, 2022

USDA Announces Regional Food Business Centers The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has made $360 million available through a request for applications for Partnership Agreements to fund a minimum of six Regional Food Business Centers. The Regional Food Business Centers will provide business training and technical assistance, market connections, regional coordination, and grants to small and mid-sized farm and food businesses. Farm to School program operators could be valuable partners for these centers. A list of organizations in each region that are interested in collaborating to respond to the RFA can be found here. Email RegionalFoodCenters@usda.gov to be added to the list.  Apply by November 22, 2022

USDA Announces Additional $50 Million for Equipment Grants to Improve School Meals

On October 11, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced $50 million in grants for schools to invest in new food service equipment that will allow them to continue serving nutritious meals. This funding adds to the $30 million in equipment grants provided by USDA earlier this year.

USDA Hosts Food Loss and Waste Successes Webinar

On November 2, the USDA and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ Liaison Office for North America will co-host a virtual roundtable session to showcase “Food Loss and Waste Successes from the U.S. and Canada.” Speakers will share their experiences of increasing sustainable food management from the municipal perspective in Baltimore, Orlando, Vancouver, British Columbia, and Guelph, Ontario.

Free Taste-Test Posters and More for Team Nutrition Schools Team Nutrition Schools are part of a network of over 52,000 schools committed to providing healthy school meals and nutritious food environments for students. Signing up to become a Team Nutrition School is free and easy, and any school participating in the National School Lunch Program is eligible. Team Nutrition Schools have access to free exclusive printed materials like this Taste-Test Poster, Be a Food Critic! Poster and Stronger With School Meals Activity Booklet. Team Nutrition Schools also have opportunities to be highlighted in Team Nutrition resources and programming.

Classroom-Ready Resources from Fuel Up to Play 60 Fuel Up to Play 60 offers free classroom-ready lesson plans and activities that align with national standards in science, social-emotional learning and health education. These materials were developed with a focus on STEM learning through engaging topics like environmental sustainability, agriculture, and food as fuel for the mind and body. In the “Farmers Fuel the World” lesson plan, students can learn about environmentally sustainable agriculture practices as well as the ways farmers work through the food system to get foods from farms to school lunch trays. Check out these new resources brought to you by the National Dairy Council and America’s dairy farm families.

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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