The Farm to School Program administered by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has been officially re-named to the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program. Congress directed the renaming of the program in the recently passed 2023 government funding bill (P.L. 117-328). The Farm to School Grant Program has also been renamed to the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program.  

The new program name honors the longtime farm to school leadership of former U.S. Senator from Vermont, Patrick Leahy. Sen. Leahy served in the U.S. Senate from 1975 (94th Congress) to 2023 (117th Congress), through a total of 24 U.S. Congresses. In 2010, Sen. Leahy authored the language that established the USDA Farm to School Program through the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. This legislation modeled the USDA Farm to School Program after Vermont’s Farm to School program, which was established in 2006. Sen. Leahy also sponsored various bills to expand USDA Farm to School programming, including the Farm to School Act of 2021. 

"Thanks to Senator Leahy’s unwavering dedication to improving child nutrition and boosting rural communities, millions of students and farmers across our nation have benefited from the Farm to School Program he helped create and later expand,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Changing the name of this program to the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program honors his legacy in Congress and his championship of these important issues.”

The program name change requires no action by State agencies, child nutrition program operators, program grantees, or other farm to school stakeholders. USDA will continue to ensure the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program supports farm to school efforts across the country, through grants, research, and technical assistance.