Grant Opportunity: FY24 USDA Farm to School Grant Program is Now Open

The Indiana Grown for Schools Network is excited to add to the celebration of Farm to School Month by sharing that the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant FY2024 Program is now open! It is designed to increase the availability of local food in schools and help connect students to the sources of their food through education, taste tests, school gardens, field trips, and local food sourcing for school meals. Grants can launch new farm to school or farm to ECE programs or expand existing efforts!

The fiscal year (FY) 2024 Farm to School Grant awards projects of 24 months in length for funding up to $500,000. Applicants are required to provide matching support of at least 25 percent of the total project budget in the form of cash or in-kind contributions. The RFA offers three tracks - Implementation, State Agency, and Turnkey - to support a variety of projects and implementation stages.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants may include schools and other institutions that operate child nutrition programs, tribal organizations, agricultural producers or groups of agricultural producers, nonprofit entities, and state and local agencies.

The following are generally eligible entities, which are described in more detail in the request for applications. Please see each track’s eligibility section for track-specific eligibility.

  • Eligible schools, including nonprofit private and charter schools, which operate the NSLP and/or SBP;

  • Eligible child care institutions, including non-school based institutions that have an agreement with the state agency to operate CACFP;

  • Eligible summer sponsors, including non-school based institutions that have an agreement with the state agency to operate SFSP;

  • State agencies;

  • Local agencies;

  • Indian Tribal Organizations;

  • Agricultural producers or groups of agricultural producers; and

  • Non-profit entities.

Indiana Grown for Schools Network offers technical assistance, including grant writing, so please do not hesitate to reach out with requests!