Announced During Farm-to-School Month, Program Provides $50 Million Over Five Years to Help Improve Kitchens and Cook Meals for Students Using New York Farm Products
Program Will Facilitate Preparation of Fresh, Scratch Made Meals and Provide a Boost to New York Farmers
Builds on Governor’s State of the State Priorities to Combat Food Insecurity and Strengthen Local Food Production Across the State
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced, during Farm-to-School month, that $10 million is available through Round 1 of New York’s Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program. The program will support projects in New York schools that improve meal preparation and distribution for Kindergarten through Grade 12 students. First announced in the Governor’s 2023 State of the State, the program will provide $50 million over five years to eligible applicants to facilitate the on-site processing and preparation of fresh, nutritious meals, increase the use of more healthy, local New York food products, and provide a boost to New York farmers.
“Through our Farm-to-School program and our 30 percent New York State Initiative for schools, we have made huge strides in bringing our farmers and our schools together, making lasting connections to purchase more local foods for school meals than ever before,” Governor Hochul said. “This Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program will build on the success of these programs and provide the much-needed support to help schools cook delicious meals for our young people. Providing healthy, balanced meals equals better learning for students statewide and supports our agricultural community at the same time.”
Administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, the Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program will provide the resources schools need to aggregate, store, process, and prepare farm products, and make it possible to cook fresh, nutritious, scratch made meals for school children. It will also encourage workforce development by providing training to schools, communities, and students for culinary arts, food processing, safe food handling and storage, logistics, delivery, and more, based on community need.
Project proposals should be regionally focused on improving meal preparation for K-12 school children, reducing food insecurity, increasing market opportunities for New York State producers, and strengthening the resilience of our state’s food system. The program requires that funded facilities serve multiple school districts and support their local community, including by providing workforce development opportunities. In this round of funding, two regions will be awarded $5 million each. Two additional regions will be awarded $5 million each in subsequent rounds, until all regions are awarded.
Grant funds are available for the costs of capital projects to support the preparation and distribution of fresh meals for regional school infrastructure, such as aggregation, storage hubs, and/or commissary-type kitchens. Eligible applicants include not-for-profit organizations, local municipalities, school districts, and Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES).
Proposals are due on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, at 3:00 pm. For more information on the program, project eligibility, and how to apply, visit here. Additionally, an optional webinar will be held on November 29, 2023, at 12:00 pm. To register, visit here. The workshop will be recorded and posted on the Department’s website.
New York State’s Fiscal Year 2024 Enacted Budget includes additional tools to help school districts procure and purchase farm products from local producers, ensuring that New York remains New York's first and best customer. Specifically, the Budget raises the discretionary threshold for food purchasing for schools to $150,000, a significant increase from the previous threshold.
These initiatives build on New York’s many programs to support local foods in schools, including the successful Farm-to-School program, which connects schools with local farms and food producers to strengthen local agriculture, improve student health, and promote regional food systems awareness. Through the program, the Department of Agriculture and Markets provides financial, technical, and promotional assistance to schools, farms, distributors, and other supporting organizations to bring more local, nutritious, seasonally varied meals to New York students. The Farm-to-School program supports the New York State Council on Hunger and Food Policy’s priorities to initiate and facilitate public awareness campaigns about the economic benefits of a local farm and food economy; alleviate geographic and economic barriers to improve access to healthy fresh food; and promote well-balanced child nutrition.
The 30 Percent New York State Initiative further facilitates the provision of healthy New York sourced food products to children as part of their lunch meal in school. The initiative increases the reimbursement schools receive for lunches from 5.9 cents per meal to 25 cents per meal for any district that ensures their school lunches are made up of at least 30 percent eligible New York produced and processed products. Since the Department of Agriculture and Markets took over administration of the program as part of Governor Hochul’s 2022 State of the State commitment to better connect farms and schools across New York, the program has seen increased participation from school food authorities, with a total of 59 school food authorities approved to receive enhanced reimbursement during this school year, up from 51 approved for reimbursement last year. In total, more than $8 million was spent on New York agricultural products during the 2022-2023 school year by schools applying for the incentive. In addition, the Governor's recent actions to support Farm-to-School initiatives included in the FY 2024 State Budget significantly raised the discretionary threshold for schools to purchase local food and food products from $20,000 to $150,000.
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