FY14 Farm to School Grant Program

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) amended Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (NSLA) to establish a Farm to School Program in order to assist eligible entities, through grants and technical assistance, in implementing farm to school programs that improve access to local foods in eligible schools. To fulfill the farm to school mandate in the HHFKA. $5 million is provided to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on an annual basis to support grants, technical assistance, and the federal administrative costs related to USDA’s Farm to School Program. This request for applications (RFA) provides additional details regarding the grants aspect of the USDA Farm to School Program. This Request for Applications (RFA) provides additional details regarding the grants aspect of the Farm to School Program. The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is charged with implementing the Farm to School Program. In this funding cycle, USDA anticipates awarding up to $5 million in grant funding to support efforts that improve access to local foods in eligible schools. It is anticipated that any remaining funding will support a combination of training and technical assistance, administrative costs, and/or additional grants. Applicants may apply for a Planning grant, Implementation grant or Support Service grant. Planning grants are expected to range from $20,000 - $45,000 and implementation grants and support service grants are expected to range from $65,000 - $100,000. It is estimated that planning grants will represent approximately 25 percent of the total grant funding awarded in this RFA, while implementation and support service grants are expected to represent approximately 75 percent. For all three types of grants, the federal share of a project cannot exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the project, as required by the HHFKA. Therefore, the applicant must provide at least 25 percent of the costs of the total project. Additional information on the Farm to School Program is available at http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/f2s/f2_2013_grant_program.htm.