USDA Makes Grants Available for Farm to School Programs

Farm to school food programs are set to receive a boost this
October in the form of $3.5 million in federal grant money.

Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan announced
Tuesday that the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service is now accepting applications
for a series of grants – each one to be no more than  $100,000 – to fund programs that bring
locally produced foods to school cafeterias.

The money was earmarked by the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act
(HHFKA) of 2010 championed by First Lady Michelle Obama. The act aims to improve
child nutrition nationwide in order to combat the dual problems of overweight
and obesity and food insecurity. In the United States, approximately 17 percent
of children ages 2-19 are obese and, according to Merrigan, 18 million are
food insecure, meaning they do not always know where their next meal will
come from.

“We know for some many children school meals are the only
real meal they get in the day so it’s very important that these meals be top
notch and farm to school can play a very important role there,” said Merrigan
at Tuesday’s press conference.

One way HHFKA hopes to promote child nutrition is by teaching
kids to appreciate healthy foods early on, says Merrigan.  Farm to school helps achieve this goal by
giving children a connection to the food they eat and sometimes even a chance
to meet the farmer who produced it.  

“The connection to health is…really trying to get kids
excited about food coming direct into the cafeteria, rejoicing in the taste and
the quality of that food,” said Merrigan. “As we struggle with obesity and
associated diet-related diseases, farm to school programs give us one important
tool to help our kids make lifelong healthy eating choices.”

The Deputy Secretary emphasized that although fruits and
vegetables are the foods most commonly associated with farm to school programs,
the scope of agricultural products that can be served in schools extends far
beyond this catergory.

“There are great opportunities of for local cheese, local
dairy and all sorts of locally grown grains, locally produced meat and poultry…”
she said.

Merrigan noted that food safety will be an important
component of farm to school programs. “Farmers that are vending in schools have
to be GAPs (Good Agricultural Practices) certified,” she explained.

But while GAPs certification is standard for larger growers
with a national market, smaller producers do not always have such systems in
place, as they can be costly and time-consuming to implement.

That is why USDA is supporting programs that help small and
mid-sized farms develop GAPs plans, says Merrigan.

Among these are the Produce Safety University – a training
course run by Cornell University Extension that educates farmers and state
health agents about sanitary growing practices and preps them to teach this
information in their communities – and FamilyFarmed.org – an organization that generates a
full food safety plan for farmers after they enter information about their
operation.

With the help of programs like this, Merrigan says, small- and mid-sized farmers will be able to “get into the GAPs game,”  and as a result get into the farm to school
game.

“One of the things you’ll see in the request for applications
is a direct call-out using food safety as an example of the kinds of activities
that we would expect grantees to [request funds] for because we do know it’s an
issue that comes up with food service directors as they’re thinking about farm
to school programs,” said Deborah Kane, the new National Director of the USDA Farm
to School Program, at the press conference.

USDA is accepting farm to school grant applications through
June 15, 2012 with a suggested due date of May 18 for letters of intent.

“The idea is that people are going to get their applications
in before the school year ends,” Merrigan explained. This way, although the
money does not become available until October, school communities have a chance
to come together to apply before summer vacation.  

Recipients of the newly allocated funds will receive one of
two types of grants. Planning grants will go to schools just starting to
develop farm to school programs and will account for 25 percent of the allotted
money. The other 75 percent will go to implementation grants for schools or
other organizations involved in farm-to-school programs.

In total, HHFKA allows for $5 million to be spent in support
of farm to school programs. The remaining $1.5 million is being reserved by
USDA for technical assistance to the programs.

USDA is anticipating a large number of applicants for the
grants.

“My expectation is that I think we’ll be oversubscribed,” said
Merrigan. “I think this is very popular.”

Kane expressed enthusiasm about upcoming grant submissions.

“I expect to be surprised by the innovative [procurement]
strategies,” she said at the press conference. “We’re really looking forward to
learning along with the grantees and expect we’ll see quite a lot of
interesting work out there.”   

For more information on how to apply, view the request for applications. 

© Food Safety News

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