FY2024 Farm to School Grants | USDA FNS F2S 2024

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FNS F2S 2024

The FY2024 Farm to School Grants opportunity (USDA FNS F2S 2024) is a discretionary grant program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, under CFDA 10.575. Known as the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program, it is built to help schools and youth-serving institutions increase access to locally produced foods while also helping students understand where food comes from. The program supports hands-on, practical activities that make local food a normal part of school life, such as nutrition and agriculture education, student taste tests, school gardens, farm or producer visits and field trips, and building or strengthening procurement relationships so local foods show up in school meals.

Funding is intended to either start new farm to school efforts or expand and improve existing programs. Awards support projects that run for 24 months, with a maximum federal award amount (ceiling) of up to $500,000 per project. A key requirement is cost sharing: applicants must provide match equal to at least 25 percent of the total project budget, and that match can be met through cash contributions or allowable in-kind support. The solicitation anticipates about 100 awards, indicating a substantial nationwide investment but also a competitive application environment.

The Request for Applications offers three distinct tracks, which are meant to fit different stages and structures of farm to school work: an Implementation track for entities ready to carry out or scale direct farm to school activities; a State Agency track for state-level leadership and coordination that can support broader systems-building across multiple districts or regions; and a Turnkey track designed for applicants who want a more structured, ready-to-deploy approach to launching core farm to school components. While the details of each track are set in the RFA itself, the overall idea is to give applicants multiple entry points depending on their capacity, readiness, and the role they play in the child nutrition and local food system.

Eligibility is broad and covers many of the organizations that typically sit at the intersection of school meals, agriculture, and community health. Eligible applicants include state governments, county governments, city or township governments, independent school districts, and public or state-controlled institutions of higher education. Federally recognized Native American tribal governments are eligible, as are nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education under that nonprofit category). The program also allows certain for-profit organizations, including small businesses and other for-profit entities (other than small businesses), reflecting the reality that producers, aggregators, and food-system partners may be structured as businesses. The description also highlights specific examples of eligible groups such as schools and other institutions operating Child Nutrition Programs, Indian Tribal Organizations, agricultural producers or groups of producers, nonprofit entities, and state and local agencies.

From a timing standpoint, the opportunity was created on October 11, 2023, and the original application deadline was January 12, 2024. In practical terms, that means FY2024 funding is tied to that application window, and interested organizations should look for the current year cycle if applying now, while still using this FY2024 notice as a guide to the program structure, typical award size, match expectations, and the kinds of activities USDA wants to fund.

• The Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service in the food and nutrition sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY2024 Farm to School Grants" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.575.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 11, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 12, 2024. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 100 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

Apply for USDA FNS F2S 2024

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: