Department of Agriculture Regional Farm to School Institute Grants

• Five or more years of experience working across the farm to school supply chain to institutionalize farm to school within Child Nutrition Program systems, structures, and operations;

• Produced at least one major publication, such as a report, toolkit, or white paper, related to farm to school in the last five years;

• Conducted regular, ongoing farm to school trainings, either in-person or virtual, for practitioners, such as schools, school districts, Indian tribal organizations, agricultural producers and/or non-profit organizations, and have evaluation data detailing the effectiveness of such trainings.

Applicants must provide a 501(c)(3) Determination Letter to indicate nonprofit status, as well as a current copy of the organization’s bylaws that details, at a minimum, the organization’s official name, mission, and purpose. Applicants must clearly describe how their organization(s) satisfies the criteria for an “eligible entity” as stated above. For the purposes of this RFA, “the last five years” refers to any publication released no earlier than 2014.

The Regional Farm to School Institute grant funds will
assist in creating and disseminating information on farm to school program development
and providing practitioner education and training, and will also support
ongoing school year coaching and technical assistance. It is anticipated that
this will be a one-time initiative.