States are charging ahead with farm to school progress despite dramatic shifts at the federal level in 2025. The cancellation of the FY25 cycle of USDA’s Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program and the termination of Local Food for Schools and Child Care (LFSCC) left many agency staff and advocates in a precarious position. At the time of these cancellations, many state agencies had already worked to adjust budgets. Advocates had already created legislative strategies to make the most of the one-time $660 million influx from LFSCC. Some states quickly pivoted in March with increases in funding, while others lacked the time or infrastructure to respond. As of June, the landscape is uncertain: we’re still seeing proposed federal cuts to SNAP, SNAP-Ed, and early care and education programs. Questions still linger about what federal support will remain by the end of the year and how states will respond.

In spite of these challenges, lawmakers in over 30 states have introduced more than 100 farm to school-related bills and resolutions, alongside at least 125 bills from 45 states aimed at expanding access to school meals. These efforts reflect the growing momentum we’re seeing across the country that was highlighted in our latest State Policy Handbook (released March 2025). From local purchasing to school gardens, school meals for all to food dye bans, this mid-year snapshot shares just some of the wins, the promising bills still in motion, and the broader trends shaping the year so far. To dig deeper into what's happening in your state or track updates in real time, check out our interactive State Policy Map.

2025 State Farm to School Wins to Date:

Funding for Local Procurement 

  • Vermont steps in to provide $500,000 in one-time LFSCC funding amid federal cuts
    This is in addition to $500,000 for the Farm to School & Early Childhood Grant Program, fully funded school meals for all, $150,000 to Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) sponsorship organizations, and a $500,000 annual appropriation for the state’s existing Local Foods Incentive Grant Program.
  • Minnesota increases funding for its Local Food Purchasing Incentive Program
    Farm to School and Early Care Grant Program     (an additional $550,000, totaling $1.6 million in FY26 and $1.5 million in FY27). MN’s grant program and new state-level Local Food Purchasing Assistance program funded at $700,000 per year through FY29.
  • Connecticut increases funding for and makes technical changes to its Local Food for Schools Incentive program ($1.5 million in 2025-26 and $3.4 million in 2026-27), continues funding its farm to school grant via the state budget. The changes include switching administration from the Department of Agriculture to Education and stipulating that at least 20% of program funds must be used to engage with partners for activities including technical assistance, training, outreach, and education. No funding, unfortunately, was included to expand school meals access like in previous years.
  • Alabama appropriates $600,000 for Local Food Purchasing Incentive Program via the Education Trust Fund (S.B. 112). This program began in 2020 with a budget of $120,000 and has been growing ever since.
  • Colorado passes two bills related to farm to school and school meals for all, leading to a ballot measure. Colorado has been facing a budget deficit and struggling with sufficient funding for its healthy school meals for all program. These issues have caused the “values aligned” components, such as staff training, stipends and wages, grant programs, and a local food purchasing incentive, to be paused or held at current levels. The incentive was funded at the pilot level of $500,000 for another year. For more permanent fixes, the legislature passed two bills. Voters now have to decide whether to “retain” AND “raise” additional funding for the program in November. Read more here.
  • New York continued to fund its farm to school grant, regional coordinator positions, and local food purchasing incentive via the state’s budget. In May, the state awarded $10 million to two regions through its Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program, which is set to award $50 million over a 5 year period.
  • Maine explicitly adds seafood to its existing local food incentive program via L.D. 1858 (S.P. 728).
  • Oklahoma Department of Agriculture implements its $3.4 million Local Food for Schools incentive program this year, passed via the budget last year, building on USDA’s LFS program. This is a substantial level of state funding for this state! 

Other Ways States Are Supporting Local Procurement 

  • West Virginia passes a Republican-led resolution urging West Virginia’s members of Congress to ask the President not to cut funding for LFSCC via H.C.R. 96, marking a significant show of state-level support for the program.
  • Hawai’i increases the small purchasing threshold for local foods to $250,000 via H.B. 1293 and modifies benchmarks for its local food purchasing goals via H.B. 110.
  • Maryland defines equity language and includes food waste provisions for its Food System Resiliency Council via H.B. 9, which already included school procurement.

School Gardens and Education

  • Maine establishes the Outdoor School for All program to provide equitable, ag- and nature-based immersive education for 4th–8th graders via LD 895 (SP 384).
  • Washington passes new provisions to reduce food waste in schools by integrating food waste topics into curricula and its existing farm to school program via H.B. 1497.
  • South Carolina now allows public school students to be excused for up to ten days per year to participate in FFA, 4-H, and other technical ed. events via H. 3247. New York introduced a similar bill this year as well (S. 6655).
  • Arkansas repeals the statutory annual reporting requirement for the farm to school and early childhood education program via Act 213.
  • Iowa allocates $150,000 to promote agricultural education for future farmers and $125,000 for its local food and farm program coordinator position via S.F. 646.

Bills Moving Through the Legislature We’re Excited About

  • California introduces a bill to codify its Farm to School Incubator Grant program, which unanimously passes the Assembly in May (A.B. 675).
  • North Carolina introduces a bill that incorporates both universal free breakfast and $5 million for a “farm-to-table” initiative via H.B. 774. This move highlights how some advocates see the value in combining both food access and farm to school to strengthen advocacy efforts. In addition to this bill, the state’s current proposed budget includes $2.5 million for a local food purchasing incentive program.
  • Oregon, California, and Michigan all propose to maintain funds for their state’s local food purchasing incentive and/or grant programs via their state’s budgets.
  • New Jersey introduces a $6.5 million local purchasing incentive program via A. 3742 in 2024, which was voted favorably out of committee on June 12. 

Honorable Mentions

  • Maryland’s Governor vetoes a bill that would have directed state agencies to create a local food procurement program and centralized purchasing platform for schools. H.B. 56 / S.B. 177 also would have increased the price preference for certified local farms (5% to 10%) and allowed schools to limit purchases to local producers. 
  • Local food purchasing incentive bills have been introduced in Indiana and Oklahoma – two states that have been building policy capacity in recent years. Massachusetts introduced a bill for an incentive program that includes funds for staff training and education. New York attempted to expand its 30%  incentive program to include lunch.
  • Farm to school grant programs and other bills related to education and school gardens have been introduced in Illinois, Iowa, Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma, and more! 
  • Kentucky introduces a bill to subsidize participation in the Community Eligibility Provision that tied funding to plans to increase local food purchases and decrease food waste via S.B. 48. Though the bill did not advance, it reflects growing political interest in linking local food systems with school meal access.

Efforts to Expand School Meal Access Still Going Strong

  • New York becomes the ninth state to establish a permanent school meals for all policy via the state’s budget. NFSN has partnered with the state’s School Meals for All coalition since 2023 and is excited to see their work come to fruition.
  • Arkansas passes universal free breakfast in February via S.B. 59, leading the nation among red states that support expanding school meals access. 
  • Oregon allocates $127M – enough to expand free breakfast and lunch to every public school — via the Joint Ways and Means Education Subcommittee. Advocates are still pushing for permanent policy change through H.B. 3435.
  • Many other states are continuing the charge via incremental and full universal meals policies. 

Food Dye & Additive Bills on the Rise – Our Take

While NFSN doesn’t specifically track these bills, the School Nutrition Association reports that over 80 bills related to food dyes and other additives have been introduced this year. California was the first state to sign a similar bill into law via its 2024 School Food Safety Act (A.B. 2316). These bills, largely introduced by Republican legislators and aligned with the rising Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, aim to restrict harmful chemicals in school meals. While concerns about artificial dyes and additives are valid, there is limited research on how widespread these substances actually are in school food.

School meals are already among the most nutritious meals many kids eat each day, and while these bills may have merit, they risk reinforcing a negative and often inaccurate narrative about school food that we do not want to perpetuate. Rather than relying solely on bans and restrictions, NFSN urges lawmakers to invest in school meal programs through efforts to expand scratch cooking and local food purchasing. One silver lining to this recent attention can be to educate lawmakers on solutions that naturally lead to healthier, more transparent meals. 

Looking Ahead

State leadership will need to continue to drive progress in the farm to school movement. But as federal investments shift or recede, a critical question remains: will states keep stepping in for programs that once relied on federal support? Will they be able to amid other urgent budget priorities? While states can't fill every gap left by federal cuts, many are demonstrating the political will to invest in farm to school. These programs are often small enough for states to meaningfully fund, showing commitment to kids, farmers, and communities. We’re seeing continued momentum for local food incentive programs, especially for states building on LFSCC to pursue long-term, state-funded programs. As other COVID-era initiatives like the USDA Farm to School State Formula Grant sunset, now is the time for states to plan for sustainability. What roles or programs created with temporary dollars should continue? And how?

Meanwhile, advocates need to have hard conversations in coalition about how they can center racial equity and should address new movements like MAHA. The door is open for advocates to forge relationships with conservative lawmakers and steer these conversations toward investments in scratch cooking and local sourcing. Similarly, as more states expand access to school meals, advocates have an opportunity to align that momentum with farm to school values like equity, nutrition, and labor rights. How do we thread these needles? All eyes are on the states while we continue to put pressure at the national level.