By Jiyoon Chon, NFSN Communications Manager

Are you currently working to increase local procurement in school meals, expand scratch cooking, or build relationships with community stakeholders? If so, and you’ve been looking for additional funding to support your project, you may be eligible for one of the USDA Healthy Meals Incentives: School Food System Transformation Challenge Grants. 

The National Farm to School Network (NFSN) is honored to directly support three of these grants: PLANTS, Project SCALES, and the Innovation Hub!

Out of these three grants, two are currently accepting applications, with deadlines coming up in about six weeks. Here’s a quick summary of the two active grant opportunities, which are open nationally: 

Partnerships for Local Agriculture & Nutrition Transformation in Schools (PLANTS)

• Administered by the Chef Ann Foundation 
• Deadline: January 22, 2024
• 8 projects will be awarded grants between $500,000 - $600,000. No Matching requirement.
• Funds collaborative projects administered by a group of 3-5 local partners, one of which must be a School Food Authority (SFA).
• Projects must aim to transform school food supply chains and/or build relationships among community-based food system stakeholders and SFAs. For example, this can look like expanding local procurement or scratch cooking in schools. 
• Visit the PLANTS grant webpage here to learn more and apply. 

Supporting Community Agriculture & Local Education Systems (SCALES)

• Administered by Boise State University 
• Deadline: January 26, 2024 
• Up to 35 rural SFAs will be awarded up to $150,000 grants, along with technical assistance.
• Only rural School Food Authorities are eligible to apply during this round of applications.
• SFAs must be engaging in projects to increase local procurement.
• Visit the SCALES grant webpage here to learn more and apply. 

If these two grant opportunities are not a good match for you, a third grant opportunity is opening up on February 1, 2024. These grants are specifically for those in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. 

The Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub Grants: Spark Awards and Innovation Collaborative Awards 

• Administered by the Institute for Public Health Innovation, Illinois 
• Launches February 1, 2024, closes on April 30, 2024 
• Spark Awards fund projects that need a short-term infusion of funds for school food system and marketplace improvements, such as capacity-building, planning, and product testing projects. One year grant cycle, with $10,000 - $75,000 award range. 
• Innovation Collaborative Awards fund projects that promote systems-level change of the school food system and marketplace, such as scaling up of programs, regional partnerships, or new program or product development and integration. Two and a half years grant cycle, with $250,000 awards. 
• Visit the Innovation Hub page here to learn more and stay updated about the upcoming launch. En español. 
  

And finally, Full Plates Full Potential is administering the fourth USDA Transformation Grant—you can learn more about the organization here. They will be opening their grant soon, so stay tuned!

Want to make sure you are updated on the latest farm to school grant opportunities? Make sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter—this is where we share a curated list of the latest events, grant opportunities, policy updates, and job opportunities! 

From NFSN Co-Executive Directors Jessica Gudmunson and Miguel Villarreal:

“We are thrilled that the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (USDA) has made a groundbreaking decision to implement the proposed rule change to expand the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which provides funding to allow eligible school districts to serve free school meals to all students. Previously, schools qualified for CEP if at least 40% of students identified as low-income (for example, if they are enrolled in SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). The rule change will now lower the threshold to 25%, expanding access to free school lunches. According to the Food Research & Action Center, this pivotal decision will provide 9 million students with increased access to nutritious school meals, ensuring they have the fuel to succeed academically and beyond."

"The expansion of the CEP program will lower the threshold for school eligibility, empowering more schools across the nation to serve free, wholesome meals to their students. For the many schools serving local foods, the increased participation in school meals means that benefits of farm to school will ripple out to more students and local farmers alike. The expansion will also make statewide universal meal policies more appealing to state governments by streamlining paperwork and reducing the overall cost of universal meals programs with increased federal reimbursement for school meals.” 

“By prioritizing the health and well-being of our youth, the USDA's decision demonstrates a commitment to fighting hunger and promoting equity in educational environments." 

"We express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who participated in the public comment period, advocating for this transformative change. Together, our voices were instrumental in shaping this outcome, and now we will work together to implement the expanded CEP program. This is a momentous victory for the health and future of our children. Together, we will continue striving to ensure that every student has the opportunity to thrive in a nurturing, equal, and food-secure environment."

About National Farm to School Network

National Farm to School Network is the leading voice for the U.S. farm to school and farm to early care and education movement, working as an information, advocacy and networking hub for communities to bring local food sourcing, gardens, and food and agriculture education into schools and early care and education settings. Learn more at farmtoschool.org.

National Farm to School Network (NFSN) is proud to announce its policy priorities for the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill. The House Committee on Agriculture is taking public input on the Farm Bill through June 9, 2023.

Karen Spangler, Director of Policy at NFSN said: “Rather than annual budget uncertainty, the Farm Bill offers an opportunity to solidify funding for the kind of long-term food system that America needs. The Farm Bill, a package of federal legislation renewed by Congress every five years, sets agriculture and food assistance policies that touch every aspect of farm to school and early care activity. But we know that this is just one piece of change needed for a truly just food system. We need to shift the economic, cultural, and decision-making power governing our food system.”

Representing organizations across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., the U.S. Territories, and Native nations, NFSN is dedicated to creating a strong and just food system for all through farm to school activities in schools and early care and education (ECE) settings.

In the Fall of 2020, NFSN released a Call to Action for a racially just food system, guiding all aspects of our work, from policy advocacy to resource design and partnership cultivation. The 2023 Farm Bill offers an opportunity to put these values into action through coordinated advocacy efforts.

NFSN's 2023 Farm Bill Priorities are based on six shared community values: economic and environmental justice, health, racial equity, workers’ rights, and animal welfare. These priorities include:

1.  Build on Ten Years of Success in Farm to School: Expand and improve the successful Farm to School Grant Program to ensure more communities have access to support for farm to school activities. Incorporate measures from the Farm to School Act, such as ensuring a mandatory budget of $15 million per year, raising the grant cap to $500,000 for projects that need it, and reducing barriers to Farm to School Grants.

2. Support Farm to School and Farm to ECE in Agriculture and Nutrition Programs: Maintain or expand the budget of SNAP-Ed to support farm to school and farm to ECE work. Encourage culturally responsive and racially equitable approaches to nutrition education. Maintain or expand support for Specialty Crop Block Grants to increase farm to school market access for specialty crop producers.

3. Support Opportunity in Local Food Systems: Increase investment in local food infrastructure and ensure market opportunities are available to all producers. Focus on refining successful programs based on producer and stakeholder feedback and expanding investments. Direct USDA to center small- and mid-sized producers, particularly producers of color, in their own purchasing programs.

4. Ensure Equity and Resilience in Agriculture and Nutrition as a Whole: Address historic and ongoing barriers to racial equity in agricultural production. Invest in opportunities for land access, land ownership, and tenure for communities of color, and support technical assistance, research, and outreach through funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribal colleges and universities.

NFSN seeks to ensure that the 2023 Farm Bill brings us closer to wins for all communities. We are committed to working with our partners and members to advocate for these policy changes, which will move us toward a just, equitable food system that promotes the health of all school children and benefits producers, workers, educators, and their communities.

Read more about our full Farm Bill platform at https://www.farmtoschool.org/resources-main/national-farm-to-school-networks-2023-farm-bill-policy-priorities. 

About the National Farm to School Network

The National Farm to School Network (NFSN) is a hub for networking, information, and advocacy to grow the farm to school movement, which connects students in schools and early care and education settings to healthy, local food and hands-on learning through gardening, food education, and support for local food procurement.

‍

By Nicole Melia and Melissa Froelich

Advocates for free breakfast for Pennsylvania school children went to the state capitol earlier this month to ask the legislature to consider a new bill for universal school meals including lunch.

What we feed our children makes a huge difference. It’s why there’s a diversity of voices speaking up. From food service directors to farmers and manufacturers. From parents to representatives of school districts. We all want to engage with legislators over the future of the way our young people eat in school.

...

Research shows that school meals provide the best diet quality of all major food sources in the United States, without disparities for those of lower household income.

It’s about more than breakfast. According to the National Farm to School Network, nine states have now enacted universal meals policies, which provide free meals to all students regardless of household income. Additionally, 16 states have enacted policies that support local food purchasing in schools, such as local food incentive programs or grants for local food procurement.

Here in Pennsylvania, we have the chance to be at the forefront of this new movement. Despite the success of the free breakfast program, there is still hunger in Pennsylvania that needs to be addressed.

Read the full article at PennLive.

National Farm to School Network is excited to announce that we have joined the National Healthy School Meals for All Coalition to call on Congress to make nationwide free school meals for all students a reality.

We know that school meals play an important role in reducing childhood hunger, supporting good nutrition, and ensuring that  students are well nourished and ready to get the most out of their school day.  

Research links participation in school meals to positive educational and health outcomes for our nation’s children. School meals are just as important to academic success as textbooks, computers, and transportation, and all children should have access to  them every school day. 

As vital as the school nutrition programs are to ensuring children’s access to healthy, nutritious meals, too many children in need  miss out on school meals because of the programs’ current structure. Many struggling families do not meet the eligibility threshold  for free meals, which requires a family of four to earn less than $37,000 annually. The current structure with some children being  offered free meals or meals at a reduced price, and others paying for their meals, also leads many children who are eligible for free  or reduced-price school meals, particularly those in middle and high school, to choose not to participate because of stigma.  

Providing free meals to all students, regardless of household income, would reduce stigma and ensure that all students have the  nutrition they need during the school day. It would ease the pressure on families’ household food budgets, allowing them to count on a nutritious school breakfast and lunch each school day to help make ends meet. It would reduce administrative work for school staff, allowing them to focus on preparing nutritious and appealing meals instead of processing paperwork. And it would eliminate  unpaid school meal fees, helping to ensure that the cafeteria is a positive place for all students and ending the financial burden that  school meal debt creates for school districts.  

Providing school meals to all students is also critical for advancing racial equity and justice, helping to ensure that Black, Indigenous, and Latinx students can access the key nutrition they need to thrive in the classroom and beyond.  

“National Farm to School Network represents organizations, professionals, and community members committed to a future where all communities hold power in a racially just food system. We support Healthy School Meals for All to ensure that no child misses the nutrition they need to learn and thrive, or experiences stigma. Our partners in the cafeterias, classrooms, gardens, and farms know that how children eat, grow, and learn about food sets them up for future health and success.”
— Miguel Villarreal, Interim Co-Executive Director

Read our full statement of support here.

[Harrisburg, PA] - On May 1, a group of school meals advocates will gather at the Pennsylvania State Capitol to call for the continuation of free breakfast for Pennsylvania school children and to urge the state to consider a new bill for universal school meals including lunch.

Pennsylvania’s farm to school grants provide funds to buy locally and build connections between children and the people who get food to the school meal table. Integrating policies that expand healthy school meals can do even more to benefit kids, farmers, and communities. National Farm to School Network’s “Who’s At The Table” campaign aims to raise awareness on the importance of school meal policies that value kids and value each person who gets it to the cafeteria table, and broaden public engagement to ensure this issue is at the top of the policy agenda.

The advocates—from food service directors to farmers, and from parents to representatives of school districts—will be available for interviews and photo opportunities between 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm. At the East Wing Rotunda, 500 Commonwealth Ave. Harrisburg, PA 17120.

The advocates will be citing the success of the current free breakfast program. They will also be highlighting the need for universal school meals, which would help to ensure that all students have access to healthy meals throughout the school day. Across the nation, 9 states have now enacted universal meals policies, which provide free meals to all students regardless of household income.

For more information, please contact Ryan Betz at the National Farm to School Network on 601 832 2785. Or Matt Davis Communications on 917 526 9530. 

What’s Inside? (Table of Contents)

• Summary
• What is the Community Eligibility Provision?
• Who Benefits From the Community Eligibility Provision?
• Why does this Rule Change Matter?
• How Can I Learn More and Take Action?

Summary

On March 23, 2023, the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (USDA) proposed a rule change to dramatically expand child access to school meals. They propose to lower the threshold that schools have to meet to qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a federal program that enables eligible schools to serve free meals to all students. Currently, schools can qualify for the program if they have an Identified Student Population (ISP, definition below) of 40%. USDA wants to lower the threshold to qualify for CEP from 40% to 25%. This change will greatly increase the number of schools that are eligible for the program and increase the number of students benefiting from healthy school meals. 

National Farm to School Network is a champion of this rule change. We urge our partners to submit comments to the USDA in support of expanding access to CEP.

Comments are due May 8, 2023. Continue reading for more information on the proposed change, why it is important, and how to take action. 

What is the Community Eligibility Provision?

When did CEP start?

• The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 introduced CEP as a new federal program to expand access to school meals. 

Who benefits from this program?

• One in three schools participated in CEP in the 2021-22 school year, according to a report by the Food Research and Action Center. This amounts to over 33,000 schools, which represent 16.2 million students, or nearly a quarter (22%) of all children under 18 in the US. Most eligible schools (74.3%) participate in CEP.

Who can qualify for CEP?

• To be eligible to operate CEP, a school within a district must have an Identified Student Percentage (ISP) of 40% or higher. Schools can also form groups to increase their ISP and maximize federal funding. 

What is an Identified Student Percentage?

• The “identified student percentage” (ISP) is calculated by dividing the total number of identified students by the total number of enrolled students. “Identified students” are students who are categorically eligible for free meals without the need for a household income application. For example, students are considered categorically eligible if they are enrolled in Head Start or Early Head Start, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), and other similar federal assistance programs, or are homeless, migrant, runaway, or are in foster care. Additionally, the USDA began a pilot program in 14 states to directly certify students if they are enrolled in Medicaid. 

How are schools funded through CEP?‍

• Schools are reimbursed using a formula that multiplies Identified Student Population by 1.6. This number will give schools the percentage of meals they serve that are fully reimbursed by the federal government. For example, a school with an ISP of 56% will be federally reimbursed for 93% of the meals they serve. The remainder of funding would have to come from non-federal sources. A school with an ISP of 63% will be reimbursed for all meals they serve by the federal government. So among schools that participate in CEP, those with higher ISPs will be reimbursed for a higher percentage of meals served. 

Who Benefits from the Community Eligibility Provision?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government made all school meals temporarily free to students. The nation was able to see first-hand the difference this support made in communities. Providing healthy school meals for all through CEP provides similar benefits throughout the school community, backed up by a robust and growing body of research evidence. NFSN has created a 3-page list of talking points that stem from this research in the context of this proposed rule change. 

It benefits students:

• It promotes equity. More students have access to healthy school meals, regardless of income.
• Without cash registers, there are shorter lunch lines and more time to eat lunch.
• There is no stigma associated with eating school lunch.
• We know hungry students can’t learn. School meals for all improve student outcomes by ensuring kids can stay focused in the classroom.

It benefits parents:

• Parents experience less stress when they don’t need to worry about preparing school lunches or paying for meals at school 

It benefits school nutrition professionals.

• There is less administrative burden for schools, which do not have to process school meal applications if they participate in CEP. 
• There are fewer reporting requirements for schools, which previously had to track each meal by payment category (such as free, reduced-price, or paid meals).
• Schools no longer have to act as debt collectors. They do not need to call parents to make up for unpaid meals. This has become a growing problem, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The lunch line is faster, without the need to collect payment from students.
• Reduced administrative burden means that more time can be spent on scratch cooking and purchasing local ingredients.

Why does this Rule Change Matter?

It will increase the number of students benefiting from healthy school meals.

More schools can participate: This rule change will lower the threshold to participate in CEP from 40% to 25%, meaning that many more schools (and more students) will be able to benefit from this program. According to Food Research and Action Center, this change will expand CEP to reach an additional 9 million students in 20,000 more schools that would now be eligible for the program. Some states even require schools to participate in all federal food assistance programs in which they qualify, which ensures more schools will benefit from CEP.

Student meal participation increases with universal access: Meal participation increases when students have access to healthy school meals. 

It will make statewide universal meal policies more appealing to state governments. 

National Farm to School Network has launched the Who’s At the Table? School Meals campaign to promote state-level universal meals policies that align with our community values. This proposed rule would support states that have implemented universal meals and make universal meals policies more appealing to state governments looking to establish universal meals. 

Most universal meals policies require their state governments to cover the difference between the regular price of the meal and any federal funding support for school meals. For example, if a meal costs $3, and the federal government already provides $1 in reimbursement for that meal, currently the state government would provide the remaining $2. This ultimately makes school meals free to all public school students.

Even in states with universal free meals policies, schools are experiencing challenges with collecting income eligibility forms needed to obtain the maximum amount of funding available from federal sources. Lowering the CEP eligibility threshold would allow more schools to participate in CEP, allowing for a more streamlined paperwork process for schools in these states, and reducing the overall cost of a program. This proposed rule change may be the catalyst for more states to adopt healthy school meals for all.

How Can I Learn More and Take Action?

To Learn More:

• Comment Request: Proposed Rule by USDA
• Summary of Proposed Rule by USDA
• Webinar on Proposed Rule by USDA
• Community Eligibility Provision Resource Center
• CEP Benefits Students and Schools web page, by No Kid Hungry
• Community Eligibility: The Key to Hunger-Free Schools School Year 2021–2022 report by Food Research and Action Center

To Get Involved:

• Read NFSN’s comment on the CEP change
• Check out NFSN’s CEP Talking Points for ideas on how you can frame your support
• Review NFSN's CEP Advocacy Toolkit

Are you ready to make a comment of your own?

• Use NFSN’s model comment document and customize it with your own experiences and values
• Submit your comment through NFSN’s Voter Voice platform.

By Trisha Bautista Larson, MPH, Program Manager and Karen Spangler, MPP, Policy Director

The public health community has long referred to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC’s) Framework for Program Evaluation as a tool to enhance and disseminate public health strategies. Twenty-five years after its creation, the CDC recently announced it would update the framework and called for comments. National Farm to School Network (NFSN) understands that evaluation is an integral part of program and policy development, implementation, and sustainability – and when conducted with equity in mind, it has the power to cultivate community empowerment. As part of our commitment to our Call to Action, we have submitted comments to the CDC urging for racial and social equity principles to be embedded in the new iteration of the evaluation framework. This is a remarkable opportunity to confront the structural racism in program and policy research and analysis, which have been rooted in extracting information from communities, to one that reimagines the way findings are shared and increases stakeholder accountability.

CDC’s Evaluation Framework Update Should Include:

• Systems Thinking - Provide tools that support a more complex view of program impact and reflect advances in public health research. Farm to school and farm to early care education practitioners see every day that health is shaped by more than just individual behavioral interventions. Thus, the new Framework should take into consideration the complexity of translating programs and policy recommendations into real world applications. Explicitly including approaches such as the Policy, Systems, and Environmental change allows for crucial flexibility in adapting “best practices” for program and policy implementation at the community and individual levels. Integrating PSE approaches in the new Framework can help bridge the complex intersection of inter/intrapersonal relationships, community, and other social factors with knowledge, behavior, and ultimately, long-term health outcomes for program and policy implementation. 
• Asset-based Approach and Lived Experiences - Consider the lived experiences and knowledge that already exist in the communities intended to be served even prior to introduction to a new program or policy initiative. Proactively working to engage those who are directly impacted by health inequities can bolster the ability to make long-term change beyond a specific program or policy intervention. 
• Collaboration - Ensure that evaluation design and evidence gathering are not extractive of communities. The new Framework should seek to embed and build upon Community-Based Participatory Research methods. Approaches like these foster equitable relationships between researchers/practitioners and community stakeholders to cultivate a space that centers mutuality and community empowerment. The new Framework should also be able to set fresher standards on ways to equitably communicate and distill research findings.

For additional information and framework around centering racial and social equity in farm to school evaluation, please visit NFSN’s Racial and Social Equity Assessment Tool for Farm to School Programs and Policy. This tool was developed in consultation with NFSN Partner organizations that are deeply rooted in embedding health equity in their work. 

We are thankful for the opportunity to offer this perspective to the CDC as they craft the next iteration of the framework for program evaluation. This is an essential time for agencies to be investigating the way in which practitioners – much like in the public health community – evaluate and communicate research findings that aim to impact health outcomes.