The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (the “Department”) is pleased to announce the availability of funds for the 2024 Farm- to-School Competitive Grants Program.
Donor Name: New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets
State: New York
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 06/27/2024
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
Farm-to-School is the promotion and use of foods produced by New York State farmers in meals served in cafeterias of K-12 schools. Associations between farms and schools through the cafeteria and classroom can enhance the quality of food served. With over 700 school districts in New York State, there is the opportunity to foster relationships among New York State farmers, food hubs, producers, processors, and distributors to benefit school-age children.
While serving New York State produced food in school cafeterias may seem simple, developing Farm-to-School connections highlights several challenges, particularly the lack of an established infrastructure or network of stakeholders that includes all the necessary parties: farmers, food service directors, food service contract management companies, food distributors, processors, agricultural organizations, and commodity organizations. Other challenges include:

Seasonality: Farmers plan their crops in January, long before schools make purchasing decisions and place bids for products in the summer. In addition, the summer growing season is when schools are not in session.
Inconsistent quality, quantity, and sizing: schools require produce to be served in standard units and meet specifications.
Processing and packaging: schools require vegetables and fruits to be processed and packaged in standard units.
Bidding: sending and reviewing bids from individual farmers can be time-consuming and complex for school procurement and fiscal staff.
Delivery/pick up: distribution can be complicated when purchasing from multiple growers.
Lack of equipment and skills to store, prepare and serve fresh produce procured for school meals programs.
Connecting diverse populations with their culturally appropriate foods.
Lack of training and workforce development for culinary staff.

The New York State Farm-to-School Competitive Grants Program began in 2015 to increase school’s purchase of New York specialty crops by building relationships between schools and New York farm product suppliers. Secondary goals of the program include increasing agricultural education opportunities for students, improving nutrition and exposing students to new, local, culinary experiences.
The objective of Farm to School projects must be to increase the volume and variety of New York State farm products purchased by schools/districts and served in school meal programs. Applicants are encouraged to include other objectives including agricultural and nutrition education gardening activities and relationship building with local agricultural food businesses and farmers. Projects that partner with producers or food processors are strongly encouraged. Applicants may include partners in their project budget as contractors
Funding Information
A total of $1,500,000 is available for the Farm-to-School Competitive Grants Program. This year, $300,000 will be set aside for first-time recipients. Grant awards may range from $50,000 to $100,000. Applicants may apply for only one grant per funding period. Applicants must apply for $50,000 to $100,000.
Project Duration
Proposed projects must be completed within two years of the contract start date. Contract term will be 9/1/2024 to 8/31/2026.
Eligible Applicants 
Eligible applicants include:

K-12 School Food Authorities
Charter schools
Not-for-profit organizations
Indian tribal organizations.

For more information, visit NYSDAM.