The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) is pleased to announce a grant opportunity to help Oregon producers and processors access the school marketplace.
Donor Name: Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA)
State: Oregon
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 05/23/2022
Size of the Grant: $5,000 – $60,000
Grant Duration: 1 year
Details:
The Oregon Department of Agriculture and National Farm to School Network recognize the following core elements of the Farm to School Program: 1) education, 2) procurement, and 3) school gardens.
The aim of the project is to increase sales of Oregon agricultural products by increasing production and/or processing capacity to meet school marketplace demand.
The goal of this competitive grant program is to provide financial resources for Oregon producers (farmers, ranchers, seafood harvesters, and processors) with specific equipment and infrastructure needs, and who intend to sell food produced or processed in Oregon to any of the following food sponsors:
- A school district participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP);
- A provider of center-based programs for children in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP); and
- An entity that provides meals through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
Farm to School programs:
- serve locally grown, raised, harvested, or processed foods in school cafeterias,
- improve student nutrition,
- provide agriculture, health, and nutrition education opportunities; and
- support Oregon’s agricultural economy.
Funding Information
- Request funds greater than $5,000 and less than $60,000.
- Grant funds will be available for projects between July 5, 2022, and June 30, 2023, and cannot be expended before a project initiation date is provided by ODA.
Eligibility Criteria
- Person(s) who intend to sell food produced or processed in the state of Oregon to any one or more of the following: i) school district participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), ii) a provider of center-based programs for children in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), or iii) an entity that provides meals through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), are eligible for funding under this program.
- For simplicity, the food sponsors identified in ORS.335.431 (3)(a) will be referred to as “schools” in these grant guidelines.
- For the purposes of this program, “intend” is defined as persons who i) have a history of selling food products to schools, ii) currently sell food products to schools, or iii) do not currently sell food products to schools, but plan to do so in the future.
- To be eligible for grant funds under the program, an applicant must be a “producer.” A “producer” includes any of the following entities:
- a person who borrows, leases, rents, or owns Oregon land, whether the land is publicly-owned, privately-owned, or Tribal land, on which crops are cultivated or livestock is raised;
- an Oregon seafood harvester;
- an Oregon business that increases the use and processing of Oregon agricultural products for schools, including a for-profit business whose primary function involves production, processing, packaging, or distribution of food service products or some combination thereof; and
- an agricultural cooperative or aggregation group (such as physical Food Hubs) that produces, processes, and sells Oregon agricultural products or services for the mutual benefit of members.
For more information, visit Farm to School Program.
