The School Food System Transformation Challenge Sub-Grants will support a more resilient food system through expanding manufacturing and purchasing capacity at the local and regional level.
Donor Name: Food and Nutrition Service
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/01/2023
Size of the Grant: $50,000,000
Details:
In June of 2022, the USDA launched the Food System Transformation framework which aims to build a more resilient food supply chain, create a fairer food system, and make nutritious food more accessible and affordable for consumers, with a particular focus on equity. Under this RFA, the School Food System Transformation Challenge Sub-Grant Cooperative Agreement will reflect FNS’ commitment to encourage the offering of healthier food products in the marketplace for school meals through engagement with the food industry and incentivizing innovation and partnerships. Increasing access to nutritious and appealing foods for kids is critical to the success of strong school meal standards. The selected Cooperator(s) will collaborate with food industry partners to support school districts, food producers, suppliers, distributors, and community partners.
The goal of this RFA is to select a Cooperator or Cooperators who will implement and manage the School Food System Transformation Challenge Sub-Grants. The Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards for SFAs, the Healthy Meals Incentives Sub-Grants for Small and/or Rural SFAs, and the Healthy Meals Summits were released under another RFA and are not included herein.
USDA FNS has established the Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative to improve the nutritional quality of school meals through food system transformation. This initiative consists of four key activities:
- The School Food System Transformation Challenge Sub-Grants will support collaborative projects between school districts, food producers, suppliers, distributors, and/or community partners to stimulate innovation in strengthening the availability of and access to nutritious food products in the K-12 school food marketplace.
- The Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards for SFAs will recognize and share best practices from SFAs that have made significant improvements to the nutritional quality of their school meals.
- The Healthy Meals Incentives Sub-Grants for Small and/or Rural SFAs will offer competitive grants of up to $150,000 per grant for small and/or rural SFAs experiencing challenges in the improvement of the nutritional quality of their school meals due to limited staffing; difficulty in accessing training; increased food costs due to limited purchasing power; lack of physical space; and outdated kitchen equipment. The grants are intended to help small and/or rural SFAs overcome these challenges, improve the nutritional quality of school meals, and meet Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award criteria.
- The Healthy Meals Summits will convene Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award recipients and School Food System Transformation Challenge sub-grantees to be recognized, share best practices, and discuss strategies for sustaining their achievements into the future.
Funding Information
- Award Ceiling: $50,000,000
- Award Floor: $12,500,000
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible entities include public or private colleges and universities; non-profit or for-profit research organizations/institutions; entities with experience working with school nutrition professionals and/or the school food service industry to improve the nutritional quality of school meals. All applicants and/or its partners must have demonstrated experience in awarding and managing grants or sub-grants. Schools and school districts are not eligible entities for this award.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
