Food and Nutrition Service: Equitable Access in Child Nutrition Programs
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) provides nutritious meals at no or low cost to children through the Child Nutrition(CN)programs, including the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)/Seamless Summer Option (SSO).
Donor Name: Food and Nutrition Service
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 09/12/2022
Size of the Grant: $2,000,000
Grant Duration: 36 months
Details:
This Request for Applications (RFA)announces the availability of funds for a cooperative agreement. Funding will be provided to the selected Grantee for fiscal year (FY) 2023 through FY 2026 to a public or private academic or research institution. The USDA anticipates awarding up to $2,000,000 in funding. The majority of these funds shall be awarded by the Grantee as sub-grants through a competitive process to public or private academic, not-for-profit, or State or Local government organizations for the purpose of conducting research activities that support identification of barriers to equitable access in CN programs as well as strategies to help overcome these barriers.
Through its CN programs, USDA FNS collaborates with State and local governments and Indian Tribal Organizations to foster nutrition security for children by providing consistent access to healthful meals and nutrition education. These programs include:
National School Lunch Program (NSLP): The NSLP is a federally assisted meal program operating in nearly 100,000 public and not-for‐profit private schools and residential childcare institutions. FNS administers the program at the Federal level. At the State level, the NSLP is usually administered by State education agencies, which operate the program through agreements with school food authorities (SFAs). School districts that participate in the NSLP receive cash subsidies and donated commodities from USDA for each meal they serve. In 2019,almost 30 million children received lunch at school each day, and about 74% of those lunches were provided for free or at a reduced price.
School Breakfast Program (SBP): The SBP is a federally-assisted meal program that operates in over 90,000 public and nonprofit private schools and residential childcare institutions. In 2019, nearly 15 million children received a school breakfast each day, and about 85 percent of these meals were served to children certified for free or reduced-price meals.
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP): The FFVP provides free fresh fruits and vegetables to students in participating elementary schools during the school day. The fresh fruits and vegetables are provided separately from the lunch or breakfast meal, in one or more areas of the school. The goal of FFVP is to improve children’s over all diet and create healthier eating habits to impact their present and future health.
Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)/Seamless Summer Option (SSO): The SFSP was established to ensure that children from low-income families continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session. Free meals that meet Federal nutrition guidelines are offered to all children 18 years old and under at approved SFSP sites in areas with significant concentrations of children from low-income households. SFAs participating in the NSLP or SBP are eligible to operate the SSO, through which they can serve summer meals free of charge to children, including teenagers through age 18, under the school meal program rules.
Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP): The CACFP subsidizes nutritious meals and snacks served to children and adults in participating day care facilities as well as to children in emergency shelters and eligible after school programs. Providers are reimbursed for each qualifying meal or snack they serve to program participants.
Key Objectives
Design and conduct listening sessions with CN stakeholders to determine priority areas of research and any other relevant considerations for sub-grant awards.
Develop and manage a competitive sub-grant award process to fund public or private not- for-profit or academic organizations to conduct research on equitable access in CN programs.
Disseminate findings from the sub-grant projects broadly among CN stakeholders.
Funding Information
Award Ceiling: $2,000,000
Anticipated start dates and period of performance: November 30, 2022 through September 30, 2025.
Eligibility Criteria
This Request for Applications (RFA) is open to all accredited institutions of higher education (colleges/universities), nonprofit research entities and other nonprofit organizations with documented experience in public health research and communications. These are requirements for the selected recipient of the cooperative agreement, not any potential sub-grantees.
FNS is committed to enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility of their programs and encourages individuals, institutions, and organizations from underserved communities to apply for funding opportunities as grant or subgrant recipients.
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