The Farm to School and Early Childhood Grant is intended to help Vermont-based early childhood providers and Vermont schools build and strengthen farm to school or farm to early childhood programs.
Donor Name: Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets
State: Vermont
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 10/29/2025
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
Schools and early childhood programs are more likely to have sustained and impactful farm to school programs when there is widespread support and buy-in across the school or early childhood community. Sustainable farm to school programs are also integrated programs that build food systems education in the classroom, the cafeteria, and the community.
This grant program is designed for projects that have dedicated buy-in and support across the school or early childhood community. This grant is designed for:
- Collaborative projects led by a team of four to seven individuals, including food service, staff, administration, teachers, and community partners working together to build a robust farm to school program.
- Projects that are multi-faceted that will impact at least three of the five funding priorities (see Funding Priorities below) and include project goals related to each of the 3 C’s of farm to school (Classroom, Cafeteria, and Community).
- Projects with demonstrated leadership buy-in, community partner participation, and a robust outreach plan for communicating about farm to school projects with the broader community.
Funding Priorities
Applicants will need to explain how their project aligns with at least three of the following funding priorities:
- Priority 1: Enriching the educational experiences of Vermont youth through agriculture and food education
- Priority 2: Increasing school or early childhood procurement of local food (as defined in Act 129 of 2020)
- Priority 3: Improving child nutrition, health, and wellness
- Priority 4: Increasing student participation in federal child nutrition programs (e.g. CACFP, NSLP, SBP)
- Priority 5: Developing and strengthening connections between schools/early childhood programs and their local communities.
Funding Information
A total of $300,000 is available through this competitive funding opportunity. The minimum award for this grant program is $10,000 and the maximum award is $30,000.
Grant Period
Grantees will have up to 18 months to complete projects.
Allowable Costs
Eligible project costs include, but are not limited to:
- Personnel directly related to the project
- Fringe for staff time directly associated with the project
- Supplies (e.g. local food [as defined in Act 129 of 2020], gardening supplies, classroom materials, kitchen supplies, etc.)
- Equipment (e.g. kitchen equipment for storing/processing local food)
- Travel (e.g. mileage for staff to engage with the project, attend events, etc.)
- Contractual (e.g. farm to school coaching, consultation, or technical assistance)
- Other (e.g. professional development training)
- Indirect costs no greater than 15% of the grant request amount.
Eligible Projects
- Projects that are led by a project team with at least four individuals, including, at a minimum, one child nutrition professional, one administrator, and one educator. Flexibility in the representative roles is allowed for early childhood programs that do not operate meal programs and/or family childcare home programs (FCCH) with only one or two staff, but at least four individuals need to be on a project team, at minimum, for all applicants.
- Projects that will impact at least three of the five funding priorities (see Funding Priorities below).
- Projects include at least one goal related to each of the 3 C’s of farm to school (Classroom, Cafeteria, and Community).
- Projects include at least one Letter of Commitment or Letter of Support.
Eligibility Criteria
Applications must be submitted by the fiscal agent. For public schools, the fiscal agent is the supervisory union or educational district. For early childhood providers, the fiscal agent is typically the owner, director or business manager.
- The following entities are eligible applicants:
- Vermont licensed early childhood education centers
- Registered family child care home (FCCH) providers
- Independent schools participating in any federal child nutrition programs
- Individual K-12 public schools or school-based pre-K programs
- Supervisory unions (SU) or educational districts on behalf of a K-12 public school or pre-K program, or a consortium of K-12 public schools and pre-K programs
- Other organizations, such as non-profits or community groups, can be named as coapplicants and included in grant activities.
- Applicants that previously applied for and/or received funds from the Farm to School and Early Childhood Grant Program can re-apply for funding. Applicants who are current or previous grantees must explain whether the proposed project builds on previous work or is a separate project, as well as demonstrate how continued funding will be used to grow or improve the program.
For more information, visit AAFM.
