The state has announced that during Farm-to-School Month, $10 million is available through Round 2 of New York’s Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program. The program will support projects in New York schools that improve meal preparation and distribution for Kindergarten through Grade 12 students. The program will provide $50 million over five years to eligible applicants to facilitate the on-site processing and preparation of fresh, nutritious meals, increase the use of more healthy, local New York food products, and provide a boost to New York farmers
The Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program is providing New York schools the resources they need to prepare fresh, nutritious meals for students from scratch. Funding from the program will go toward developing facilities to allow organizations to aggregate, store, process, and prepare farm products on-site. The program also encourages workforce development by providing training to schools, communities, and students in culinary arts, food processing, safe food handling and storage, logistics, delivery, and more, based on community need.
Applications for Round 2 of the Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program are open starting today. Project proposals should be regionally focused on improving meal preparation for K-12 school children, reducing food insecurity, increasing market opportunities for New York State producers, and strengthening the resilience of our state’s food system. The program requires that funded facilities serve multiple school districts and support their local community, including by providing workforce development opportunities. Funding will be awarded to every region of the state over the course of five years. The first round of funding was awarded to projects in Western New York and in the North Country. Two additional regions will be awarded $5 million each in this round and in subsequent rounds, until all regions are awarded.
Grant funds are available for the costs of capital projects that support the preparation and distribution of fresh meals for regional school infrastructure, such as aggregation, storage hubs, and/or commissary-type kitchens. Eligible applicants include not-for-profit organizations, local municipalities, school districts, and Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES).
Proposals are due on December 5, 2024, at 4:00 pm. For more information on the program, project eligibility, and how to apply, visit here. Additionally, an informational webinar will be held on October 29, 2024, at 12:00 pm. To register, visit here. The workshop will be recorded and posted on the Department’s website.
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