Farm to School Implementation Grant | USDA FNS F2S 2024 IMPL

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FNS F2S 2024 IMPL

The Farm to School Implementation Grant is a discretionary grant offered by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) under the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program (CFDA 10.575). Its core purpose is to expand students access to locally sourced foods while strengthening students understanding of where food comes from through hands-on, education-centered activities. In practice, this means supporting school and community efforts that combine local food purchasing for meal programs with agricultural education such as taste tests, school gardens, farm field trips, and classroom or cafeteria-based learning tied to local agriculture.

For FY 2025, the Implementation Grant is geared toward projects that build or scale comprehensive farm to school programming at eligible Child Nutrition Program (CNP) sites. A key requirement is that proposals must clearly include both parts of the program objective: (1) local sourcing (bringing more local foods into school or childcare meals) and (2) agricultural education efforts (activities that connect students to food origins and local agriculture). The funding is intended for organizations that are ready to implement or expand an initiative rather than only explore or plan, and the proposal is expected to show how these elements will work together in a coordinated approach.

Awards support 24-month projects with funding up to $500,000 per award. Applicants must provide matching support equal to at least 25 percent of the total project budget, and that match can be either cash or in-kind contributions. USDA expects to make about 75 awards under this opportunity. The application deadline listed is January 10, 2025.

Eligibility is limited to certain entity types tied to child nutrition and community food systems. Eligible applicants include schools (including non-profit private and charter schools) that operate the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and/or School Breakfast Program (SBP); eligible child care institutions that operate the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP); eligible Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sponsors; local agencies; Indian Tribal Organizations and Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs); agricultural producers (including groups of producers); and nonprofit entities (including 501(c)(3) organizations). State agencies are explicitly not eligible for the Implementation Grant track. The applicant must choose a single entity type and use it consistently across all application materials; if USDA cannot clearly determine that the applicant meets an eligible definition based on what is submitted, the application can be ruled ineligible and removed from consideration.

This grant is one of three FY 2025 solicitations under the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program (Implementation, Turnkey, and State Agency tracks). A strict rule applies across these tracks: an organization may submit only one application total across all three FY 2025 Farm to School solicitations. If the same applicant submits multiple applications to different tracks through Grants.gov, all submissions will be removed from consideration.

USDA also promoted two optional informational webinars to help applicants prepare: an "Introduction to the RFA" webinar on November 5 and a "Submitting a Complete Grant Package" webinar on November 6, both hosted via ZoomGov. These sessions are intended to walk prospective applicants through the request for applications and help them assemble a compliant, complete submission. The opportunity is posted on Grants.gov under Funding Opportunity Number USDA FNS F2S 2024 IMPL, categorized under Agriculture, Food and Nutrition, and uses a standard grant funding instrument.

• The Food and Nutrition Service in the agriculture, food and nutrition sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Farm to School Implementation Grant" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.575.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-10-28.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-10. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 75 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: County governments, City or township governments, Independent school districts, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for USDA FNS F2S 2024 IMPL

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: