USDA and partners announce School Food System Transformation Challenge Sub-Grants recipients

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its partners have announced the first round of its School Food System Transformation Challenge Sub-Grants.

The USDA partnered with Boise State University, Chef Ann Foundation, Full Plates Full Potential and the Illinois Public Health Institute last year to oversee the grant program, which aims to support projects that intended to strengthen the supply chain for school foodservice programs.

Each partner organization is responsible for distributing a select number of grants.

Boise State University awarded up to $150,000 to 12 rural school districts for its Supporting Community Agriculture and Local Education Systems (Project SCALES) sub-grant. The university will work with the recipients over the next two to help them build relationships with those in their community to help strengthen their access to local products.

The Chef Ann foundation announced the eight recipients of its Partnerships for Local Agriculture and Nutrition Transformation in Schools (PLANTS) sub-grant. Similar to Project SCALES, all eight recipients of the PLANTS sub-grant will receive guidance from Chef Ann on how to strengthen relationships with community-based food system stakeholders and expand scratch-cooking on their menus.  

“Over the next three years, these grants will help schools embrace and expand scratch cooking meal programs, source more values-aligned foods, and create meals that reflect the diverse culinary traditions of the students, Chef Ann Foundation Executive Director of Programs Laura Smith said in an email to FoodService Director. “However, it's not just about the food on the plate; it's about  strengthening partnerships and collaboration among schools, producers, growers, and processors. Through this grant, we are improving the quality and nutritional value of school meals while also boosting local economies and promoting sustainable practices for years to come.”

Full Plates Full Potential and Illinois Public Health Institute will announce their grant recipients next month.

The sub-grants are part of  the second-phase of the USDA’s $100 million Healthy School Meals Incentive, which it announced in 2022. The incentive aims to help schools strengthen their procurement efforts and increase the amount of scratch-made meals on school menus.

The first phase of the initiative focuses on small and rural school meal programs and includes a grant program, four in-person healthy school meals summits and an awards program to recognize school foodservice programs excelling in meal quality and support schools in bringing best practices to their cafeterias.

The USDA partnered with Action for Health Kids for the first phase, which has been underway for the past year. Recipients of the grant program have used their funding to hire extra staff, purchase kitchen equipment and more.