Tom Vilsack Secretary of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) | Official Website
The USDA's Food and Nutrition Service has awarded $10 million in grants through its partners, Full Plates Full Potential and the Illinois Public Health Institute, as part of the $100 million Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative (HMI). This initiative aims to empower schools to serve nutritious meals that support student growth and development.
The grants are part of the School Food System Transformation Challenge, a segment of HMI. These funds aim to foster innovation in school meal programs by encouraging collaboration between schools, the food industry, and other stakeholders. To date, 264 HMI grants totaling $30 million have been awarded to small and rural school districts, while 43 grants amounting to $16.5 million have been distributed under the School Food System Transformation Challenge Sub-Grants.
"USDA is committed to strengthening the nutritional quality of school meals, and it starts with strengthening the K-12 school food marketplace," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "These grants will allow schools to purchase a wider variety of healthy, appealing products from local and regional producers while building a more resilient and equitable food system."
The Biden-Harris Administration emphasizes providing American schools with the necessary tools for quality meal provision. To promote innovation in school cafeterias in the Northeast and Midwest, grant partners have awarded funds to nearly two dozen grantees this year.
Full Plates Full Potential, a non-profit focused on ending childhood food insecurity in Maine, allocated $7.4 million in School Food System Innovation Grants to seven organizations. These projects aim to help schools overcome barriers to purchasing Maine-based foods for their meal programs and establish replicable long-term solutions.
The Illinois Public Health Institute granted $2.7 million to 16 organizations for the Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub’s Spark and Innovation Collaborative Awards. These grants are intended to drive change throughout the Lake Michigan region's school food system by building regional partnerships, scaling programs, and introducing new healthy products into the K-12 food marketplace.
More details about awardees can be found on the FNS School Food System Transformation Challenge webpage.
Earlier this spring, USDA announced nearly $6.5 million in School Food System Transformation Challenge Grants for Supporting Community Agriculture and Local Education Systems (Project SCALES) and Partnership for Local Agriculture and Nutrition Transformation in Schools (PLANTS). Additional funding opportunities will be available through Project SCALES and the Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub soon.
These grants align with goals set during the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health aimed at enhancing food security and improving access to affordable nutrition. The USDA continues efforts to increase access to local foods for children’s better nutrition connection.
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service operates over 16 nutrition assistance programs such as school breakfast/lunch programs, WIC, SNAP which collectively serve one-quarter of Americans annually promoting equitable access to healthy foods essential for well-being. FNS also co-develops science-based nutrition recommendations via Dietary Guidelines for Americans. For further information about FNS activities supporting national strategies on hunger/nutrition visit www.fns.usda.gov or follow @USDANutrition.
