Formula Grant 253MO304N1099

The federal Formula Grant award of $141,709,493 was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service for the National School Lunch Program (CFDA 10.555). The grant aims to assist states in providing nutritious, non-profit lunches to school children and to encourage domestic consumption of agricultural commodities. Key funded services include food procurement, meal program operations, nutrition education, and kitchen equipment upgrades for schools. The grant has a performance period from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.

The grant primarily funds sub-awards to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), which then distributes the funding to local school districts, charter schools, and non-profit organizations throughout Missouri to implement school lunch services at the local level. DESE has received over $13M for the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program to purchase domestic foods from local producers for school meal programs. Other sub-awards focus on providing special education, Title I, and COVID-19 relief funding to school districts and educational organizations across the state.