State Agency: Farm to School Program Training and Curricula

The Farm to School Cooperative Agreement solicitation is open to organizations with experience providing technical assistance support and services that further expand farm to school initiatives. These Cooperative agreements allow more involvement and

The overall goal of this project is for the selected applicant to help producers overcome the challenges of selling their goods (meat, fish, grain, produce) to school food authorities operating the Child Nutrition Programs (National School Breakfast, National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program and the Child and Adult Care Food Program). This opportunity seeks identify an organization to develop a train-the-trainer curriculum that will be developed (in partnership with State Agency input) and disseminated by the awarded applicant. The applicant will identify common challenges for producers seeking to sell to school food authorities and create curriculum and associated training materials that address these challenges. The target audience of the train-the-trainer curriculum will be state agencies that administer the Child Nutrition Programs and those that work closely with farmers (e.g. Departments of Education, Agriculture, Health). The awarded applicant will also assist in promoting the training (that will be executed by trained state agencies) among farmers. Finally, the awarded applicant will evaluate the success of the trainings conducted by state agencies. Please see the RFP for more information. The purpose of the FY 24 Farm to School Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreement is to support nonprofit entities and Indian Tribal Organizations to implement national- and/or regional-level farm to school activities. Awardees under this cooperative agreement will undertake projects supporting USDA's priorities of Food System Transformation, Improving Child Health through Nutritious School Meals, and Indigenous Food Sovereignty. Please see the RFP for more information.

The FY24 Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreement is open to 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and Indian Tribal Organization (ITO) meeting the criteria listed in the RFA. Please see RFA for details.

There are three funding tracks available, corresponding with each USDA priority. Applicants to the Supporting Community Engagement track (aligned with USDA's priority of Improving Child Health through Nutritious School Meals) will propose projects that expand farm to school institutes. The Supporting Producer Engagement track aligns with USDA's Food Systems Transformation priority and will fund projects that strengthen producer engagement with the Child Nutrition Programs market. Finally, the Supporting Tribal Engagement track will fund an entity to conduct Tribal dialogues with the purpose of supporting FNS's farm to school grantmaking and technical assistance for Tribal entities, in alignment with USDA's Indigenous Food Sovereignty priority.

Assistance may be used to develop a training targeted to providing state agencies with the tools necessary to support agricultural producers in selling local goods (meat, fish, grain, dairy, produce) to school food authorities. FY24 Cooperative Agreement - Assistance may be used to provide awardees with the tools necessary (including purchasing supplies and equipment) to expand farm to school institutes, strengthen producer engagement with the Child Nutrition Programs market, and conduct Tribal dialogues.

Costs of entertainment, including amusement, diversion, and social activities and any associated costs are unallowable (such as mascot costumes, promotional items, etc.) unless there is a programmatic purpose and prior approval is granted by FNS. All costs proposed in the budget and detailed in the budget narrative must be allowable, reasonable, necessary, and allocable.

FNS anticipates awarding a cooperative agreement to an accredited public or private academic institute of higher learning, a research or training institution, or for-profit or nonprofit organization by January 2019. The anticipated period of performance of the cooperative agreement will be from February 2019 - September 2021. FNS anticipates awarding a FY 24 technical assistance cooperative agreement to a 501(c)3 non-profit organization or Indian Tribal Organization (ITO) by November 2023. The anticipated period of performance of the cooperative agreement will be from November 1, 2023 - September 30 2026.

Proposals have a series of required sections that have points assigned. Please see RFP/RFA for details. Following the initial screening process, FNS will assemble a panel to review and determine the technical merits of each application. The panel will evaluate the proposals based on how well they address the required application components and array the applications from highest to lowest score. The panel members will recommend applications for consideration for a grant award based on the evaluation scoring.

The selecting official makes the final decision regarding which applicant shall be awarded. The selecting official reserves the right to determine whether or not to accept the panel's recommendation . FNS reserves the right to use this solicitation and competition to award additional grants in the next fiscal year should additional funds be made available.

Program no longer accepting applications.

75 Calendar days

Contingent upon agency approval

Non-selected applicants may request a debriefing to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of submitted proposals. This information may be useful when preparing future grant proposals. Additional information on debriefing requests will be forwarded to non-selected applicants. The Food and Nutrition Service reserves the right to provide this debriefing orally or in written format.