Funviralpark Washington DC, November 10, 2022 – USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service today launched a new innovative initiative for healthier school meals through a $50 million grant opportunity. The launch follows commitments made in the government’s National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health (PDF, 776 KB).
“Building on the momentum of September’s White House conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, we are investing in innovative solutions and challenging the industry to ensure that all students have access to healthy school meals. “We are partnering with us to help our children reach their full academic potential,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. USDA recognizes the importance of private sector partnerships to make this happen.”
The request for grant applications launched today marks the second phase of USDA’s $100 million Healthy Eating Incentives initiative. This initiative aims to improve the quality of school meals by enhancing access to nutritious foods.
“School feeding programs are at the forefront of providing critical nutrition to millions of children,” said Stacey Dean, deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services. is committed to comprehensively support these programs, including strengthening the entire food supply chain that sustains them.These grants will stimulate innovation in the school feeding market. , aims to build a more equitable and resilient food system that adequately serves all children.”
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service will select up to four non-governmental organizations to manage funding for the School Food System Transformation Challenge. These organizations award competitive grants to support and strengthen K-12 school food supply chains. Grantees may include food producers, suppliers and distributors. school districts; and community partners. The grant will support the school’s ability to access a range of healthy and appealing products and foster innovation by local producers and food producers and suppliers, including small businesses and disadvantaged businesses. To do.
Application requests will be accepted until February 1, 2023. For more information, see Request an application.
In September, FNS announced Phase 1 of its Healthy Eating Incentives Initiative, a non-governmental organization to administer school feeding awards and provide subsidies of up to $150,000 each to small and local school districts. applied for. Efforts from both phases of the initiative will help American farmers by increasing access to nutritious commodities in small and rural school districts.
The Biden-Harris administration’s National Strategy provides a roadmap for actions the federal government will take to end hunger and reduce diet-related illnesses by 2030. The National Strategy was released in conjunction with the first White House conference on hunger, nutrition and health in over 50 years hosted by President Biden on September 28, 2022. and Improving Nutrition Security: The Role of USDA Food and Nutrition Services,” highlights how the agency supports national strategies.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans every day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris administration, the USDA will transform America’s food system to create more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, safer, healthier and more nutritious food for all communities. The focus is on ensuring access to high quality food and building new markets and flows. Increasing incomes for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, removing systemic barriers, and making America a better place. We commit to equity across the sector by building a more representative workforce. For more information, please visit www.usda.gov.
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