Farm to School Grant Recipients Announced

St. Paul, MN: The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) recently awarded funding to schools across Minnesota for two new grants to increase the amount of healthy local foods in school meals through its Farm to School programs.

School districts across Minnesota received a total of $294,907 for purchasing Minnesota-grown and -raised foods to be used in school meal programs. This grant funding will leverage an additional $239,007 in purchases of Minnesota grown- and raised-foods, for nearly $534,000 in total investment.

“Building new markets that directly benefit farmers and children is at the heart of what we aim to do here at MDA,” Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen said. “We’re thrilled to see schools across the state participate in these new grant programs, and we look forward to their success and building on this initial investment.”

Recipient school districts were awarded one of two grants:

• Farm to School First Bite Mini-Grant: Grants are intended for school districts that have little to no experience with local procurement as part of a Farm to School programing.

• Farm to School Full Tray Grant: Grants are intended for school districts that have some Farm to School procurement experience.

Funding for this program is made available through the Agricultural Growth, Research, and Innovation (AGRI) program, which administers grants to farmers, agribusinesses, schools, and more throughout the state of Minnesota. The AGRI Program exists to advance Minnesota’s agricultural and renewable energy sectors.

The grant recipients may receive technical assistance to successfully implement their farm to school procurement activities from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy thanks to funding from the USDA’s Specialty Crop Block Grant. University of Minnesota Extension’s Center of Community Vitality will evaluate the economic impact of this investment.

Farm to School Grant Recipients

First Bite

School Amount

All Saints Catholic Schools $3,400

Aurora Waakaone Community of Learners $5,000

ISD 0877 Buffalo Public Schools $5,000

Crosslake Community School $5,000

ISD 0330 Heron Lake-Okabena Public Schools $5,000

Immanuel Lutheran School $5,000

ISD 0740 Melrose Public Schools $5,000

New Ulm Area Catholic Schools $5,000

ISD 0553 New York Mills Public Schools $5,000

St Mary’s School Breckenridge $2,500

ISD 0487 Upsala Public Schools $5,000

Winona Area Public Schools $5,000

Full Tray

School Amount

ISD 0206 Alexandria Public Schools $11,201

ISD 0271 Bloomington Public Schools $35,000

ISD 0466 Dassel Cokato Public Schools $8,500

ISD 0272 Eden Prairie Public Schools $5,000

ISD 0270 Hopkins Public Schools $10,837

ISD 0423 Hutchinson Public Schools $17,500

ISD 0465 Litchfield Public Schools $9,000

ISD 2711 Mesabi East Schools $9,841

ISD 0001 Minneapolis Public Schools $35,000

ISD 0659 Northfield Public Schools $5,000

ISD 0719 Prior Lake Public Schools $18,235

Riverway Learning Community $2,568

ISD 0281 Robbinsdale Public Schools $35,000

ISD 0623 Roseville Public Schools $27,200

ISD 0282 St. Anthony New Brighton Public Schools $9,125