WSDA awards $1.5 million in grants for Farm to School efforts

Annette Slonim
WSDA Farm to School 

Last fall, WSDA announced a new grant program to promote and expand farm to school efforts by supporting local food purchasing in schools, child care centers, and summer meal programs statewide. Thanks to an appropriation from the 2021 Legislative Session, WSDA received $5 million in the 2021-23 state budget to launch the new grant and expand WSDA’s Farm to School program 

This month, the agency notified 52 organizations, spanning 23 counties around the state, that they were awarded funds from of the first round of the new Farm to School Purchasing Grants.  A second round of grants will be available for the 2022-2023 school year.

In all, WSDA awarded $1,503,874 in the first round of grants. The recipients include:

• 38 school programs
• including 1 tribal school program
• 13 child care programs
• including 2 tribal early learning programs
• 1 summer meal program

The Farm to School Purchasing Grant is meant to support farm to
school efforts by making it possible for schools, childcares, and summer meal programs to increase their procurement of Washington grown foods. Farm to school purchasing makes nutritious, local foods available to more children and expands market opportunities for local farms.   

The grants range from $1,000 to more than $200,000, based on the number of children served by the program or the size of the nutrition program.  The grant is administered in partnership with Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).

You can learn more about the grants at agr.wa.gov/FarmToSchool or by emailing farmtoschool@agr.wa.gov. 

The grant program contributes to WSDA’s Focus on Food Initiative, which focuses on strengthening Washington’s food system at the regional level and ensuring safe, nutritious food is effectively produced and distributed throughout our state.