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2021 California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program

Grantor:
CA Department of Food and Agriculture
Portal ID:
4717
Status:
Closed (80 total applications submitted)
Opportunity Type:
  • Grant
Last Updated:
Categories:

Details

Purpose:

The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program will award competitive grants to support innovative local and regional farm to school projects. CDFA is looking to support programs that promote innovation in nutrition education, sustainable production and procurement, and high-quality student experience. 

Description:

Track 1: The CA Farm to School Innovation Grant will fund Local Education Agencies (LEA) to establish new or expand existing integrated farm to school programs that: (1) procure California grown or produced whole or minimally processed foods and integrate these foods into school meals; and (2) coordinate educational opportunities between cafeterias, classrooms, and communities.

A Local Education Agency (LEA): As defined in Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a public board of education or other public authority legally constituted within a State for either administrative control or direction of, or to perform a service function for, public elementary schools or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or other political subdivision of a state, or for a combination of school districts or counties that is recognized in a state as an administrative agency for its public elementary schools or secondary schools.

CDFA encourages LEAs with preschool programs to include those programs in their project.

Please note that applicants are limited to one application in each funding track.

Awards will range from $20K - $500K per project.

 

Track 2: The CA Farm to School Regional Partnerships Grant will fund farm to school partnerships to expand existing farm to school initiatives and increase collaboration and coordination between producers and the schools they serve, providing funding for infrastructure, transportation, coordination, planning, or other necessary program components. Programs will increase procurement of California produced foods, sustainability, student engagement, and collaboration between regional farm to school partners.

This track will be available for LEAs and farm to school partners (food producers, producer networks or associations, farmer or rancher cooperatives, majority controlled producer-based business ventures, food councils, local or tribal governments, nonprofit corporations, economic development corporations, public benefit corporations, community supported agriculture networks or associations, regional farmers’ market associations, county agencies or regional authorities, philanthropic organizations, institutions of higher education, commercial, federal, or farm credit system lending institutions).

Food producers can include those who produce food in a variety of ways (e.g., farmers, ranchers, fishers, those using indigenous agriculture practices, etc.).

Partnerships must include at least two LEAs and at least one regional partner.

Any one of the entities in the partnership can serve as the lead applicant. The other entities must provide letters of commitment.

Please note that applicants are limited to one application in each funding track.

Awards will range from $10k - $250K per project.

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Applicants:

  • Business
  • Nonprofit
  • Public Agency
  • Tribal Government

Matching Funding Requirement:

Matching funds are not required.

Important Dates

The date (and time, where applicable) by which all applications must be submitted to the grantmaker. Time listed as “00:00” equates to midnight.
The date on which the grantor expects to announce the recipient(s) of the grant.
March 2021
The length of time during which the grant money must be utilized.
1 year, 10 months

Funding Details

The total projected dollar amount of the grant.
$8,496,000
A single grant opportunity may represent one or many awards. Some grantors may know in advance the exact number of awards to be given. Others may indicate a range. Some may wish to and wait until the application period closes before determining how many awards to offer; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
Dependent
Grant opportunities representing multiple awards may offer awards in the same amount or in varied amounts. Some may wish to wait until the application period closes before determining per-award amounts; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
Dependent
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) provide a letter of intent.
No
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) be able to fully or partially match the grant award amount with another funding source.
No
The funding source allocated to fund the grant. It may be either State or Federal (or a combination of both), and be tied to a specific piece of legislation, a proposition, or a bond number.
  • State

Funding Source Notes:

The Budget Act of 2020 appropriated $8.496 million from the General Fund to CDFA for this California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program. Track 1: The California Farm to School Innovation Grant offers $20,000 - $500,000 per project. Track 2: The California Farm to School Regional Partnerships Grant offers $10,000 - $250,000 per project. Matching funds are not required.

The manner in which the grant funding will be delivered to the awardee. Funding methods include reimbursements (where the recipient spends out-of-pocket and is reimbursed by the grantor) and advances (where the recipient spends received grant funds directly).
  • Advances & Reimbursement(s)

How to Apply

State agencies/departments recommend you read the full grant guidelines before applying.

Resources

For questions about this grant, contact:
1-916-900-5158, cafarmtofork@cdfa.ca.gov

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