During Farm to School Month, State Agriculture Commissioner Annou...

State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball today announced, during Farm-to-School Month, that $10 million is now available through Round 2 of New York's Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program. The program will support projects in New York schools that improve meal preparation and distribution for Kindergarten through Grade 12 students. First announced in Governor Kathy Hochul's 2023 State of the State, the program will provide $50 million over five years to eligible applicants to facilitate the on-site processing and preparation of fresh, nutritious meals, increase the use of more healthy, local New York food products, and provide a boost to New York farmers.

Commissioner Ball said, "Here at the Department, we are working hard to ensure our farmers are New York's best and first customer across the board, and that includes our schools. The Regional School Food Infrastructure program provides a tremendous opportunity to collaborate with our partners across the state to strengthen our food system and provide delicious, healthy and locally sourced meals to our students by ensuring our schools have the equipment they need to cook from scratch and use ingredients made by our farmers and producers. I'm excited to see the progress made by one of the first recipients of this program and encourage eligible organizations across the state to apply to the second round."

The Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program is providing New York schools the resources they need to prepare fresh, nutritious meals for students from scratch. Funding from the program will go toward developing facilities to allow organizations to aggregate, store, process, and prepare farm products on-site. The program also encourages workforce development by providing training to schools, communities, and students in culinary arts, food processing, safe food handling and storage, logistics, delivery, and more, based on community need.

To highlight the success of the first round of the program, launch Round 2 of the program, and kickoff Farm-to-School Month, Commissioner Ball joined the team at Champlain Valley Educational Services (CVES BOCES) and local farmers to unveil renderings for a brand-new $5 million commissary that will be built using funding from Round 1 of New York's Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program. At the event, farmers and producers provided samples of food they grow and produce for CVES BOCES students, including cheese from McAdam/Cabot Creamery; vegetables from Dyer Farms and Shields Vegetables; beef sticks from Giroux Family Farms; beef sticks from Coakley Farms, apples and sweet tangos from Chazy Orchards; carrots from Juniper Hill Farm; yogurt from North Country Creamery; homemade granola from the cafeteria staff at CVES; and maple syrup produced by students of the CV-TEC Career and Technical Education program. CVES BOCES, which was one of two recipients of the first round of the program, was awarded $5 million to establish a central food hub, two state-of-the-art educational facilities, and retrofit existing school cafeterias. The project will help consolidate school food processing and preparation and increase the nutritional value and local focus of the foods served at 16 component school districts and at CVES BOCES.

CVES BOCES is currently in its ninth year of participating in a farm-to-school program. The team works closely with the farmers in their community, using a geographic preference bid every year to procure local food while fostering longstanding, trusting relationships with their region's agricultural community. The organization serves local food every day for both breakfast and lunch to about 5,600 students in eight schools in the North Country, including a colorful salad bar, locally sourced beef, eggs, yogurt, oats, wheat berries, and lentils.

Round 2 of the Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program

Applications for Round 2 of the Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program are open starting today. Project proposals should be regionally focused on improving meal preparation for K-12 school children, reducing food insecurity, increasing market opportunities for New York State producers, and strengthening the resilience of our state's food system. The program requires that funded facilities serve multiple school districts and support their local community, including by providing workforce development opportunities. Funding will be awarded to every region of the state over the course of five years. The first round of funding was awarded to projects in Western New York and in the North Country. Two additional regions will be awarded $5 million each in subsequent rounds, until all regions are awarded.

Grant funds are available for the costs of capital projects that support the preparation and distribution of fresh meals for regional school infrastructure, such as aggregation, storage hubs, and/or commissary-type kitchens. Eligible applicants include not-for-profit organizations, local municipalities, school districts, and Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES).

Proposals are due on December 5, 2024, at 4:00 pm. For more information on the program, project eligibility, and how to apply, visit here. Additionally, an informational webinar will be held on October 29, 2024, at 12:00 pm. To register, visit here. The workshop will be recorded and posted on the Department's website.

Senator Michelle Hinchey, Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee,said, "Healthy, locally sourced meals should be a staple in every New York school cafeteria, but many lack the physical infrastructure to cook and store fresh food. The Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program offers capital funding for schools to invest in the tools they need to build capacity and serve local farm products. We encourage all eligible school districts and organizations across New York State to apply and take advantage of this chance to strengthen farm-to-school partnerships."

Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, Chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, said, "Now in its second year, the Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program supports schools in their efforts to incorporate fresh, local produce into the meals they serve. Not only does this promote student health, but it supports our hardworking farmers and strengthens local food systems. I especially appreciate the workforce development component that adds an additional benefit by providing training in the culinary arts and food processing fields. Thank you to Governor Hochul and my legislative colleagues for supporting this important program."

Dr. Mark Davey, CVES BOCES, District Superintendent, said "We are grateful for the funds from the Department of Agriculture and Markets. With these funds we are embarking on the development of state-of-the-art facilities that will be a hub for innovation and hands-on learning. A part of our new Career and Technical Education (CTE) center will be our new commissary kitchen and culinary arts labs that will not only support aspiring chefs and food service professionals but will also strengthen our North Country schools' ties to the rich agricultural traditions of our region."

Dr. Eric Bell, CVES BOCES, Deputy Superintendent, said, "The CVES cafeteria management program serves over 5,600 students daily. We are deeply committed to ensuring that every child in our schools has access to wholesome, scratch-made meals, with a strong emphasis on locally sourced food from New York farms. Our new CTE center represents the future of education and workforce development for the North Country. The integration of a school food hub within this facility amplifies our farm-to-school initiative, enabling us to serve an even larger segment of our student body, their families, and the wider community. This innovative approach will further enhance the nutritional foundation that is essential for academic achievement and lifelong well-being."

Meghan Dohman, Cornell Cooperative Extension North Country Farm to School Coordinator, said, "I am thankful for the opportunity that the Regional School Food Infrastructure grant award has provided to the North Country to expand upon existing Farm to School initiatives. The project from CVES BOCES will have significant impacts on farmers, students, and teachers as it increases the volume and variety of local products as well as processing equipment to school cafeterias across the region."

The Regional School Food Infrastructure program builds on New York's many programs that prioritize local foods in schools, including tools to help school districts procure and purchase farm products from local producers, ensuring that New York remains New York's first and best customer. For example, the FY 2024 Enacted Budget raised the discretionary threshold for food purchasing for schools to $150,000, a significant increase from the previous threshold.

Additionally, the successful Farm-to-School program connects schools with local farms and food producers to strengthen local agriculture, improve student health, and promote regional food systems awareness. Earlier this week, the Department of Agriculture and Markets announced over $1.5 million was awarded to 16 organizations across the state through the Farm-to-School program. The program provides financial, technical, and promotional assistance to schools, farms, distributors, and other supporting organizations to bring more local, nutritious, seasonally varied meals to New York students. The 30 Percent New York State Initiative further facilitates the provision of healthy New York sourced food products to children as part of their lunch meal in school by increasing the reimbursement schools receive for lunches from 5.9 cents per meal to 25 cents per meal for any district that ensures their school lunches are made up of at least 30 percent eligible New York produced and processed products.