USDA Awards Wisconsin Farm to School Grants

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction recently was the recipient of a $70,116 farm-to-school grant through the United States Department of Agriculture. Other Wisconsin organizations earning the grant are the Milwaukee Board of School Directors receiving $49,509; and Rooted WI, Inc., receiving $100,000. These grants are part of a $12 million investment made by the USDA to expand farm-to-school efforts nationwide.

The DPI was awarded the funds to continue its Lifecycle to Farm to School project. The project focuses on farm to school's teams, peer-to-peer opportunities, and experiential workshops.

The USDA awarded 176 grantees capital for their proposed projects, more than any other year since the Farm to Schools grant program began in 2013. These grants will help students and schools gain crucial access to fresh local food, impacting more than 1.4 million individual students at more than 6,800 schools.

Other Wisconsin organizations earning grant money will help improve the farm-to-school program at A.E. Burdick in Milwaukee, expanding the curriculum to include business components of agriculture. The Wisconsin Farm & Garden to Schools project will also receive capital to increase support for kids, teachers, and food-service professionals to be connected with local healthy food systems.

For more information on the Farm to School Grants and how the capital will be used, visit the USDA FY 2021 Farm to School Grant List of Awardees.