Over One Hundred Farm To School Grants Awarded In Washington

The  Washington State Department of Agriculture has awarded $3,572,200 in Farm to School Purchasing grants for the 2025–2027 biennium.  The Department said the 103 individual school districts and childcare providers that received the grants will use the funding to source and serve nutritious foods grown, raised, caught or foraged by farmers, ranchers and producers in Washington.

Grant awards range from $800 to $287,000.

WSDA’s Farm to School Purchasing Grant is designed to help schools and childcare providers source healthy, high-quality and culturally relevant foods for student meals from Washington farms, with an emphasis on small farms, ranches, fishers and food businesses.  Grantees use funds to procure a greater variety of whole and value-added products from over 360 unique Washington farms and food businesses, expanding the overall farm to school market.

Requests Outpace Available Funds

WSDA received 129 applications with requests totaling over $6.9 million, almost double the amount of available funds.  The high demand and competition for the grants, the Department noted,  reflects the consistent and growing need for funding to sustain and expand local purchasing in child nutrition programs. 

In addition to purchasing Washington-grown foods, grant funds can cover other costs related to highlighting fresh, nutritious foods from Washington producers, such as the equipment and staff time needed for cooking from scratch with whole ingredients. 

This year, 20 awardees received grant funds for the first time and will focus on laying the groundwork for local purchasing.  

To date, WSDA has awarded 371 Farm to School Purchasing Grants across five funding cycles, for a total of more than $12 million to expand farm to school purchasing relationships throughout the state.

Grants Help Schools, Farmers Alike

“One of our goals with this grant program is to support reliable farm to school market opportunities that contribute to the viability of farms in Washington, while helping to ensure students have access to high-quality, locally produced foods as part of their school meal program,” Washington State Department of Agriculture Director Derek Sandison said.

WSDA Farm to School Purchasing Grants are funded by state Legislature.  The Washington state 2025–2027 biennium budget includes $5 million in ongoing funding for WSDA’s Farm to School program, which manages the Farm to School Purchasing Grant and other activities that support farm to school connections in Washington.

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com