USDA Investing $50 Million in Healthier School Meals

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service launched a new initiative for healthier school meals through a $50 million grant opportunity.  It will support collaboration with the food industry to develop nutritious and appetizing school meals for students.

“We’re investing in innovative solutions and challenging the industry to partner with us to ensure every student has access to healthy school meals,” said Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack.  “For children to reach their full academic potential, they must build healthy eating habits, and USDA recognizes the importance of private sector partnership in making this happen.” 

The request for grant applications is now open and marks the second phase of USDA’s $100 million Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative.  The initiative is designed to improve the quality of school meals by strengthening access to nutritious food products.  Up to four non-governmental organizations will be selected by the Food and Nutrition Service to manage funds for the School Food System Transformation Challenge.

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