Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FNS 2025 F2S STATEAGENCY
The FY2025 Farm to School Grant State Agency opportunity is a discretionary grant from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) under CFDA 10.575. It sits within the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program, which focuses on expanding students access to local foods and helping students understand where food comes from through hands-on and educational activities. The broader program supports things like local food sourcing for school meals, taste tests, school gardens, field trips, and other agricultural or food education efforts that connect schools and communities to nearby producers. This particular FY2025 track is specifically designed to help state-level agencies strengthen and scale farm to school work across their state by supporting farm to Child Nutrition Program (CNP) efforts, with an emphasis on increasing the amount of local food served and promoting agricultural education in eligible CNP operators.
This State Agency Grant funds projects that run for 24 months, with an award ceiling of up to $500,000 per project. The program anticipates making about 7 awards. A key planning point is the required match: applicants must provide at least 25 percent of the total project budget as matching support, and that match can be provided as cash or in-kind contributions. In practice, this means applicants need to line up and document non-federal support (for example, staff time, partner contributions, donated space, or other allowable in-kind resources) so that the full project budget includes at least one-quarter match alongside the federal request.
Eligibility is tightly limited to state agencies only. For this competition, a "state agency" is defined broadly as any statewide government agency that administers, or works in partnership with the agency that administers, the federal Child Nutrition Programs. Examples listed include an Office of Public Instruction, Department of Education, Department of Agriculture, or Department of Health. Importantly, eligibility is not restricted only to the specific agency that directly administers the CNPs, but if the applicant is not the CNP-administering agency for programs such as the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), and/or School Breakfast Program (SBP), the application must include a letter of commitment from the state agency that does administer those programs. That commitment letter counts toward the maximum of three letters allowed. Any applicant that does not meet the eligibility definition will be deemed ineligible and removed from consideration without further review. Local governments (cities, counties, and similar entities) are explicitly not considered state agencies for this grant track and cannot apply.
A major rule to pay attention to is the one-application limit across the three FY2025 Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant solicitations (Implementation, Turnkey, or State Agency). Applicants may submit only one application total across those tracks. If the same applicant submits multiple applications to more than one of the FY2025 solicitations through Grants.gov, all of their submissions will be removed from consideration, so it is important to choose the correct track before submitting.
The opportunity is posted on Grants.gov as Funding Opportunity Number USDA FNS 2025 F2S STATEAGENCY, titled "FY2025 Farm To School Grant State Agency." The original application closing date is January 10, 2025. USDA also scheduled two optional informational webinars to help potential applicants understand the solicitation and submit a compliant application package: an Introduction to the RFA on November 5 and a session on Submitting a Complete Grant Package on November 6, both hosted via ZoomGov. For applicants deciding among the three FY2025 tracks, the RFA references a Grant Track Decision Document in the Related Documents section on Grants.gov, and it also points readers to the eligibility section details in the RFA (noted as page 12 in the provided text).Apply for USDA FNS 2025 F2S STATEAGENCY
- The Food and Nutrition Service in the food and nutrition sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY2025 Farm To School Grant State Agency" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.575.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2024-10-28.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-10. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 7 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: State governments.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - FY2025 Farm to School Grant State Agency (USDA FNS)
What is the FY2025 Farm to School Grant State Agency opportunity?
It is a discretionary grant opportunity from USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) under CFDA 10.575, offered through the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program. This specific FY2025 track is designed to help state-level agencies strengthen and scale farm to school work across their state by supporting farm to Child Nutrition Program (CNP) efforts.
What is the purpose of the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program?
The broader program focuses on expanding students' access to local foods and helping students understand where food comes from through hands-on and educational activities. Examples mentioned include local food sourcing for school meals, taste tests, school gardens, field trips, and other agricultural or food education efforts that connect schools and communities to nearby producers.
What is the main focus of the State Agency Grant track specifically?
This FY2025 State Agency track emphasizes strengthening and scaling farm to school efforts statewide, with a focus on increasing the amount of local food served and promoting agricultural education in eligible Child Nutrition Program (CNP) operators.
How long is the project period?
Projects funded under this State Agency Grant run for 24 months.
What is the maximum award amount?
The award ceiling is up to $500,000 per project.
How many awards does USDA anticipate making?
The program anticipates making about 7 awards.
Is cost sharing or matching required?
Yes. Applicants must provide at least 25 percent of the total project budget as matching support.
What types of match are allowed?
The required 25 percent match can be provided as cash or in-kind contributions.
What are examples of matching support mentioned in the opportunity description?
Examples include staff time, partner contributions, donated space, or other allowable in-kind resources, as long as the full project budget includes at least one-quarter match alongside the federal request.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility is limited to state agencies only. For this competition, a state agency is described as a statewide government agency that administers, or works in partnership with the agency that administers, the federal Child Nutrition Programs.
What are examples of eligible state agencies?
Examples listed include an Office of Public Instruction, Department of Education, Department of Agriculture, or Department of Health.
Can an agency apply if it does not directly administer the Child Nutrition Programs?
Yes, eligibility is not restricted only to the specific agency that directly administers the CNPs. However, if the applicant is not the CNP-administering agency for programs such as NSLP, CACFP, SFSP, and/or SBP, the application must include a letter of commitment from the state agency that does administer those programs.
Which Child Nutrition Programs are referenced in relation to the commitment letter requirement?
The opportunity references the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), and/or School Breakfast Program (SBP).
How many letters are allowed, and does the commitment letter count toward that limit?
The opportunity notes a maximum of three letters allowed. The letter of commitment from the CNP-administering state agency counts toward that three-letter maximum.
What happens if an applicant does not meet the eligibility definition?
Any applicant that does not meet the eligibility definition will be deemed ineligible and removed from consideration without further review.
Are local governments eligible to apply?
No. Local governments (cities, counties, and similar entities) are explicitly not considered state agencies for this grant track and cannot apply.
Is there a limit on how many applications an applicant can submit?
Yes. There is a one-application limit across the three FY2025 Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant solicitations (Implementation, Turnkey, or State Agency). Applicants may submit only one application total across those tracks.
What happens if the same applicant submits more than one application across the FY2025 tracks?
If the same applicant submits multiple applications to more than one FY2025 solicitation through Grants.gov, all of their submissions will be removed from consideration. Applicants need to choose the correct track before submitting.
Where is the opportunity posted?
It is posted on Grants.gov.
What is the Funding Opportunity Number on Grants.gov?
The Funding Opportunity Number is USDA FNS 2025 F2S STATEAGENCY.
What is the title of the opportunity as listed on Grants.gov?
The title is "FY2025 Farm To School Grant State Agency."
What is the application deadline?
The original application closing date is January 10, 2025.
Are there informational webinars for applicants?
Yes. USDA scheduled two optional informational webinars to help potential applicants understand the solicitation and submit a compliant application package.
When are the webinars scheduled and what are they about?
The webinars are: an "Introduction to the RFA" on November 5, and a "Submitting a Complete Grant Package" session on November 6. Both are hosted via ZoomGov.
Is there guidance to help applicants choose between the three FY2025 grant tracks?
Yes. For applicants deciding among the three FY2025 tracks, the RFA references a Grant Track Decision Document located in the Related Documents section on Grants.gov.
Where does the RFA point applicants for eligibility details?
The RFA points readers to the eligibility section details, referenced as being on page 12 in the provided text.
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