CA Farm to School Incubator Grant Program

As part of California’s nation-leading investment in farm to school programs, the California Department of Food and Agriculture Office of Farm to Fork (CDFA-F2F) is excited to announce $52.8 million in funding for 195 farm to school projects across the state. Collectively, these projects will serve 1,650,985 students, 199 school districts and educational entities, 52 farms, eight food hubs and five California Native American Tribes.

• View the list of 2023-24 CA Farm to School Incubator Grant Program Award Recipients
• View the press release announcement

If you have not received communication from CDFA regarding your grant application, please check your spam and junk email inboxes. Questions can be directed to cafarmtoschool@cdfa.ca.gov.

The CDFA 2023-24 California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program will award up to $52.8 million in competitive grants to support projects that cultivate equity, nurture students, build climate resilience, and create scalable and sustainable change.

Read the press release

Request for Applications (RFA)

• Read the 2023-24 Request for Applications

Online Grant Application Portal Links

• Apply to Track 1: The California Farm to School TK-12 Procurement and Education Grant
• Apply to Track 2: The California Farm to School Technical Assistance (TA) Grant
• Apply to Track 3: The California Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) Grant
• Apply to Track 4: The California Farm to School Producer Grant

Application Questions and Review Criteria

• Track 1: Application Questions and Review Criteria
• Track 2: Application Questions and Review Criteria
• Track 3: Application Questions and Review Criteria
• Track 4: Application Questions and Review Criteria

Application Resources

• 2023-24 Budget Worksheet
• 2023-24 Letter of Intent Template (Track 4 only)
• Eligibility Decision Tree
• Previous Grant Recipients Decision Tree

Questions and Answers

• 2023-24 FAQs
• Questions & Answers (as of April 4, 2024)

Grant Info Session & Weekly Q&A Sessions

• Download the Info Session Slide Deck - English or Español

• Grant Info Session

  • View the recording (English)
  • View the recordings (Español)
    • Introducion Recording
    • Via 1 Recording
    • Via 2 Recording
    • Via 3 Recording
    • Via 4 Recording
    • Recursos y como presentar una solicitud Recording

• Q&A Zoom Sessions

  • Thursday, February 22 @ 1pm – View the Recording
  • Thursday, February 22 @ 3pm* – View the Recording
  • Thursday, February 29 @ 6pm – View the Recording
  • Thursday, March 7 @ 10am – View the Recording
  • Thursday, March 7 @ 11:30am* – View the Recording
  • Thursday, March 14 @ 10am – View the Recording
  • Wednesday, March 20 @ 4 pm (Spanish) – View the Recording
  • Thursday, March 21 @ 12pm – View Part 1 | View Part 2
  • Thursday, March 28 @ 6pm – View the Recording
  • Thursday, April 4 @ 11am – View the Recording

Summary of 2023-24 Public Comment Period

CDFA-F2F hosted a public comment period from November 29 - December 14, 2023.

• Read the Press Release
• Download the Public Info Session slide deck
• View the Public Info Session Recordings

• Nov 30, 2023 Info Session Recording
• Dec 6, 2023 Info Session Recording
• Dec 13, 2023 Info Session Recording

• View the Summary of Public Comments and CDFA Responses

The 2021 California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program is focused on supporting local and regional farm to school projects that promote nutrition education, sustainable food production and procurement, and high-quality student experience.

Grant Awards

In 2021, CDFA-F2F awarded $8.496 million in grants to 60 Farm to School projects throughout the state through two funding tracks!

• View the 2021 Farm to School Incubator Grant Program Awardees

Resources

• 2021 Request for Applications
• 2021 Webinar Recording
• 2021 Farm to School Incubator Grant Program Q&A
• 2021 Summary of Public Comments and Responses

The 2022 California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program is focused on supporting projects that cultivate equity, nurture students, build climate resilience, and create scalable and sustainable change.

Grant Awards

In 2022, as part of California's nation-leading investment in farm to school programs, CDFA-F2F awarded $25.5 million in funding for 120 farm to school projects across the state. In total, these projects represent 1,489,364 students, 163 school districts and educational entities, over 50 farms, four food hubs and enormous support from California's urban, rural and suburban communities.

• Read the full announcement here.
• View the list of 2022 CA Farm to School Incubator Grant Program Award Recipients
• Read the 2022 CA Farm to School Incubator Grant Program Project Summaries

Resources

• Press Release
• 2022 Request for Applications
• Track 1 Application Questions and Review Criteria
• Track 2 Application Questions and Review Criteria
• Track 3 Application Questions and Review Criteria
• Track 4 Application Questions and Review Criteria
• 2022 Webinar Slide Deck
• 2022 FAQs
• 2022 Questions and Answers
• Public Info Session Slide Deck
• Public Info Session Recording
• Summary of Public Comments and CDFA Responses