The Department of Agriculture is awarding $50 million to school districts around the country to buy new equipment that will allow them to serve made-from-scratch meals and healthier food options.
The announcement, which comes during National School Lunch Week, says USDA will distribute funding to all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands and comes on top of $30 million announced in July.
“Ensuring access to nutritious school meals is one of the best investments we can make in our fight to end child hunger and improve health,” Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “These additional resources will allow schools to provide healthy, appealing meals by meeting vital food service equipment needs.”
Interested in more coverage and insights? Receive a free month of Agri-Pulse!
California is set to receive $6.7 million, the largest amount in the latest round of National School Lunch Program Equipment Assistance funding. Texas is the runner-up at $6.4 million. Three other states will receive more than $2 million: New York ($2.9 million), Florida ($2.7 million), and Georgia ($2.2 million).
California also received the largest share of the $80 million in total funding at $10.9 million, followed by Texas at $10.3 million.
A USDA release says the department also plans to award another $100 million for the Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, which the department says “will award grants for small and rural schools to improve their meal quality.” Applications for those grants are due Nov. 28.
For more news, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com.
