Grant Funding for Farm to School Training Opportunities

GRANT FUNDING FOR FARM TO SCHOOL ADAPTED BY CORNELL COOPERATIVE EXTENSION OF ALLEGANY COUNTY FROM THE NYS DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE 2019 FARM TO SCHOOL TRAINING ON AUGUST 20, 2019. PRESENTING: CASSANDRA BULL, CCE-ALLEGANY, CB775@CORNELL.EDU

GRANT FUNDING FOR FARM TO SCHOOL USDA Farm to School Grant USDA s NIFA (National Institute for Food and Agriculture) Community Food Project grant New York State Dept. of Ag & Markets Farm to School Grant

THE USDA FARM TO SCHOOL GRANT Highly competitive less than 20% of applicants awarded Requires 25% match 7,500,000 in funding for 2018 Schools, nonprofits, and small to mid-sized Cooperative Extensions CANNOT apply Most timelines are 1-2 years

THE USDA FARM TO SCHOOL GRANT 50% of awards go to schools / school districts PLANNING GRANT - $20,000 $50,000 Intended to help groups organize and structure their farm to school efforts for maximum impact/ IMPLEMENTATION GRANT - $50,000 - $100,000 Intended to help scale or further develop existing farm to school efforts and provide broad reaching support services TRAINING GRANT - $20,000 - $50,000 Intended to support state, regional, and national trainings that provide technical assistance or other programming in the area of local food procurement, food safety, school gardens, and more.

NEW YORK STATE FARM TO SCHOOL GRANTS PROGRAM SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL

REGISTRATION All entities that wish to apply for grants in NY State must be registered in the Grants Gateway. This process includes filling out and mailing a signed and notarized registration form. Information about registration can be found on the Grants Reform website or in the Grant Opportunity Portal. For technical assistance and information about Grants Gateway and Prequalification Go to: www.grantsreform.ny.gov/Grantees Email: GrantsReform@its.ny.gov Call: (518) 474-5595

FINANCIAL Total Fund of $1,500,000 in 2018 Total Fund of $1,000,000 in 2017 Proposals must request between $25,000 and $100,000 for a maximum of 2 years. No match required.

ELIGIBILITY Schools and school districts Private schools (not-for-profit) Charter schools (public charter schools must pre-qualify) Not for Profit organizations prequalified http://grantsreform.ny.gov/ go to the Grantees section

REASONS FOR DISQUALIFICATION Applicant not eligible - for-profit entities & individuals Incomplete application Expenses not eligible Application for less than $25,000 or more than $100,000

ELIGIBLE COSTS Grant funds may be used for any of the following purposes directly related to completion of an eligible project, including but not limited to: salaries and wages including fringe benefits contractor services permanent physical/structural improvements insurance and permits (excluding permit to operate a farmers market at proposed location) transportation costs other than vehicle purchases which are not an eligible expense supplies and equipment

INELIGIBLE COSTS Grant funds MAY NOT be used for the following: purchase of food purchase of a vehicle purchase of cell phones purchase of computer hardware and office equipment salaries and wages unrelated to the proposal costs associated with preparing an application costs incurred prior to the award of a grant

TIMETABLE Proposals due Friday X date, at 4:00 Questions due by Tuesday X date, at 4:30 Questions posted on the Department website under Funding Opportunities on X date All questions about this RFP must be submitted in writing (fax or e-mail will be accepted) to: Meg McCabe NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets 10B Airline Drive Albany, NY 12235 Fax: (518) 457-2716 E-mail: meg.mccabe@agriculture.ny.gov

TIMETABLE (CONTINUED) Announcement of grant recipients anticipants in December Execution of contracts each Winter

EVALUATION FACTORS All eligible proposals will be competitively rated by a panel designated by the Department. A total of one hundred (100) points can be achieved from the following criteria. The evaluation panel shall consider the following factors in rating proposals: Be concise and direct in your answers. Answer the question! This sound obvious but is often overlooked. Use a good editor to proof read for content and grammar.

REASONABLENESS OF COSTS Are the proposed costs commensurate with the tasks to be performed and deliverables specified. (20 points)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION How well has the need of the school(s) or school districts been articulated? (This should include quantitative data on the percentage and number of free and reduced lunches provided by the school/district.) How well has the positive impact on New York State farmers and students been delineated? (20 points)

QUANTIFICATION OF PROJECT BENEFITS Projected pounds of locally produced farm products to be procured per school during the school year Projected number of New York producers participating in the project Number of students served a school lunch and/or breakfast each school day (including free and reduced) Projected increase in awareness of farm products by students Projected number of producers, distributors and food hubs supplying locally produced farm products to schools Projected increase in the varieties of locally produced farm products included in school meals programs (20 points)

PERSONNEL Do the key persons involved in the project have the requisite experience in operating a farm to school program, participating in school wellness committees, procuring locally produced farm products, fostering community partnerships and conducting outreach to local producers. (10 points).

PLAN OF WORK How well defined is the plan of work? Is the project feasible and sustainable during and after the grant? Have the short term and long term targets been defined along with specific benchmarks? (20 points)

OUTSIDE SUPPORT Does the project have adequate support from the school/school district, community partners and farmers? Are the community partners and farmers specified? (10 points)

WORK PLAN STRUCTURE There is one Objective for your proposal: Toincrease the volume and variety of local farm products procured by schools/districts for inclusion in school meals programs.

SOME POSSIBLE TASKS TO MEET OBJECTIVE Employ a local or regional farm to school coordinator. Conduct trainings for school procurement and fiscal staff to increase local procurement of farm products. Conduct trainings for food service staff to increase knowledge preparation of locally produced farm products. Purchase the equipment needed to increase capacity of school kitchen and food service staff to prepare and serve local produced specialty crops. Implement capital improvements to support the processing, transport and/or storage of locally produced farm products. Implement a meal program featuring locally produced farm products at regular intervals in the school meal program menu. Work with other school districts to implement a coordinated local buying program with or without the assistance of distributor or other aggregating entity such as a food hub.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES Performance Measures are related to the tasks. Each task must have at least one performance measure An example: a Task might be to conduct training for school procurement and fiscal staff to increase procurement of local farm products. The Performance Measures associated with that task could be: The development of a curriculum The enlistment of trainer Conducting multiple training sessions Evaluating the effectiveness of the training sessions.

WORK PLAN OVERVIEW Two sections Work Plan Summary In this section you will detail the one Objective, your Tasks and the Performance Measures associated with those Tasks. Work Plan Detail In this section you will enter the specified Objective and enter TBD for the Task and Performance Measures.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION After completing the above evaluation utilizing the Application Form and criteria set forth in it, an award additional points per application may be given to help achieve geographic diversity for the Farm to School Program.

REPORTING Quarterly Progress Reports Reimbursement Progress Report (submitted with Claim for Payment form) Final Report 25 percent optional advance upon execution of contract Withholding of 10 percent until submission of final report

BUDGET STRUCTURE State Grants = 30% purchases in Women & Minority Owned Business More match from organization does not make you more fundable Budget lines include: Salary, fringe, contractual, travel, equipment, and other expenses Each item has a section for a narrative. Use this as another way to justify the purchase.

EXAMPLES OF PREVIOUSLY FUNDED PROJECTS Hire a coordinator Staff training Purchasing equipment: oven, freezer, processing equipment Recipe development & nutrition curriculum development Marketing Field Trips Creating a Food Hub GAP trainings for farmers

TIPS FROM PAST NYS FARM TO SCHOOL GRANT AWARD WINNERS Don t be afraid to highlight your need flaunt your districts challenges Partnerships, partnerships, partnerships Support letters from everyone involved, and even legislators! Cornell Cooperative Extension The more children impacted through your grant, the better Show that you ve done research use examples from other successful programs Be SPECIFIC in the work plan use numbers and dates Sustainability is key