Canadian Farm to School Grant

The Canadian Farm to School Grant, supported by Farm to Cafeteria Canada and the Whole Kids Foundation, provides funding up to $10,000 for schools across Canada to enhance local food initiatives. Schools from kindergarten to grade 12 are encouraged to engage students and communities in growing, cooking, and serving healthy local foods. This initiative promotes food literacy and sustainable practices, aiming to increase student access to nutritious meals while fostering community connections.

Farm to Cafeteria Canada, Whole Kids Foundation and partners are pleased to announce the continuation of our Farm to School grant program to schools across Canada. The program is now available to schools, kindergarten through grade 12, across Canada’s 10 provinces and 3 territories.
These grants, valued at up to $10,000, will support bringing the local harvest to schools—engaging students, staff, and community in gardening, cooking, preserving, purchasing and serving healthy local foods in a salad bar service at school.
The goal? To see more students and school communities engaged in:

• GrowingPurchasingHarvestingCookingServingLearning about, andEating….
• Healthy, local and sustainable foods at school!

The farm to school approach is about bringing healthy, local food into schools, strengthening the local food system and enhancing school and community connectedness while providing students with hands-on learning opportunities that foster food literacy.
Schools that receive a Farm to School Canada Grant will commit to advancing the farm to school approach by: Establishing a new meal service or enhancing their existing school meal service so that it serves as much healthy, local food as possible. Aiming to increase student consumption of healthy, seasonal foods each year that are locally sourced whenever possible. This can include vegetables, fruits as well as Indigenous or other foods that are culturally relevant to the school community. Setting local food procurement targets and aiming to increase the amount of local foods procured and served each year. Developing and implementing an education strategy to engage students in experiential and classroom learning around growing, harvesting, preparing, serving, and eating healthy local foods.
All grant funds will be provided directly to successful schools.

Eligibility

Applications are open to all schools (kindergarten to grade 12) in Canada. This includes schools in rural, remote and urban settings. We encourage Indigenous, public, private and independent schools to apply.Schools that have only received a previous Farm to Cafeteria Canada seed grant are still eligible to apply.All applications will require a Lead Applicant (the school Principal or Vice-Principal) and must illustrate support or partnerships with community members.Community members provide knowledge, expertise and support to help realize the vision and goals of the grant program. Examples of community-based partners include experienced gardeners, farmers (and other local food providers), chefs, Elders, public health dietitians or nurses, independent consultants and non profit organizations whose work is rooted in sustainable food systems and/or food literacy.Meal services must be offered a minimum of 8 times in year one (consideration will be given for planning and initiation of the service) and 20 times in year two.The meal service must model Canada's Food Guide and provide at least 5 options for students to choose from to make a customized, balanced meal.The meal service must be available to all students who wish to participate, regardless of means.Plans to ensure the access is equitable for all students should be clearly defined in the application.The food served must be as healthy, culturally appropriate, locally and sustainably sourced as possible.The proposed program must reflect and celebrate the diversity of the student population.If the school has an existing meal service, the proposed meal service must be integrated with that service, and plans to do so should be defined in the application.Successful applicants' proposed meal services must be approved by local public health officials (i.e. public health inspectors or environmental health officers) prior to implementation.

Ineligibility

Schools that have previously received a Farm to School Canada Grant are not eligible to apply.Please note that school boards / districts are not eligible to receive or administer funds on behalf of schools.Grant funds cannot be used for:Sustained food costs to supply the school meal service. Beyond an initial celebratory service, food costs must be recovered through other means.Applicants will be asked to outline plans to economically sustain their food service and related activities in their proposals. School staff salaries. Paid positions or contracts to coordinate and administer the proposed meal service or food literacy activities.