CDFA’s California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program brings proven economic and environmental benefits to California food producers and communities, according to a new report authored by researchers from UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, UC Berkeley, the Food Insight Group, the Berkeley Food Institute, and the USDA.
“This independent evaluation shows that our California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program is working, and that we are empowering our schools and farms to collaborate for the good of our kids and our communities” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross.
Since 2021, the program has reached 49% of all California students through a total of $86 million invested in 375 projects, benefitting 2,850,196 students at 269 school districts.
This report evaluates the 2021 and 2022 rounds of grant funding. Highlights include:
- Fifty-seven percent of the program’s farmers made sales to schools between April and September 2023
- Three producer grantees reported that grant funding likely prevented them from going out of business
- All producers funded by the grant program use or plan to use climate-smart agricultural practices in their operations during the grant period
To read the full report, click here.