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USDA is partnering with Washington, D.C., to promote economic opportunities for farmers and producers and to increase access to locally sourced, fresh, healthy and nutritious food in underserved communities and in schools. The Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement Program and the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program will improve food and agricultural supply-chain resiliency and increase local food consumption around the country.

USDA FNS today launched a new and innovative initiative for healthier school meals through a $50 million grant opportunity that will support collaboration with the food industry to develop nutritious, appetizing school meals for students. This launch follows through on a commitment made in the administration’s National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.

FNS is providing nearly $3 million in grants to community colleges to expand the availability of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training programs, known as SNAP E&T, and nearly $3.5 million in additional funds to state agencies to strengthen E&T program data collection. These moves are part of a larger commitment to advance equity and improve access to SNAP E&T programs nationwide.

The Biden-Harris Administration today provided $50 million in grants for schools to invest in new food service equipment that will allow them to continue serving nutritious meals. Today’s funding adds to the $30 million in equipment grants that the administration gave schools earlier this year

Today, FNS launched the first phase of its $100 million Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative aimed at improving the nutritional quality of school meals by soliciting applications for grants to small and/or rural school meal programs.

USDA announced an increase in funding to help schools continue to serve kids healthy meals this coming school year and lower costs for schools and childcare providers. 

The Biden Administration announced today that USDA will provide nearly $1 billion in additional funding to schools to support the purchase of American-grown foods for their meal programs.

I am pleased to see that Congress has taken action to provide much needed support to help USDA’s child nutrition programs serve nutritious meals to America’s children. - Secretary Vilsack

USDA’s child nutrition programs provide nutritious meals to America’s children. The school and other nutrition professionals who make these meals possible need additional resources and continued flexibilities as they grapple with the ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic. The deal would ease uncertainty and bring a measure of relief to our schools, summer sites and child care feeding programs - Secretary Vilsack.

In its continued efforts to get formula to families in need, the USDA is encouraging state agencies and their infant formula manufacturers to consider seeking temporary flexibility in their infant formula contracts to allow WIC participants to purchase alternate sizes, forms, or brands of infant formula during the current shortage.

As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s coordinated drive to end the infant formula shortage, USDA is urging states to take advantage of flexibilities the department is offering in to help WIC families get the safe formula they need.