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Local Food for Schools and Child Care Cooperative Agreement Program (LFSCC)

ID: USDA-AMS-10185-CPLFS000-25-0001 • Type: Posted

Description

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will enter into cooperative agreements with state governments for the purpose of purchasing local, unprocessed or minimally processed domestic foods from local producers, targeting historically underserved farmers/producers/fishers and small businesses including processors, aggregators, and distributors. Food purchased will be distributed to schools and child care institutions participating in the NSLP or CACFP. In addition to increasing local food consumption, funds are expected to help build and expand economic opportunity for local and historically underserved farmers/producers/fishers and small businesses including processors, aggregators, and distributors.

AMS encourages projects that benefit historically underserved farmers/producers/fishers and small businesses, provide food distribution to schools and child care institutions, and incorporate culturally relevant foods, including kosher and halal, as appropriate based on community preferences. For cooperative agreements intending to serve these entities, recipients should engage and involve those beneficiaries when developing their Project Summary. AMS would like these relationships and purchase and distribution channels to continue past the conclusion of this program. USDA will provide the state government funding for food purchases as well as guidance, technical assistance, instruction, and monitoring throughout the life cycle of the cooperative agreement.

Funding can only be used for food procurement. Recipients may not request direct or indirect costs associated with developing or administering the program. All food purchased must be unprocessed or minimally processed, and must meet the definitions of domestic and local, as defined in section 1.2.1 of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). See section 4.6.2 Allowable and unallowable costs and activities of the NOFO for more information.

State governments will submit proposals indicating how they or the participating schools and institutions will use the funds to purchase commodities to meet the specified objectives within their state. These funds will be awarded through a non-competitive process based on a formula derived from enrollment and earnings of schools participating in the NSLP and the School Breakfast Program (SBP), and a formula derived from meal counts of participants of the CACFP. Cooperative Agreements will be awarded based on acceptability of the Project Summary and the ability of the recipient to meet the goals of the program.

Background
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) aims to enhance local food consumption and economic opportunities for historically underserved farmers, producers, fishers, and small businesses through the Local Food for Schools and Child Care Cooperative Agreement Program (LFSCC). This program focuses on purchasing local, unprocessed or minimally processed domestic foods from local producers to distribute to schools and child care institutions participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). The initiative encourages projects that engage these underserved communities and promote culturally relevant foods.

Grant Details
The cooperative agreements will facilitate the purchase of food commodities from local producers, with a focus on historically underserved entities. Funds can only be used for food procurement; no direct or indirect costs for program administration are allowed. All food purchased must meet specific definitions of domestic and local as outlined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). State governments will submit proposals detailing how they plan to utilize the funds for food purchases, which will be awarded based on a non-competitive process derived from school enrollment and meal counts. The cooperative agreements will be evaluated based on the acceptability of the Project Summary and the recipient's ability to meet program goals.

Eligibility Requirements
Eligible applicants include state governments that can demonstrate a plan to purchase commodities from local producers, particularly those that are historically underserved. Proposals should involve engagement with these communities when developing project summaries.

Period of Performance
Proposals must be submitted by April 30, 2025.

Grant Value
The total value of the grant is determined by a formula based on school enrollment and earnings from NSLP and SBP, as well as meal counts from CACFP. Specific amounts for individual grants are not detailed in the text.

Place of Performance
The geographic location for grant performance is implied to be within participating states where local producers operate.

Overview

Category of Funding
Agriculture
Food and Nutrition
Funding Instruments
Cooperative Agreement
Grant Category
Mandatory
Cost Sharing / Matching Requirement
False
Source
On 12/10/24 Agricultural Marketing Service posted grant opportunity USDA-AMS-10185-CPLFS000-25-0001 for Local Food for Schools and Child Care Cooperative Agreement Program (LFSCC) with funding of $660.1 million. The grant will be issued under grant program 10.185 Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program.

Timing

Posted Date
Dec. 10, 2024, 12:00 a.m. EST
Closing Date
April 30, 2025, 12:00 a.m. EDT Due in 83 Days
Last Updated
Dec. 10, 2024, 12:24 p.m. EST
Version
3
Archive Date
May 30, 2025

Eligibility

Eligible Applicants
State governments
Additional Info
Eligible entities include the state government agencies, commissions, or departments that are responsible for agriculture, procurement, food distribution, emergency response, administration of the NSLP, administration of the CACFP, or similar activities within the state. AMS will make only one award per state; agencies within the state must coordinate if more than one agency wishes to implement this program.

Award Sizing

Ceiling
Not Listed
Floor
Not Listed
Estimated Program Funding
$660,100,000
Estimated Number of Grants
Not Listed

Contacts

Contact
Sarah Fong Nutritionist
Contact Email
Email Description
LFSCC Questions
Contact Phone
(202) 378-5802
Additional Information
Website

Documents

Posted documents for USDA-AMS-10185-CPLFS000-25-0001

Grant Awards

Grants awarded through USDA-AMS-10185-CPLFS000-25-0001

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