MA FRESH Grant Program
The Massachusetts FRESH (Farming Reinforces Education and Student Health) Grant is a new statewide farm to school and farm to early care grant program established with $1 million in COVID relief funds in the last legislative session. The program is administered by the Mass. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
The FRESH Grant program is designed to support K-12 and early education and care centers to start up or expand their local foods purchasing and education efforts through infrastructure investments, staff training, and educational initiatives that lead to program success and sustainability. Providing schools with the resources they need to deepen their farm to school programming is a win for our kids, our farmers, and our communities.
Photo courtesy of Chicopee Fresh
Current Bill Status
The Farm to School Grant bill (H.558 & S.243) was reported favorably out of the Joint Committee on Education and currently awaits approval by the Joint Committee on Ways & Means
With over $4M in funding requested during the first two application rounds, additional funds are needed to fully support schools across the Commonwealth.
Tell your Massachusetts legislators to make the Farm to School FRESH Grant program permanent and support the passage of S.243/H.558
2024 Grantees
In early 2024 DESE awarded over $400,000 to 23 school districts and childcare centers across the Commonwealth to support local food and local food education in schools. This second round of applications saw over $2.5M in requests from nearly 80 applicants.
2023 Grantees
In the spring of 2023, DESE awarded the first round of FRESH grants. There were over $1.6 million in requests from nearly 60 applicants. The sixteen K-12 schools and early education centers listed below received grants totaling nearly $500,000.
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K-12 Schools
Codman Academy
Community Charter School of Cambridge
Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School
Greenfield Public Schools
Haverhill Public Schools
Holyoke Public Schools
Lenox Public Schools
Mashpee Public Schools
Medway Public Schools
Norfolk County Agricultural High School
Prospect Hill Academy
Salem Public Schools
Webster Public Schools
Westford Public Schools
Early Education & After School Programs
ABCD Head Start and Children's Service
Boys & Girls Club of Metro South
Community Action Pioneer Valley Head Start & Early Learning Program
Ellis Early Learning
Holyoke Chicopee Head Start
MetroWest YMCA
Mystic Valley YMCA
PACE Head Start
Waltham Boys & Girls Club
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K-12 Schools
Boston Public Schools
Bridge Boston Charter School
Fitchburg Public Schools
Gloucester Public Schools
Medway Public Schools
MetroNorth YMCA
Northampton Public Schools
Provincetown Public Schools
RFK Alliance/Dr. Franklin Perkins School (Lancaster)
Shaloh House (Boston)
Somerville Public Schools
Springfield Public Schools
Early Education Centers
Assonet Day Care (Freetown)
Guild of St. Agnes (Worcester)
Metro North YMCA
Rainbow Child Development Center
South Shore YMCA
Farm to School Grant Bill Details
An Act Establishing Farm to School Grants to Promote Healthy Eating & Strengthen the Agricultural Economy (H.558 & S.243) is currently being considered within the Massachusetts Legislature.
Bill Highlights:
Introduced by Senator Comerford & Representative Pignatelli
Builds on the successful ARPA-funded pilot FRESH Grant program with a demand 5x the amount of available funds
Establishes a permanent, competitive grant program within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for eligible entities
Grants build the capacity of schools and licensed child care programs to purchase ingredients grown and produced in Massachusetts, prepare scratch-cooked meals, and educate students about the food system
Has cross-sector impact by updating infrastructure, providing job training, supporting local business development, educating students, and improving public health
With your support, we can establish a permanent grant program here in Massachusetts.
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The MA Food for MA Kids Coalition saw many successes in moving the Farm to School bill forward this past year. We were able to secure funding to implement the first year of the program in the 2022-2023 academic year, but this one-time appropriation does not establish a permanent Farm to School Grant Program here in Massachusetts.
2022-2023 Highlights:
State Representative Pignatelli and Senator Comerford filed H.558 and S.243 to establish a permanent Farm to School grant program within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
In the spring of 2023, 16 K-12 schools and early education programs received nearly $500,000 in the inaugural round of FRESH grants. For a complete list of grant recipients and more information about their projects, read more.
In October of 2023, DESE released the call for applications for the second round of FRESH grants. View the application here.
2021 History
State Representative Pignatelli and Senator Lesser filed H.686 and S.349, respectively, in March 2021 to establish a farm to school grant program within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Farm to School (MFTS) hosted a well attended policy briefing on October 19th, 2021 with a diverse panel of supporters for the bill
In December 2021, Senator Lesser, along with the support of the Legislature, was successful in getting $1,000,000 in funding included in the COVID appropriations bill to fund the first year of this program with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
On January 4th, 2022, the Massachusetts Joint Education Committee held a public hearing for the bill where 12 individuals testified in favor of the bill– including educators, students, school nutrition staff and community members.
Unfortunately, the bill did not pass out of the Joint Education Committee before the February 2nd deadline.