Iowa will award $2,000 grants to 137 schools and districts across the state to enable them to purchase local food for their school nutrition programs.
At the state level, it’s been a busy week for school nutrition legislation. Over a hundred schools and school districts in Iowa are receiving new grants from the state to help them offer more local foods in school meals. And in Nevada, meanwhile, Governor Joe Lombardo is defending his decision to block a bill that would have guaranteed free school meals for all students in the state in the coming school year.
Here’s what you may have missed in school nutrition legislation.
Iowa provides funding for Farm-to-School program
Iowa is the latest state to provide financial support for farm-to-school programs. Earlier this week, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig announced that the state would provide $2,000 grants to 137 schools and districts across the state to help them purchase local food for their school nutrition programs.
The grants are part of the government’s Local Food for Schools program, which launched in 2022.
“Now that the new school year has begun, I am excited to see more connections being made between school meal programs and local farmers,” Secretary Naig said in a statement. “These grants provide us with another opportunity to support our schools in providing fresh and nutritious meals while strengthening supply chains and increasing market demand for Iowa farmers. Thanks to Choose Iowa and programs like Local Food for Schools, many Iowa farmers are building long-term capacity to serve larger buyers like schools, so these established connections between schools, food centers and farmers can continue well into the future.”
Some states, including New York and Pennsylvania, have also provided grants to support the Farm-to-School initiative in recent months.
At the federal level, the U.S. Department of Agriculture last month announced a record-breaking $14.3 million in funding for farm-to-school projects through its Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program. The grants will support 54 projects in 43 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico, reaching 1.9 million children, the department said.
Nevada governor defends waiving free school meals for all
When Nevada students return to classrooms this fall, they will have to pay for school meals again.
Nevada has been providing free school meals to all students in the state since the expiration of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) child nutrition waivers put in place during the pandemic that allowed schools across the state to provide free meals to all students.
After the exemptions expired in June 2022, the state used federal funds from the American Rescue Plan to continue offering free meals through the 2023-24 school year.
Lawmakers introduced and passed a bill that would extend free meals through the upcoming 2024-25 school year, but Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo vetoed it.
In a letter to parents last week, Lombardo reiterated his commitment to Nevada students and said students in need will be able to receive free school meals again this year, for example through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Eligibility Program (CEP), which allows schools in high-poverty areas to offer free school meals to all students.
“80.6 percent of students are automatically eligible through their school’s CEP status. Students participating in a state social program have direct certification. Families can apply for free or reduced-price meals. My administration is therefore confident that every student in need can receive free school meals,” he wrote.
You can see which states are currently offering free meals to everyone on the map below:
