Two Dozen North, Northeast Iowa Schools Awarded Grants to Purchase Local Food
Some two dozen north/northeast Iowa schools are among the 137 schools from across the state to receive $2,000 grants to purchase meat, eggs, produce, dairy and other local foods from area farmers.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced the recipients Monday (08.26) of the monetary awards through the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Launched in 2022, Local Food for Schools (LFS) pairs school lunch programs with a local food hub to connect to area farmers.
This latest and final round of Iowa LFS will run from August through December of 2024. The 137 public school districts or private schools are all participants in the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs. 17 schools are new to LFS for this round of funding. Through the first two rounds, more than $1.7 million has been awarded to 162 Iowa schools, and more than 110 farms and food businesses have sold products to schools through the program.
“With another school year off and running, I’m excited to see more connections being made between school lunch programs and local farmers,” said Secretary Naig. “These grants provide yet another way that we can assist our schools with providing fresh and nutritious meals while also fortifying supply chains and building market demand for Iowa farmers. Because of Choose Iowa and programs like Local Food for Schools, many Iowa farmers are building long-term capacity to serve larger buyers like schools. As a result, these established connections between schools, food hubs and farmers can continue on well into the future.”
Area schools to receive the $2,000 LFS grants include:
AGWSR Community School District
Algona Community School District
Allamakee Community School District
Charles City Community School District
Clear Lake Community School District
Decorah Community School District
Dike-New Hartford Community School District
Eastern Allamakee Community School District
Forest City Community School District
Garner-Hayfield-Ventura Community School District
Hampton-Dumont Community School District
Howard-Winneshiek Community School District
Newman Catholic School (Mason City)
Oelwein Community School District
Osage Community School District
Postville Community School District
Riceville Community School District
Rudd Rockford Marble Rock Community School District
South Winneshiek Community School District
St. Ansgar Community School District
St. Joseph Community School (New Hampton)
St. Patrick’s School (Waukon)
Tripoli School Community School District
Turkey Valley Community School District
Wapsie Valley Community School District
Waverly-Shell Rock Community School District
