Vermont’s Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets has distributed $1 million across 34 grants aimed at expanding farm-to-school programs, directing funding to schools, early childhood centers, and nonprofits throughout the state for fiscal year 2026.
How the Money Was Divided
The grants were split across four distinct program areas. Seven nonprofit organizations received a combined $272,895 through the Farm to School Service Provider Grant, while 10 school districts and early childhood programs shared $227,105 through the Farm to School and Early Childhood Grant.
An additional $200,000 went to 13 early childhood programs and nonprofits through a Community-Supported Agriculture grant designed to help programs purchase CSA shares directly from local farms. Four nonprofit food hubs received the largest single allocation — $300,000 — through the Local Food for Schools and Child Care Food Hub Grant.
Vermont Agriculture Secretary Anson Tebbetts said the funding is meant to work on multiple levels. “These investments strengthen our schools, support our farms and help ensure Vermonters have access to healthy, local food,” he said.
Children and Farms Benefiting
The CSA component alone is expected to connect 105 early childhood programs with 55 Vermont farms this year, with roughly 3,480 young children anticipated to receive food through those arrangements in 2026.
The fiscal year 2026 total reflects an unusually large pool. The agency’s annual state appropriation for farm-to-school grants stands at $500,875, but lawmakers authorized an additional one-time allocation of $500,000 for this cycle, effectively doubling available resources. Officials also updated the grant structure this year to consolidate and streamline the application process.
A Two-Decade Track Record
Vermont’s farm-to-school push dates to a 2006 legislative authorization, with the agency making its first grants in 2007. Over nearly two decades, the program has distributed 359 grants totaling $2.8 million, reaching 163 schools and school districts alongside 166 early childhood education programs.
The next grant round is expected to open in September, giving schools and nonprofits time to plan for the following academic year.
Idaho and the Broader Picture
Vermont’s program offers a model that aligns closely with priorities the Make America Healthy Again movement has emphasized at the federal level — getting minimally processed, locally grown food into the hands of children and reducing reliance on industrially produced school meals. MAHA advocates have pointed to farm-to-school infrastructure as one mechanism for reshaping what young Americans eat before chronic diet-related conditions take hold.
Idaho, with its strong agricultural base in dairy, potatoes, legumes, and grains, holds similar potential for connecting school cafeterias with in-state producers. Efforts to build workforce and community capacity across rural Idaho — including those highlighted by institutions like Idaho State University in its recent 125-year commitment to the state’s rural communities — suggest growing interest in exactly this kind of local supply-chain development. Whether Idaho agencies pursue dedicated farm-to-school grant programs of their own remains a question for state legislators and the Idaho Department of Agriculture to address.
For now, Vermont’s $1 million investment stands as a concrete example of what a state-level commitment to local food for children can look like in practice — 34 grants, 55 farms, and more than 3,400 young children receiving locally sourced food this year alone.
Category: Children’s Health