Vermont Local Foods Incentive Grant Resources

What is Considered Local?

View a list of processed and unique food products attested by Vermont companies that meet the definition of "local-to-Vermont" for the Vermont Local Foods Incentive Grant Program.

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Local Food for Schools

Attention School Food Authorities! Free local food is available for your school meal programs through your local food hub from September 15, 2023–June 30, 2024. The Local Food For Schools Program is a partnership betwwen the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets and Vermont food hubs to offer one-time funding to help increase your local foods percentage. Contact us to strategize using these funds toegther with the Local Foods Incentive Grant.

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Vermont FEED is pleased to support Vermont schools applying for the Local Foods Purchasing Incentive grant. This state-funded program provides a direct financial incentive to school districts and supervisory unions that meet local purchasing targets in their school meal programs, allowing them to serve more fresh Vermont food on their menus.

Learn more about how this program was created through the passage and enactment of Act 67.
 

About the Local Foods Incentive Grant

This is a state funded grant program administered by the Agency of Education Child Nutrition Programs Team created to incentivize the use of local foods in child nutrition programs.

In addition to supervisory unions and schools districts, approved independent schools that also qualify for the universal meals supplement may also apply. If you have questions about eligibility, please contact Conor Floyd at [email protected].

For additional guidance, please review the Local Foods Incentive Grant Memo.

The Local Foods Incentive program consists of two separate grants. The Baseline Year grant is the first grant SU/SDs will apply to when beginning the Local Foods Incentive program. SU/SDs may only receive one Baseline Year grant award. After successfully applying for a Baseline Year grant, the SU/SD may apply for a Subsequent Year grant every year thereafter.
 

Application Process + Support

Applications for the Local Foods Incentive Grant are due annually December 9. Prepare your application this fall with support from Vermont FEED. 

View the following templates to see the questions you will need to answer as a part of your application (there are separate applications for baseline and subsequent year grants). Make a copy and work with your district to make sure whoever is completing your grant (usually the central business office or food service director) knows what information to submit. For questions, reach out to Kayla Strom at [email protected] or (802) 434-7176.

Preview It: Application Templates
Templates are available for SFAs to draft you application and share outside of GMS and Harvest: Baslineline Year Application Preview and Subsequent Year Application Preview.

 

Helpful Resources

Why Local?
Read and download our 2023 advocacy materials shared with Vermont legislators.

FAQ: Local Foods Incentive
If you have questions that are not answered on this FAQ or would like further clarification, please reach out to our team for assistance: email Kayla Strom.

Determining "Local" Products for the Local Foods Incentive Program
The definition of local used for the Local Foods Incentive Grant Program is defined by Act 127 as local-to-Vermont. This document outlines each of the three food categories (raw agriculture, processed, and unique foods) and provides examples and clarification of commonly asked product categories.

Vermont Local Food Product Tracker and Calculator
This Vermont Local Food Product Tracker and Calculator was developed to help school districts and supervisory unions efficiently track their local food spending and track their progress toward eligibility for the grant. This is one of two pre-approved tracking methods SU/SDs can use.

Product Documentation for Vermont Local Foods
The Local Foods Incentive Grant Program requires Subsequent Year applicants to keep documentation of local food purchases that are calculated into their total local foods percentage. This resource outlines each of the three local food categories, approved documentation methods, and provides resources and templates for documenting processed and unique foods. Applicants must have updated documentation each year they are applying for the grant.

Farm to School Values-Based Local Purchasing Worksheet*
This worksheet is designed to help you to articulate your food values, what program considerations and logistics impact your purchasing, and how these factors determine your goals toward local/regional and values-based purchasing.

*NOTE: this grant does not not require a specific format for the locally produced foods purchasing plan as long as it addresses the following points referenced on pg. 1-2 of the Agency of Education Incentive Grant Memo. We offer this worksheet as an option that will help you to get clear on your values and think about how to integrate them into a purchasing plan. 

Check out our Local Food Procurement Toolkit for more resources and templates to support your local food procurement practices.

 

More about the Vermont Local Foods Incentive Grant

An SFA can apply for a Subsequent Year Grant if they received their Baseline Grant this spring or their Baseline Grant Year if they have not applied for the Local Foods Incentive Grant yet. Learn more about the differences between grant years below:

Baseline Year Grant

Subsequent Year Grants

The first year an SU/SD applies for the grant is considered the Baseline Year, in which there are four grant requirements. Achieving a specific local purchasing threshold is not required for the Baseline Year grant.

SU/SDs that have not elected to participate in the Local Foods Incentive Grant yet will remain eligible to participate during the following school years. Whenever an SU/SD chooses to participate, they will begin in the Baseline Year.

After the Baseline Year, an SU/SD may apply annually through the grant program for continued funding, contingent on continued legislative appropriation for the grant program. 

SU/SDs will be required to achieve a locally produced foods percentage of at least 15% in order to receive a grant award. The locally produced foods percentage is calculated by taking the total cost of foods qualifying as local and dividing that by your total food costs.

Grant Requirements

  • Develop a locally produced foods purchasing plan that describes the SU/SD’s goals for purchasing locally produced foods and plan to achieve those goals.
  • Designate an individual as the Food Coordinator for locally produced foods who will be responsible for implementing the locally produced foods purchasing plan.
  • Develop a process for tracking local foods. (Select from two AOE pre-approved tracking methods or get approval of an alternative tracking method by AOE.)
  • Provide an estimate of the cost of all locally produced foods used in the SU/SD’s school lunch, breakfast, and summer meal programs during the previous school year.

Grant Requirements

  • Tracking of the SU/SD’s food purchases using the tracking method reported in the SU/SD’s Baseline Year Grant will be required.
  • It is important to note that schools that applied for the Baseline Year grant in SY 23-24 will need to have tracked their local purchases throughout SY 23-24 if they intend to apply for a subsequent grant in SY 24-25.
  • Regardless of the tracking method used, SU/SDs should keep all locally produced food receipts on file in the case of an audit. All receipts will not need to be scanned or uploaded online, but they should be easily retrievable (i.e. stored in a filing cabinet organized by date).
  • Calculate the Locally Produced Foods Percentage by dividing the SU/SD’s total local foods expenses by the total food budget.

What Counts as Local?

During the Baseline Year of the grant, the SU/SD can use its own definition of local when estimating the previous school year’s percent of locally produced foods.

What Counts as Local?

During subsequent grant years, SU/SDs must use the local-to-Vermont definition prescribed by the legislature. More details on this definition can be found here.

Awards

Successful applicants in the Baseline Year of the Local Foods Incentive Grant will be awarded $0.15 per lunch served during the school year prior.

(Applications submitted in December 2024 are awarded based off of lunches served in School Year 2023-2024.)

If grant awards exceed the total appropriated funds, awards will be prorated.

Awards

There are three grant award tiers which are based off an SU/SD’s locally produced foods percentage. The grant award tiers are as follows: 

  • 15% local = $0.15 per lunch 
  • 20% local = $0.20 per lunch 
  • 25% local = $0.25 per lunch

If grant awards exceed the amount of funding available, grant awards will be prorated. All grant awards will be distributed at the SU/SD level.

Application + Deadline

Applications for SY 23-24 are due in with your SFAs Financial Report in December.

Application + Deadline

Applications for SY 23-24 are due in with your SFAs Financial Report in December.

 

This work is supported by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.

Photos by USDA, Ben Hudson, Sarah Webb.