Each proposal must include at least one SFA as the Lead Partner or Partner. SFAs are eligible if they participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and have a desire to increase scratch cooking and local procurement in their operations.

For more information see Section 3: Award Details of the PLANTS Grant RFA.

SFAs who contract with a third-party FSMC must provide a Letter of Commitment (LOC) from their FSMC partner.

For more information see Section 3: Award Details of the PLANTS Grant RFA.

For-profit agricultural producers (e.g., farms, ranches, fisheries), food processors or manufacturers, and food aggregators or distributors are eligible to apply as a Lead Partner or Partner. Other types of for-profit organizations are not eligible for the PLANTS Grant.

For more information see Section 3: Award Details of the PLANTS Grant RFA.

• Organizations can apply and be awarded for multiple HMI School Food System Transformation Challenge Sub-Grants.
• Organizations may only be the Lead Applicant on one HMI Sub-Grant opportunity, but can be supporting partners or secondary applicants on multiple.

Projects must be collaboratively administered by groups of three to five local Partners. Partnerships must include at least one SFA that participates in the NSLP. The following entity types are eligible to be part of a Partnership.

• School Food Authority: This includes any K-12 public schools, nonprofit private schools, and residential child care institutions that participate in NSLP. ECE programs are not eligible to apply for PLANTS Grant funding.
• Small or mid-sized agricultural producer: This includes farms, ranches, or seafood businesses.
• Processor or manufacturer of wholesale food for sale to schools
• Food aggregator (e.g., food hub) or distributor
• Food support organization: This includes food-systems-focused nonprofits.
• Public sector agency: This includes local, county, or state government agencies or departments.

The PLANTS Grant was created to strengthen partnerships between School Food Authorities (SFAs) and local food systems stakeholders. However, as long as one of the Partners is an SFA, other local government agencies or institutions (e.g. health care facilities, senior care communities, adult correctional facilities, postsecondary education) are eligible to be a PLANTS Partner.

The PLANTS Grant was created to empower partnerships between food systems stakeholders and School Food Authorities (SFAs). SFA Partners must participate in the National School Lunch Program. Participation in after school feeding programs does not make an organization eligible to apply as an SFA Partner.

A nonprofit organization that runs an after school feeding program (e.g. a food bank) would be eligible to apply as a food support organization in a Partnership that has at least one SFA Partner.

Yes. If your Partnership includes an organization outside of the maximum allowable miles but you believe that distance is justifiable because of the geography associated with your local food system, please describe in detail in the Project Partners section of your application why you believe the Partner should be considered. Acceptance of the justification will be at the discretion of the proposal reviewers.

Yes. Any School Food Authority can apply, regardless of their free or reduced percentage or adoption of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). The PLANTS Grant Scoring Criteria gives preference to schools that have adopted CEP, but it is not an eligibility requirement.

PLANTS Partners hold more responsibility and are more deeply involved in project implementation than a Collaborator. Partners are written into the project budget and must participate in reporting and evaluation. Collaborators are not subject to these requirements, but have the option of contributing a Letter of Support (LOS) for the project. Lead Partners must also obtain a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or a Letter of Commitment (LOC) from each Partner, but not from Collaborators.

For more information see Section 3: Award Details of the PLANTS Grant RFA.

In addition to a Lead Partner, PLANTS Grant applicants must have at least two official Partners included on their proposal.

Applicants may have up to two additional Partners (five Partners total) and must clearly delineate Partner roles and ensure the Lead Partner will be able to accurately report on all Partner activities. The Lead Partner must include a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or a Letter of Commitment from each Partner.

For more information see Section 3: Award Details of the PLANTS Grant RFA.

There must be one Lead Partner with a demonstrated history of building a nutritious school food program and/or developing strong local food systems that serve K-12 schools. If awarded, Lead Partners are expected to:

• Coordinate all grant activities and participate in reporting and evaluation.

• Identify a Project Coordinator for the grant who has experience in grant management and other skills that will ensure overall project success (e.g. strong communication skills, experience in leading/overseeing collaborations, etc).

• Sign and maintain responsibility for the grant contract agreement, beginning with the new grant recipient package.

• Maintain adequate accounting systems that meet the criteria of USDA FNS and ensure the ample, appropriate, and transparent use of funds. This includes the ability to identify the receipt and expenditure of program funds separately from other funding sources, contract subcontractors if necessary to the project, manage reporting, as well as the necessary property/inventory management systems to track the location and value of items purchased.

• Submit all project narrative and financial reports on behalf of the partnership as described in the grant contract agreement.

• Submit any budget or proposal/work plan amendments if changes are made from the initial proposal.

See Section 6: Requirements for Grant Awardees for more information about the requirements of the Lead Partner for funded grant projects.

No. Applicants must apply for funding within the range of $500,000 to $600,000.

This grant does NOT require grantees to match funding.

For more information see Section 2: Grant Overview of the PLANTS Grant RFA.

No. Capital improvements, or any major improvement to facilities and infrastructure that would add to the permanent value of the building, are not allowable expenses. For example, costs associated with the labor and supplies to pour cement to accommodate a new ramp for a loading dock would NOT be allowable, but the cost of the ramp would be allowable as an equipment cost.

For more information see Section 3: Award Details of the PLANTS Grant RFA.

Yes. Salary and wages to successfully implement a project (e.g., Project Coordinator salary, grantee staff time to participate in PLANTS TA activities, food service workers staff time during a training) are allowable expenses.

For more information see Section 3: Award Details of the PLANTS Grant RFA.

The following attachments are required:

• Project Plan Table

• Project Budget

• Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs)

• Letters of Commitment (LOCs)

• Key Personnel Resumes or Job Descriptions

For more information see Section 4: Application Instructions of the PLANTS Grant RFA.

All attachments should be uploaded as PDFs with the exception of the Project Budget which should be uploaded as an Excel document. All uploaded PDFs (and Excel document) should be named prior to uploading following the title instructions on the templates provided in the portal [coming soon].

Yes. If you start your application and cannot finish it in one sitting, click the save button for each section before exiting. You can resume your application and submit it any time.

Once your application is submitted, you will not be able to go back and make further edits. Please only submit your application when all fields are complete and all attachments are uploaded properly.

Applications will be reviewed and scored by a panel of expert reviewers who will evaluate all eligible applications based on the scoring criteria in the Scoring Rubric. Chef Ann Foundation will submit summaries of each application received and discuss the highest scoring applications with USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). FNS will make recommendations towards the final selection decisions. FNS reserves the right to accept the review panel’s recommendation or to select an awardee out of order to meet agency priorities, geographical representation, or project diversity.

Applications will be scored using the same criteria regardless of project focus. The PLANTS Grant scoring rubric will evaluate the project partners’ qualifications and experience to ensure completion of the project as described, clarity of purpose and goals, connections to their local food shed, capabilities to absorb values-based producers and products in their value chain, commitment among key partners and collaborators to food systems change, and long-term viability and impact during and beyond the grant period. View Scoring Rubric here.

Chef Ann Foundation (CAF) is dedicated to promoting whole-ingredient, scratch cooking in schools. To date, CAF has reached more than 14,000 schools of varying sizes. We understand that the size of a district will affect how scratch cooking is implemented in schools. CAF will work with the PLANTS Grant Project Team (Kitchen Sync Strategies Collaborative, the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, and the National Farm to School Network) to create tailored technical assistance plans for each Partnership.

See Section 8: Technical Assistance in the PLANTS Grant RFA for more information.