FNS Documents & Resources

This document includes frequently asked questions regarding the Farm to School Grant Program and the grant application process.

Pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to age 5 are eligible. They must meet income guidelines, a state residency requirement, and be individually determined to be at "nutritional risk" by a health professional.

The attached Questions and Answers are in response to changes made by Section 4005 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of2018 (the Act) (P.L. 115-334), enacted on December 20, 2018, to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment and Training program and certain Able-bodied Adults without Dependents work policies. Please forward the attached memorandum to your State commissioners.

Why the SFSP is important and how it operates.

The Summer Food for Children Demonstrations are a series of projects, authorized by Congress under the 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-80), to develop and test methods of providing access to food for low-income children in urban and rural areas during the summer months when schools are not in regular session.

SFSP is administered at the Federal level by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). FNS decides overall program policy and publishes regulations and payment rates. State education agencies administer SFSP in most States. Other State agencies may also be assigned to run the program.

School meals are required to meet specific nutrition standards to operate the school meals programs. The standards align school meals with the latest nutrition science and the real world circumstances of America’s schools.