By Blake Jackson
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has awarded $462,607 in Farm-to-School Grants to 45 schools, school districts, and childhood education centers in 26 counties.
These grants, ranging up to $15,000, will support projects aimed at improving access to healthy, local food and increasing hands-on learning for children in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
"Farm-to-School grants are an investment not just in feeding hungry minds, but feeding our future," said Secretary Redding. "Introducing children to fresh, local food can change their diets and open their eyes to career possibilities when they learn how food is produced and who produces it. The Shapiro Administration is making critical investments to feed the future of our communities and expand opportunities for children to succeed and Pennsylvania farms to prosper."
Funded projects connect local farmers to schools to supply fresh, in-season products for school cafeterias, expanding market opportunities for farmers.
Other projects support school gardens, field trips, and other hands-on agriculture education, enriching early career awareness.
Grant recipients, amounts, and funded projects are listed below by county:
- Allegheny: The Environmental Charter School ($15,000), Highlands School District ($11,002), School District of Pittsburgh ($14,975)
- Beaver: Beaver County School District ($1,165)
- Bedford: Northern Bedford County Elementary ($15,000)
- Berks: Kutztown Area School District ($2,392), Morrisville Borough School District ($14,700), Tulpehoken Area School District ($15,000)
- Bucks: Lifespan Day Care ($14,975)
- Centre: State College Area School District ($3,000)
- Chester: Great Valley School District ($15,000)
- Clarion: North Clarion Elementary ($14,958), Redbank Valley School District ($550)
- Columbia: Bloomsburg Area School District ($15,000)
- Cumberland: St. Patrick’s School (Carlisle) ($11,500)
- Dauphin: Bright Futures Learning Centers ($15,000), Jewish Federation of Greater
- Harrisburg ($15,000), Upper Dauphin Area Middle School ($11,208)
- Erie: Erie Public Schools ($9,700)
- Huntingdon: Southern Huntingdon County School District ($10,642)
- Lackawanna: Dunmore School District ($4,000)
- Lawrence: Laurel School District ($7,500), Lawrence County Social Services ($15,000)
- Lehigh: Allentown School District ($9,993), Learning Minds Education Center (Allentown) ($12,900), Traci’s Learning Center ($14,846)
- Luzerne: Cheder Menachem School (Wilkes-Barre) ($15,000)
- Mercer: West Middlesex Area School District ($15,000)
- Montgomery: Colonial School District ($9,997)
- Montour: Danville Child Development Center ($5,408)
- Perry: Newport School District ($3,942), West Perry School District ($11,761)
- Philadelphia: Early Literacy Academy – Fairmount ($10,000), Early Literacy Academy – Oxford ($10,000), Methodist Services ($15,000), New Foundations Charter School ($9,300), Parent Infant Center ($5,646), William H. Loesche School ($2,833)
- Schuylkill: Pottsville Area School District ($15,000)
- Tioga: Southern Tioga School District ($1,816)
- Washington: California Academy of Learning ($13,631), California Area School District ($8,590), Fort Cherry School District ($2,679), Washington School District ($3,200)
- Westmoreland: Queen of Angels Catholic School (North Huntingdon Township) ($13,700)
Photo Credit: farm-to-school
Categories: Pennsylvania, Education, Government & Policy