PENNSYLVANIA — Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced on Tuesday the awarding of PA Farm Bill Farm-to-School Grants totaling $605,398. The grants, which support 56 schools, school districts, and childhood education centers across 28 counties, aim to improve access to healthy, local food and foster hands-on learning for students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
“Farm-to-School grants are a solid investment in feeding hungry minds and feeding our future,” Secretary Redding said. “Introducing children to fresh, locally produced food changes children’s lives. Those children introduce their families to new foods and what they have learned about local farmers who produce their food.”
In Chester County, three institutions have been awarded these grants: Avon Grove Charter School ($7,500), Unionville Chadds Ford School District ($15,000), and Treehouse Childcare Services ($15,000).
These grants will fund projects that connect local farmers to schools, allowing fresh, in-season products to be served in cafeterias while expanding market opportunities for farmers. Other initiatives supported by the grants include school gardens, field trips, and other hands-on agriculture education, enriching early awareness of career opportunities.
The Shapiro Administration is committed to making critical investments in childhood nutrition and agriculture to nourish the future of our communities and broaden opportunities for children to succeed and Pennsylvania farms to prosper.
The public can find a map of previous Farm to School and other PA Farm Bill grant recipients, as well as details of initiatives to grow and sustain Pennsylvania agriculture at agriculture.pa.gov/pafarmbill.
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