Massachusetts FRESH (Farming Reinforces Education and Student Health) Grant

Massachusetts FRESH (Farming Reinforces Education and Student Health) Grant is sponsored by Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Office of Food and Nutrition Programs (DESE FNP). This statewide farm to school and farm to early care grant program supports K-12 and licensed early education and care centers to start up or expand their local foods purchasing and education efforts.

Massachusetts FRESH Grant - Massachusetts Farm to School All Guide Farm Pages Harvest Network Announcement Farm & Sea to School Conference Massachusetts FRESH Grant The Massachusetts FRESH (Farming Reinforces Education and Student Health) Grant is a statewide farm to school and farm to early care grant program.

The program is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Office of Food and Nutrition Programs (DESE FNP). The program is designed to support K-12 and licensed early education and care centers to start up or expand their local foods purchasing and education efforts. New to the grant cycle in 2027 is the addition of a new grant category: the MA FRESH CORP Planning Grant.

The purpose of the “MA FRESH CORP Planning Grant” category is to support applicants seeking future state, federal and/or private/foundation funding that covers the cost of new staff salaries, stipends or consultant fees that ensure local food system activities are strategically integrated, institutionalized and sustained into programs that promote food literacy. Read below for more information on the grant program guidelines.

The FY27 MA FRESH application period is now closed. Approximately $400,000 is available and awards are dependent upon state appropriations. The MA FRESH Grant has five categories broken out for early education programs running Child and Adult Care Food Programs (CACFP) and K-12 school districts running National School Lunch Programs (NSLP).

Applicants may apply for funding between $3,000 and $40,000 in one of the following categories, with all activities completed by June 30, 2027: New* K-12 Farm to School Initiative Grants New* Farm to Early Education Initiative Grants Expanding K-12 Farm to School Initiative Expanding Farm to Early Education Initiative Massachusetts Farming Reinforces Education and Student Health Coordination and Optimization of Resources and Partnerships (FRESH CORP) Planning Grant** * ‘New” farm to school/early education applicants engage in none or only one of the farm to school three “C’s”: Classroom, Cafeteria, and Community.

Applicants that have been dormant in all farm to school activities for the last three years also qualify as “new. ” The category of new versus expanding pertains to the applicant (not the proposed grant project) and relates to whether the applicant is new to farm to school or expanding existing farm to school programming. ** The MA FRESH CORP Planning Grant is open to both Early Education Programs and K-12 Schools.

View a recording of the FY27 FRESH Grant Information Session ( Access webinar slides. ) If you are interested in applying for the next round of funding, Mass. Farm to School staff are available to provide support.

Project activities must be completed by June 30, 2027. Individual Coaching Sessions are available to interested applicants. Book an individual application coaching session.

*If you need an evening coaching session, please contact Abby Getman Skillicorn at abby@massfarmtoschool. org to schedule. Please watch this recorded GEM$ walk through from DESE on how to get set up in GEM$, DESE’s Grant Management Software.

All RFQ questions must be received in writing no later than Friday, May 8, 2026 and can be emailed to Grant Contact Maggie Nowak . A list of questions and responses from DESE will be available on the DESE MA FRESH grant page .

Grants Available to MA Schools & Early Education Programs for Infrastructure Investments The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) recently announced the release of the FY27 Food Security Infrastructure Grant (FSIG) . The FSIG application is now open and will close on Monday, May 4, 2026.

Awards will range from $10,000 to $500,000 for equipment and infrastructure projects that build a stronger, more resilient, and more equitable food system within Massachusetts. Eligible applicants include schools, early childhood education centers, colleges and universities, healthcare facilities, and other institutions that procure, prepare, or serve food. In the fall of 2025, DESE awarded $1.

2 million in state- and federally-funded MA FRESH and FRESH CORPS grants to 24 school districts and 10 early education and care programs to help them grow or procure local food and educate students, teachers, school nutrition professionals and staff about the local food system. Read Project Descriptions .

Andover Public School District: $20,750 Beverly Children’s Learning Centers: $29,846 Boys & Girls Club of Greater Westfield: $30,000 Chicopee Public School District: $9,858 Collegiate Charter School of Lowell: $28,987 Easthampton Public School District: $29,063 Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational Technical: $30,000 Greater Lowell Family YMCA: $17,645 Innovation Academy Charter District (in Tyngsborough): $27,947 Department of Youth Services: $14,642 Lowell Public School District: $30,000 Lowell Community Charter District: $28,905 Making Opportunity Count (in Fitchburg): $14,792 Merrimack Valley YMCA: $21,871 Morris Professional Child Care Services (in Springfield): $3,000 North Adams Public School District: $30,000 Old Rochester Public School District: $30,000 Revere Public School District: $30,000 Springfield Public School District: $28,859 The Salvation Army Massachusetts Division: $4,880 Warwick Public School District: $24,400 MA FRESH Coordination and Optimization of Resources and Partnerships Grantees (Continuation Funding): Acton-Boxborough Public School District: $69,911 Boston Public School District: $85,500 Bristol County Agricultural Public School District: $85,500 Chicopee Public School District: $55,825 Collaborative for Regional Educational Service and Training (CREST) (in Andover): $14,203 Crispus Attucks Children’s Center (in Boston): $33,560 Frontier Public School District: $75,509 Gloucester Public School District: $14,716 Nauset Regional Public School District: $55,153 Northampton Public School District: $45,885 Robbins Children’s Programs (in Attleboro): $60,499 Salem Public School District: $84,845 Watertown Public School District: $82,946 In early 2025, DESE awarded MA FRESH grants of over $500,000 to 25 school districts and childcare centers, and awarded MA FRESH CORP grants of $350,000 to 15 school districts and early education centers across the Commonwealth.

These grants support not only local food and food education in schools, but also capacity building for farm to school programs. Read project descriptions.

Billerica Public Schools ($16,668) Boston Public Schools ($30, 000) Brockton Public Schools ($20,000) Chicopee Public Schools ($1,985) Dennis-Yarmouth Public Schools ($26,870) Gill-Montague Regional School District ($27,540) Hatfield Public Schools ($3,848) Leominster Public Schools ($10,565) Lowell Public Schools ($30,000) New Bedford Public Schools ($28,054) North Middlesex Public Schools ($6,550) Orange Public Schools ($6,710) Oxford Public Schools ($2,950) Provincetown Public Schools ($8,000) Taunton Public Schools ($29,985) Westford Public Schools ($16,600) Whitman-Hanson Public Schools ($30,000) Brockton Day Nursery, Inc ($30,000) Communities United, Inc. (Lexington) ($21,112) Community Action, Inc (Haverhill) ($28,053) East End House (Cambridge) ($29,214) Merrimack Valley YMCA (Lawrence) ($20,785) People Incorporated (Fall River) ($22,871) South Shore YMCA (Quincy & Hanover) ($21,648) Worcester Public Schools ($30,000) Acton-Boxborough Public Schools ($28,961) Boston Public Schools ($48,316) Bristol County Agricultural Public School District ($35,420) Chicopee Public Schools ($16,620) Collaborative for Regional Educational Service and Training (Andover) ($14,950) Crispus Attucks Children’s Center (Dorchester) ($17,600) Frontier Regional School District ($27,372) Gloucester Public Schools ($16,075) Nauset Public Schools ($17,700) Northampton Public Schools ($15,125) Robbins Children’s Programs, Inc (Attleboro) ($26,591) Salem Public Schools ($44,039) Watertown Public Schools ($26,200) In early 2024 DESE awarded over $400,000 to 23 sc hool districts and childcare centers across the Commonwealth to support local food and local food education in schools.

This second round of applications saw over $2. 5M in requests from nearly 80 applicants.

Community Charter School of Cambridge Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School Greenfield Public Schools Norfolk County Agricultural High School Early Education & After School Programs ABCD Head Start and Children’s Service Boys & Girls Club of Metro South Community Action Pioneer Valley Head Start & Early Learning Program Holyoke Chicopee Head Start Waltham Boys & Girls Club Bridge Boston Charter School Gloucester Public Schools Northampton Public Schools Provincetown Public Schools RFK Alliance/Dr. Franklin Perkins School (Lancaster) Somerville Public Schools Springfield Public Schools Assonet Day Care (Freetown) Guild of St.

Agnes (Worcester) Rainbow Child Development Center (Worcester) Springfield Public Schools Want to Help Advocate for a Permanent Farm to School Grant Program? Please visit mafoodformakids. org to learn about current policy action alerts and ways to get in touch with your legislators.

Mass. Farm to School is supporting the implementation of FRESH grants through technical assistance and trainings. If you are a current grantee please contact Abby Getman Skillicorn at abby@massfarmtoschool.

org for more information about grantee support. There are many resources you can access to support the implementation of your farm to school program. From school garden support organizations to educator professional development providers, we encourage you to explore partnerships that will strengthen your program.

Please find a list of some of these programs and the services they can provide. If you are looking for resources in a particular geographic region or have resources you would like to share with applicants, please be in touch.

External Trainings & Events Framingham State University Framingham State University offers professional development for educators to promote the addition of food literacy lessons or garden activities to school curriculum.

The following four-week online graduate courses for educators and school professionals align with the MassFRESH grant requirements: PRDV 73627 | Exploring Food: From the Ground Up PRDV 70423 | Growing Your School Garden PRDV 73230 | Integrating Nutrition Education One Bite-Sized Step at a Time Please visit the MassSchoolWellness. org Initiatives web page for course descriptions, cost, and instructions on how to register.

School Wellness Initiative for Thriving Community Health Two new 4-week online food literacy courses Harvest of the Month classroom lessons The John C. Stalker Institute (JSI) of Food and Nutrition at Framingham State University JSI offers professional development for kitchen staff in preparing fresh meals using local ingredients as outlined in the MassFRESH grant requirements.

Please visit the JSI Culinary Workshops to Go web page for workshop descriptions, cost, and instructions for requesting a workshop. Need help deciding which workshops and trainings to choose?

Schools are encouraged to join the CECAP (Creating & Executing a Culinary Advancement Plan) program for access to the JSI Culinary Consultant to customize training recommendations for school nutrition teams to build culinary skills, strengthen kitchen efficiencies, and elevate goal setting for scratch cooking success! Take the survey to get started!

Nutrition Bites for Child Care Check out the Nutrition Bites webpages for no cost educational resources , online training modules , menu planning tools , and culturally relevant recipes for childcare providers.

Organizations and Businesses Supporting School Gardens & Food Education Programs Ascentria (Hampden County) Backyard Growers (Gloucester & Cape Ann) Berkshire Botanical (Berkshire County) Fresh Start Food Gardens (Western Middlesex & Northeastern Worcester County) Green City Growers (Greater Boston Area) Holly Hill Farm (South Shore) Island Grown Initiative (Martha’s Vineyard) Marion Institute // Grow Education (South Coast) Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom (Statewide) Regional Environmental Council (Worcester) School Sprouts Educational Gardens (Hampshire & Hampden County) Sustainable Cape (Cape Cod) Sustainable Nantucket (Nantucket) The Charlie Cart Project (statewide) Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources MassGrown Map of Farms and consumer resources Massachusetts Seasonal Availability Chart Agricultural Education Resources Massachusetts Farm to School (fiscally sponsored by Third Sector New England, Inc. (TSNE)) Email: info@massfarmtoschool.

org