FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Attention Genesee County School Districts & ECEs:

10 Cents a Meal Application Deadline REOPENED for 2021-22 School Year!

The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has announced that the application window will be reopened for 10 Cents A Meal for Michigan's Kids & Farms, the state-funded grant providing matching incentive funding up to 10 cents per meal to purchase and serve Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and legumes. 

The 10 Cents a Meal grant application window will open on Tuesday, February 1, 2022 through Friday, February 11, 2022.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the $17.1 billion K-12 budget into law in July 2021. The bill accounts for the largest single-year School Aid Fund budget ever passed by the state, which included funding for 10 Cents a Meal at $4.5 million*, more than doubling the funding from $2 million in 2020-21. Eligible purchases from the present year may qualify for retroactive reimbursement.

The grant has gone from a regional pilot program in 2016 to finally being available to applicants statewide for the 2020-2021 school year, and this latest investment from the state affirms the importance of 10 Cents a Meal in providing fresh, healthy, local fruits, vegetables, and dry beans for Michigan’s children. 

Currently, there are 12 unique grantees for the 2021-22 school year, located throughout Genesee County, including: Flint Community Schools; Flint Cultural Center Academy; Genesee County ISD; Grand Blanc Academy; Lake Fenton Community Schools; Kearsley Community School District; Little Peoples Playhouse, Inc.; Michigan School For The Deaf And Blind; and, Westwood Heights Schools. This is an increase from 5 Genesee County grantees for the 20-21 school year.

10 Cents a Meal is open to school districts (public, public school academies, or private), and non-school sponsors of USDA Child Nutrition Programs such as residential childcare institutions (RCCIs), and child care centers and after school programs participating in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). 

“10 Cents a Meal provides additional funds for food service directors and child care staff to feed children healthy, local food,” said Melanie Wong MA, RDN, Farm to ECE Specialist with Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities. “With the application reopening I am hoping more eligible schools and non-school sponsors will take the opportunity to get additional funding to support their local food purchasing, especially with the bounty of the spring and summer growing seasons quickly approaching.”  

For more information about the application process please visit the Tools for Schools and Early Childhood page at www.tencentsmichigan.org

Click here to see the application guide, the Michigan Department of Education’s latest one-pager on how the application and program works, and MDE’s detailed instructions on how to apply, from logging in to saving and submitting. A link to the application is provided below, as well as the instructions for completing it.

Questions about the application or the process may be directed to Wendy Crowley, [email protected].

If you think your food service program may be a good candidate for 10 Cents a Meal, check out this preparatory checklist HERE.

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*Edit 5/2/22: The 10 Cents a Meal budget is $4.5 million, corrected here from the previously published $5 million due to an error in the state’s budget language.

Program Contacts:

Wendy Crowley, Michigan Department of Education, [email protected]

Nathan Medina, Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, [email protected]

Colleen Matts, MSU Center for Regional Food Systems, [email protected]