Photo credit: Sarah Rypma The 10 Cents a Meal for Michigan’s Kids and Farms 2025-2026 Application is Available in NexSys! 10 Cents a Meal for Michigan’s Kids and Farms (10 Cents a Meal) is a state funded, matching grant. Sponsors participating in the National School Lunch Program/School Breakfast program (NSLP/SBP), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), or Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) are eligible to apply. 10 Cents a Meal reimburses 50% of the cost of buying and serving Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and dry beans in meals and educational activities for children. Grantees can also use up to 25% of their grant award to receive 100% reimbursement for transportation and labor expenses such as delivery fees, mileage costs, and part time labor expenses that support the goals of the program. This is an opportunity for ALL child nutrition program sponsors state-wide to improve the nutrition of children while supporting local growers. Completed applications are due in NexSys by Wednesday, September 17, 2025. Continue reading

Photo credit: Sarah Rypma Whether you are thinking about participating in the 10 Cents a Meal program for the first time or are an experienced grantee, join us to learn how 10 Cents a Meal works, how to source Michigan-grown produce from local suppliers, and what is needed to participate. Bring your laptop if you would like help with completing your application during the session or just bring your questions.  Attendance is free; however, all attendees are required to register.  Continue reading

The 2023-2024 10 Cents a Meal Legislative Report is now available! Every year this report is created to share the impacts and progress of the 10 Cents a Meal program with the Michigan Legislature. Here are some highlights from the report*:  More Local Fruits and Vegetables: 86% of Food Program Managers reported that 10 Cents a Meal allowed them to offer more local fruits to students and children— 79% reported that the program allowed them to offer more local vegetables.  Outcomes for Food Programs: The top outcome that 10 Cents a Meal helped food programs achieve was increasing the variety of produce served in the food program (reported by 151 grantees).   Bring on the Beans: Eighteen grantees reported purchasing Michigan-grown dry beans for the first time— the highest number reported in 10 Cents a Meal history. Farm Supply Chain Impacts: Over half of grantees reported that participation in 10 Cents a Meal allowed them to make connections with new farmers or food suppliers (59%). Program Training: Based on grantee feedback, 10 Cents a Meal program administrators offered five in-person trainings, one virtual training, virtual office hours by request, and one self-paced online training to help grantees complete the program application and submit purchase information. *The data presented in this report are based on information reported by 242 different grantees through electronic evaluation surveys (3) during the year and 230 grantees that shared purchasing information. Continue reading

The 10 Cents a Meal for Michigan’s Kids and Farms (10 Cents a Meal) program continues to reach more children in schools and childcare sites across Michigan since its inception in 2016.  Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) recently released the evaluation findings from the 2022-2023 10 Cents a Meal program, which show that 10 Cents a Meal continues to maintain progress towards its two main goals to improve daily nutrition for children in school or childcare settings and invest in the Michigan agriculture economy.  During the 2022-2023 program, 240 school districts and other non-school sponsors were awarded over $5.6 million in 10 Cents a Meal grant dollars from the Michigan Department of Education. Over 580,000 K–12 schoolchildren and nearly 5,000 children in early care and education sites could have benefited from the program. Additionally, grantees reported purchases from 248 different farms and food businesses. Continue reading

10 Cents a Meal for Michigan’s Kids and Farms provides schools, early care and education centers, and other organizations participating in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Child Nutrition programs with grant funds to pay for Michigan-grown food item costs, local food transportation fees, and food service labor expenses. The program pays half the cost of buying and serving Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and dry beans. It is an opportunity for ALL child nutrition program sponsors state-wide to strengthen the local food supply chain and enrich nutrition and educational experiences for children in Michigan. Completed applications in NexSys are due Wednesday, September 18, 2024.   Continue reading

The 10 Cents a Meal for Michigan’s Kids and Farms (10 Cents a Meal) program continues to reach more children in schools, districts, and childcare sites across Michigan, with the 2021-2022 school year serving the largest number of participating grantees yet.Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) recently released the evaluation report to share evaluation findings from the 2021-2022 10 Cents a Meal program, which show that 10 Cents a Meal is making significant progress towards its two main goals to improve daily nutrition for children in school or childcare settings and to invest in the Michigan agriculture economy. During the 2021-2022 program, more children, farms and food business were reached than ever before. An estimated 570,504 K–12 schoolchildren and 15,696 children through early care and education sites could have benefited by the program. Additionally, grantees reported purchases from 222 different farms and food businesses. Continue reading

By Cheyenne Liberti, Farm to Program Consultant at the Michigan Department of Education Photos courtesy of Sarah Rypma   Food service professionals are blazing a trail in advancing child nutrition in Michigan. For the first time, Michigan will have a state-funded universal free meals program during the 2023-2024 School Year – Michigan School Meals. Public schools participating in the Michigan School Meals program will serve lunch and breakfast at no cost to students. This is a huge leap forward in expanding food security in Michigan. In 2021, 13.1% of children in the state were food insecure (1). Research has shown that programs like Michigan School Meals expand access to breakfast and lunch at school, and help families afford groceries (2). Both of these outcomes can help address food insecurity in our state and promote the health and well-being of all children. Continue reading

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 11, 2023 $9.3 Million available for 10 Cents a Meal Farm-to-School Grants: Application Now Open for 2023-24 Program Year Continue reading