The upload function in GEMS/MARS is open for the submission of invoice data for 10 Cents a Meal grantee. Submissions must use the template excel spreadsheet which was emailed directly to grantees, and be uploaded in GEMS/MARS. Michigan-grown minimally processed fruits, vegetables, and legumes purchased since September 1, 2021 may be submitted for this matching grant. The first set of payments will be processed for data submitted by April 25, 2022. Data submitted after that date will be processed with the next payment batch in August. Continue reading

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LANSING, MI (Apr 13, 2022) - The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has announced an additional 29 grantees for 10 Cents A Meal for Michigan's Kids & Farms, after reopening the matching grant program for a second application window. 10 Cents a Meal, Michigan’s state-funded farm to institution grant provides matching incentive funding up to 10 cents per meal to purchase and serve Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and legumes.  Continue reading

The Michigan Department of Education’s (MDE) 10 Cents A Meal for Michigan’s Kids & Farms Program (10 Cents a Meal) is requesting bids for partners to provide regional support staff positions to assist with administrative tasks for sponsors.    Continue reading

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. Continue reading

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 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. Continue reading

By Miranda Dunlap, Brooke Miller, and Jordan Morgan. First appeared on Spartan Newsroom, republished with permission. Holt Public Schools Food Service Director Evan Robertson discusses Michigan’s 10 Cents a Meal program and how it has affected students in the district and surrounding community. Miranda Dunlap and Brooke Miller/Spartan Newsroom Schools in Greater Lansing are benefiting from fresh produce in their lunchrooms thanks to a Michigan program aiming to get farm-fresh food onto lunch tables. The 10 Cents a Meal program, administered by the Michigan Department of Education, gives schools 10 cents for every meal they serve to children that includes a local fruit, vegetable or dried bean. This funding aims to make it easier for schools to afford fresh and local foods. “We’ve been doing some different things like squash and root vegetables, which a lot of kids have never seen or had,” said Evan Robertson, director of food services at Holt Public Schools, which got involved with 10 Cents a Meal in 2020. “It’s kind of cool that we’re able to try to introduce them to other kinds of food that they don’t have at home.” Robertson said children get excited to have different fruits with their lunches. He said that seeing them get excited over something so simple makes the program worth it. “A really big winner is the students here,” he said. “It’s common to hear kids say that school is the only place they have access to certain fruits.” Continue reading

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LANSING, MI (Nov 23, 2021) - Michigan students and young children were were introduced to up to 32 new types of vegetables and 14 new types of fruit during the last school year thanks to the state’s expanded 10 Cents a Meal for Michigan’s Kids & Farms (10 Cents a Meal) program, according to the annual legislative report recently published by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE). Continue reading

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LANSING, Mich. (Sept. 30, 2021) - The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has announced 229 grantees for the initial round of 10 Cents A Meal for Michigan's Kids & Farms grants for the 2021-22 school year. The state-funded farm-to-institution program provides matching incentive funding up to 10 cents per meal to purchase and serve Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and legumes. With this first round announcement, the program will serve a total enrollment of nearly 554,000 children in the school, early childhood education and after school settings across the state, more than half of whom are eligible for free or reduced lunch. Continue reading

Michigan’s 10 Cents a Meal program has grown from a regional pilot to a statewide program with five million dollars in state funding. Throughout those years of growth, 10 Cents has supported the purchase of millions of dollars of fruits, vegetables, and legumes from Michigan farmers and food vendors that were served to Michigan schoolchildren. Continue reading

The Michigan Department of Education has announced that it is accepting applications for the 10 Cents A Meal for Michigan's Kids & Farms, a state-funded grant providing matching incentive funding up to 10 cents per meal to purchase and serve Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and legumes. The program 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 participating in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Continue reading