Action for Healthy Kids Offers Healthy Meals Incentives Grants to Small and/or Rural School Food Authorities (SFA)

April 11, 2023 /3BL Media/ - As part of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, Action for Healthy Kids is offering competitive grants, up to $150,000 per SFA, to small and/or rural SFAs to support efforts to improve the nutritional quality of their school meals. The grant application is now available at www.healthymealsincentives.org.

Small and/or rural SFAs participating in the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program in the contiguous United States, Hawaii, Alaska, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, or the United States Virgin Islands and who serve food to K-12 students are eligible to apply. The grant application portal will close on May 26, 2023, with applications due no later than 5:00 pm EST. Learn more and apply at www.healthymealsincentives.org.

“Action for Healthy Kids is excited to partner with USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service and school food authorities to lift up and support innovative school nutrition practices that ensure that our nation’s students have access to nutritious meals,” said Rob Bisceglie, CEO of Action for Healthy Kids.

Action for Healthy Kids will also help facilitate sharing of best practices across the country and recognize SFAs for their efforts to improve school meals through the Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards program beginning later this year.

“USDA is excited about the collaboration with Action for Healthy Kids to support and share innovative practices that will empower schools to continue serving delicious, healthy meals, and give students a healthy start. We look forward to this partnership and lifting up the great work being done by nutrition professionals throughout the country,” said FNS Administrator Cindy Long, USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

ABOUT ACTION FOR HEALTHY KIDS

Action for Healthy Kids is dedicated to improving children’s health and well-being by bringing together and mobilizing educators, families, and other key stakeholders to help children lead healthy lives. Through its core programming and family-school partnerships, Action for Healthy Kids has impacted more than 20 million children in 55,000 schools nationwide to address systemic challenges in underserved communities. To learn more about its growing network of volunteers and champions, visit: https://www.actionforhealthykids.org/.

ABOUT USDA’S FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service works to end hunger and improve food and nutrition security through a suite of more than 15 nutrition assistance programs, such as the school breakfast and lunch programs, WIC and SNAP. Together, these programs serve 1 in 4 Americans over the course of a year, promoting consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable food essential to optimal health and well-being. FNS also provides science-based nutrition recommendations through the co-development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. FNS’s report, “Leveraging the White House Conference to Promote and Elevate Nutrition Security: The Role of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service,” highlights ways the agency will support the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Strategy, released in conjunction with the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September 2022. To learn more about FNS, visit https://www.fns.usda.gov/ and follow @USDANutrition.