California has secured permanent state budget funding for the Farm to School Incubator Grant Program, which provides grants to connect schools with local farmers. First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom and Governor Gavin Newsom attended a summit Thursday in Rancho Cordova marking the decision.
The program has distributed $86 million across 375 projects benefiting 4.2 million public school students. Nearly 80 percent of the grants supported Title I schools, and all farmer grantees are small, mid-sized or socially and economically disadvantaged producers. The program operates alongside California's universal free school meals initiative, which has provided approximately 3.5 billion meals since 2021.
California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross said the program strengthens schools' ability to provide healthy meals while supporting local farmers. She noted that every dollar invested through farm grants generates an estimated $2.10 in economic activity.