Contact your Senator and ask them to co-sponsor an amendment to provide level funding for Food Literacy and the Farm to School FRESH Grant program within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in FY25.

The Food Literacy funding request would sustain the competitive FRESH grant program by providing $750,000 for the next school year. The FRESH Grant Program was first established with federal COVID-relief funding and during the first two rounds of applications, DESE received over $4M in requests for the $1M available. Additional funding will help more schools and early education programs provide students with healthy, locally grown foods in school meals, provide expanded food education, and support new markets for our farmers and fishermen. We have the opportunity NOW to support infrastructure investments, staff training, and educational initiatives that lead to farm to school program success and sustainability.

We've drafted the message, but we encourage you to personalize the email to make your message more powerful and explain why farm to school is important in your community - you can type directly into the message field! Share your story and why you believe the farm to school FRESH Grant Program is good for students, for farmers, and for communities If you are a recipient of a FRESH Grant, be sure to mention the impact of these programs in your community.