The 10 Cents a Meal program offers up to 10 cents per meal match incentive funds to school food service programs that purchase Michigan-grown and processed fruits and vegetables. The goals behind the program were to improve the intake of nutrient-dense foods for school children and to invest in Michigan agriculture and the local food supply chain. Of the appropriated $250,000, $210,000 will be spent on Michigan-grown produce for school meals. The rest will be used to cover administrative expenses.
The matching funds were awarded through a competitive application process. Of the 52 districts that applied, 16 were funded, located in nine counties. The funds are intended to be used from September of 2016 through September of 2017.
Now that the pilot program is midway through its pilot year, a report cataloging impacts through December of 2016 has been released. Some of the highlights are below.
- 48,000 students have been impacted
- 86 different Michigan farms received business from the pilot program
- An additional 16 Michigan food businesses (such as distributors and processors) were also impacted
- School meal programs increased the number of new vegetables and fruits that they were serving
- Approximately $114,000 was spent on local fruit, vegetables and legumes (this is preliminary data)
For more information:
www.cultivatemichigan.org
www.mifarmtoschool.msu.edu
