New York - Governor Kathy Hochul announced today that $10 million has been awarded to two projects in the third round of the New York State Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program. $5 million was awarded to projects in the Mid-Hudson and New York City regions to improve the preparation and distribution of meals for students from kindergarten through 12th grade, using locally grown produce. First announced in the Governor’s 2023 State of the State Address, the program will provide a total of $50 million over five years to eligible applicants in all ten regions of New York State to facilitate on-site processing and preparation of fresh, nutritious meals; increase the use of local, healthy New York food products; and support New York farmers. The Regional School Food Infrastructure program builds on numerous New York programs that prioritize local food in schools, including tools to help school districts source agricultural products from local producers, ensuring that New York remains their primary customer.
“Ensuring our students eat local, nutritious food means they’ll be better prepared for their day of learning and play, and our farmers will have a reliable market for their produce,” said Governor Hochul . “By funding this $50 million program, the State is making a crucial investment in our children, reducing food insecurity, and supporting our farmers. Having recently celebrated a milestone in our universal school meals program, with 275 million free meals served, the Regional School Food Infrastructure Program, along with other New York programs that connect farms to schools, is working to ensure these meals are made with local produce and prepared from scratch. I congratulate the recipients and look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition.”
Administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, the Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program provides essential funding for schools to collect, store, process, and prepare produce, enabling them to cook fresh, nutritious, home-cooked meals for students. The program also fosters workforce development by providing training to schools, communities, and students in culinary arts, food processing, safe food handling and storage, logistics, distribution, and more, based on community needs.
The projects awarded in the third round are:
- The Putnam-Northern Westchester BOCES project will establish a Regional Food Processing and Workforce Development Center. This regional shared-use food infrastructure project will address critical gaps in processing capacity, workforce readiness, and distribution that limit institutional procurement of grown and processed foods in the region of New York State. Plans include the construction of a state-of-the-art food processing training center featuring an educational building and a new shared-use modular kitchen, as well as a refrigerated truck to facilitate last-mile delivery of processed products to partner schools. The modular kitchen will be equipped with a commercial-grade processing equipment setup to support hands-on instruction and certified workforce development. The educational building will provide classrooms for instruction in food safety, nutrition, and local sourcing practices; basic kitchen training areas for developing practical skills and inventory management systems; and separate dry storage, cold storage, and freezing units to support farm participation and improve overall supply chain efficiency.
- KIPP NYC's project will fund the creation of the KIPP NYC Culinary Institute, a Farm-to-School program hub located in the South Bronx. This center will feature centralized storage and production facilities, last-mile logistics and distribution capabilities for fresh meals, and a state-of-the-art teaching kitchen. The project will allow KIPP NYC to transition from purchasing individual cases to acquiring palletized produce directly from producers across New York State. Beyond the immediate impact of incorporating more local produce and more schools into its successful farm-to-school meal model—which feeds thousands of students throughout New York City—the Institute will offer numerous other benefits to students and the community. These include annual job training for hundreds of culinary program students and student employees. Professional development will also be offered for KIPP NYC's culinary team and hundreds of staff members from partner school districts, including an annual summer conference and monthly workshops. The center will also have spaces for community events, classes, farmers markets, and a year-round food pantry to support the community's most needy families.
Richard A. Ball, New York State Commissioner of Agriculture , said, “The projects funded to date through the Regional School Food Infrastructure program are making a lasting impact on the schools and communities they serve. I am extremely pleased to see this third round of projects awarded in New York City and the Hudson Valley; these initiatives will strengthen our food system, boost key job training opportunities, and provide delicious, healthy, locally sourced meals to our students, while supporting our farmers. I congratulate the recipients and thank Governor Hochul for her support of this program.”
Michael Loli, Senior Managing Director of the KIPP NYC Culinary Team, said, "We are thrilled to receive this grant and ready to maximize its impact by expanding and deepening our reach across the region: we will provide more nutritious meals to more students using more New York State produce, while also providing strong professional development opportunities and fostering community engagement."
Daniel Novak, deputy director of the Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES Environmental Education and Sustainability Center , said, “This grant will help thousands of students and families across our region. It reflects the potential of what can be achieved when education, agriculture, and community partners come together around a shared vision. PNW BOCES, along with our local farmers, school districts, CCE, and other exceptional partners, will have the opportunity to expand access to fresh, locally produced food while simultaneously creating meaningful pathways for workforce development. This investment advances our commitments to well-being, sustainability, and community resilience, ensuring that students benefit today from healthier food and helping to prepare the leaders, innovators, and skilled professionals who will strengthen New York’s food system in the future.”
In each of the program's five phases, $5 million will be awarded to two regions, until all regions have received funding. Funding from the first phase went to projects in North Country and Western New York, while the second phase funded projects in Long Island and Midtown New York.
As a complement to the objectives of the Regional School Food Infrastructure (RSFI) program, the State received $450,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture to implement the New York Farm to School Training Initiative, a culinary training program developed in collaboration with the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and aimed at RSFI program beneficiaries in the State's ten regions.
New York's Farm-to-School Training Initiative is a new project designed to enhance the capacity of school food service managers to successfully utilize locally sourced foods in districts across New York State. The project will offer a comprehensive training session in each of New York's 10 economic development regions, in partnership with recipients of the Regional School Food Infrastructure program, and will target approximately 300 school food service directors, managers, and staff members. These workshops will provide hands-on culinary training, procurement guidance, and agricultural education to strengthen farm-to-school programs, increase the availability of local foods, and promote student health and connection to New York's agricultural systems.
New York State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said, “The New York State School Feeding Regional Infrastructure Grant Program is an investment in both student success and the economic vitality of communities across the state. By expanding access to nutritious, locally sourced meals, this program helps students learn and thrive, while strengthening local agriculture and fostering job creation. I commend the Department of Agriculture and Markets for its leadership in managing this critical program, as well as Governor Hochul for securing these important funds, which will help ensure that both students and communities can prosper.”
New York City Schools Chancellor Kamar H. Samuels said, “Every day, we proudly serve more than 850,000 free meals that our students depend on. This commitment from Governor Hochul helps us raise the bar by incorporating more fresh, locally sourced ingredients from New York farms into our schools and students’ plates. It also provides our dedicated food service professionals with valuable culinary training and strengthens their skills. By investing in our kitchens, our staff, and our local agricultural partners, we are building a stronger, healthier future for New York’s youth.”
State Senator Michelle Hinchey said, “New York farmers produce some of the finest food in the nation, and we must do everything we can to get that healthy food onto students’ plates while investing in the local businesses that grow these exceptional products. The Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program is critical to achieving that goal; this latest round of funding will strengthen our food system and expand the infrastructure schools need to source directly from producers. I commend the school districts that will benefit from these important grants and all those committed to connecting farm to fork.”
Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo said, “The Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program helps schools and community institutions expand their capacity to serve fresh, locally grown food, while also creating opportunities for New York farmers. By investing in the infrastructure needed to process, prepare, and distribute locally grown produce, this program strengthens local food systems and promotes student nutrition. With this latest round of funding, which reaches two additional regions, these investments are making a lasting impact in communities in nearly every corner of the state.”
Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson said, “Access to healthy, nutritious meals plays a crucial role in a child’s ability to succeed, both inside and outside the classroom. This investment in the KIPP NYC Culinary Institute will help expand students’ access to fresh, locally sourced food, while creating educational and career development opportunities that benefit the youth of our borough. By strengthening the connections between our schools, the local food system, and community partners, this initiative will contribute to building a healthier and more equitable future for the Bronx. Thank you, Governor Hochul, for your continued commitment to investing in our students and supporting innovative solutions that make a lasting impact.”
New York's successful "Farm to School" program connects schools with local farms and food producers to strengthen local agriculture, improve student health, and foster awareness of regional food systems. Through this program, the Department of Agriculture and Markets provides financial, technical, and promotional assistance to schools, farms, distributors, and other partner organizations to offer New York students more local, nutritious, and seasonally varied meals.
The "30 Percent New York State" initiative makes it even easier to supply healthy, New York-grown food products to children's school lunches. This initiative increases the reimbursement schools receive for lunches in districts that ensure their menus include at least 30 percent eligible products grown and processed in New York. The Department of Agriculture and Markets spearheaded this program as part of Governor Hochul's commitment, made in her 2022 State of the State address, to better connect farms and schools across New York.
Since then, the program has seen increased participation from school food authorities; a total of 82 school districts have been approved to receive the enhanced reimbursement this school year, up from 73 last year. In total, the schools that applied for the incentive spent more than $13.5 million on New York agricultural products during the 2024-2025 school year.
The Fiscal Year 2027 budget builds on the work of these programs to support farmers, strengthen New York's agricultural industry, and build a more resilient food supply system in the state.
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