News Item
Join the Challenge: Grant Opportunities Now Open
The USDA Midwest Region announced today two new grant opportunities available through the School Food System Transformation Challenge Sub-Grants, which is part of USDA’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative.
02/01/2024
Blog
Connecting Local Producers to Montana Schools
Bringing together local producers and schools was the objective of the “Bringing the Farm to School” producer training in Hardin, Montana. The training sought to build relationships between schools and producers to increase the availability of local foods served to children.
05/31/2023
Blog
Connecting Kids To Meals: A Valued Resource For Kids In Northwest Ohio
Connecting Kids to Meals, known as CKM, is a nonprofit agency in Toledo, Ohio, that provides healthy meals at no cost to at-risk kids in low-income and underserved areas of Northwest Ohio. With a nearly 20-year history of feeding hungry kids, the critical work of CKM becomes more important every day.
05/22/2023
Blog
Integrating Nutrition into Healthcare in the Midwest
Can you imagine a day when healthcare is mostly proactive as opposed to reactive? Imagine if everyone has access to the vital conditions for health and wellbeing: the factors that people depend on to reach their full potential. What does that future look like?
04/28/2023
Blog
Three Days in Michigan
Over the course of three days in MI, Stacy Dean, Deputy Under Secretary for FNS, spoke at "The State of Our Plate" convening, met with school food service professionals, and attended a summit for healthcare professionals, insurers, federal, state, and local government officials.
04/11/2023
Blog
Secretary Tom Vilsack Visits Greeley Evans School District
Greeley-Evans School District 6 in northern Colorado was honored and excited to welcome Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to Maplewood Elementary School on March 22. The Secretary and visitors were able to see just one school of more than 30 in District 6 that provide essential health and nutrition programs to more than 22,000 students every day.
04/04/2023
Blog
USDA’s TEFAP Reach and Resiliency Grant Expands Distribution in Rural Nebraska
TEFAP Reach and Resiliency – Round 1 grants are making an impact in communities across the nation. The Food Bank of Lincoln has leveraged Reach and Resiliency sub-grant funding to identify underserved areas and to implement strategies to increase TEFAP access in those areas. In some cases, the strategies were as simple as increasing the frequency of deliveries to specific communities to ensure that existing TEFAP resources were being equitably distributed.
02/08/2023
Blog
Top Box Foods: A Simple and Stress-Free Way to Get Delicious, Nutritious Food in Chicago - Within any Budget
Top Box Foods is a community-driven non-profit, founded in Chicago in 2012, that creates access to healthy and affordable food for the communities they serve. Customers place orders online or via phone for nutritious food which is offered at prices up to 40% lower than grocery stores. Top Box Foods accepts SNAP benefits as payment for orders, making it an essential resource for households looking to make the most of their SNAP dollars.
12/07/2022
Blog
Tribal Food Sovereignty a Focus of NAFDPIR Conference
Since 1977, tribes and intertribal organizations have been eligible to receive food packages from the USDA. Historically, products in the food packages were not traditional to tribes participating in the program. However, in recent years and in consultation with tribes, more traditional products have been incorporated into food packages.
11/14/2022
Blog
Omaha Tribe of Nebraska WIC Garden Partners with Community for Nutrition Education
The Omaha Nation WIC program recognizes the importance of incorporating Indigenous foods and traditional cooking practices into the WIC experience to form a holistic approach to nutrition education. Recently, they have taken extra steps to spotlight foods indigenous to their community, as well as dishes and cooking methods traditionally used by the Umóⁿhoⁿ people.
11/09/2022
Blog
Food Waste Reduction through Farm to School Programs
October is Farm to School Month! The USDA Farm to School Program helps schools incorporate local foods into meal programs and supports local food and agriculture education through grants, research, and technical assistance. Less plate waste may be a benefit for schools implementing farm to school.
10/27/2022
Page updated: February 09, 2021