BFI News
New Report Urges Ongoing Funding and Systemic Reforms to Strengthen and Sustain California’s Nation-Leading Farm to School Program
BERKELEY, CA – October 6, 2025 – A new report calls on state policymakers to secure the future of the state’s landmark Farm to School Incubator Grant Program (F2S Grant Program) by enacting key policy changes to ensure its long-term success and impact. The report is authored by researchers at UC Berkeley, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Berkeley Food Institute and Food Insight Group.
Based on the research team’s comprehensive program evaluation findings from 2024 and 2025, the policy recommendations report offers a strategic roadmap to remove systemic barriers to locally and sustainably sourced food for school meals and build on the program’s proven successes.
“By establishing the Farm to School Incubator Grant Program in statute, streamlining program implementation, and continuing to invest in regional staff and related infrastructure, the state of California can continue to transform school meals, ” said Jeanne Merrill, Executive Director for the Berkeley Food Institute. “That’s good for our kids, our schools and the farmers who are getting the food to our kids’ plates.”
Since its launch in 2020, California has invested approximately $100 million in the F2S Grant Program, the largest such investment in the country. The program has been successful in creating a foundation for locally sourced, climate smart school meals and providing market opportunities for California’s small, midscale and underserved farmers and ranchers. However, demand for the program consistently outpaces available funds; in 2023, funding requests were nearly 2.5 times the $52.8 million available.
“To continue to scale up farm to school, let’s address documented systemic barriers,” said Debbie Friedman, Director of Policy + Strategy with the Food Insight Group. “We can give farmers the certainty they need to make crucial on-farm investments through a purchasing incentive, address high vacancies and turnover in the school food workforce through higher wages, and unlock federal dollars to strengthen the resilience of our local food system and economy.”
In addition to a recommendation for the state legislature and Governor to explore ongoing funding for the program as an immediate next step, the report identifies several additional recommendations, including:
- Create a Values-Aligned Purchasing Incentive: The report calls for the legislature to establish an ongoing incentive for school districts to purchase from farmers prioritized by the program, which includes farmers using agricultural practices that benefit the environment, such as certified organic, and small to midsize California farmers.
- Invest in Program Staff: The report recommends continued investment in staff capacity at the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Office of Farm to Fork, highlighting the critical support role played by regional staff who help build connections between farms and schools.
- Support the School Food Workforce: To address high turnover and labor shortages in school nutrition departments, the report recommends increasing wages for school nutrition workers and continuing investment in professional development focused on scratch cooking and local sourcing
Addressing Systemic Challenges
Beyond immediate funding priorities, the recommendations address deeper systemic barriers to expand the program’s impact. The evaluation found that a lack of transparency in the food supply chain is a key barrier, making it difficult for schools to verify the source of their food and for the state to measure the program’s full impact. The report recommends a study to evaluate policy solutions to improve supply chain transparency.
Additional recommendations are offered to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to streamline program administration, including shortening reimbursement timelines, which can be a significant challenge for small farms and school districts with tight cash flows. The report also includes federal-level recommendations, such as seeking authority for schools to receive cash payments in lieu of USDA commodities to increase local purchasing flexibility.
The program and the report’s recommendations align with the comprehensive farm to school plan, spearheaded by First Partner, Jennifer Siebel Newsom and Secretary of Agriculture, Karen Ross.
The full list of recommendations is designed to build a scalable and sustainable farm to school system that benefits students, farmers, and the environment across California.
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About the California Farm to School Evaluation Team: The report’s recommendations were developed by the California Farm to School Evaluation Team, a collaboration of UC Berkeley, the Berkeley Food Institute, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR), and the Food Insight Group. The recommendations are based on evaluation findings, analysis of best practices, and consultation with experts in the field.