USDA announces $70 million in school infrastructure grants and expanded farm-to-school funding

USDA officials at the event described a new "harvest to hallways" initiative intended to boost local procurement and increase schools' ability to serve fresh food. Secretary Rollins said the program pairs $70 million in school infrastructure grants with up to $45 million in additional farm-to-school grants to equip schools to serve more local, nutrient-dense foods.

Rollins also said USDA distributed "eat real food" posters to nearly 100,000 schools and is updating SNAP stocking standards so that retailers seeking to participate in SNAP must more than double the number of dairy items they carry. He framed these investments as complementary: improving kitchen capacity, expanding local sourcing, and aligning federal nutrition policy to support healthier meals.