DES MOINES, Iowa ( IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH ) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it had improved and expanded its Farm to School Grant program and would invest up to $18 million to connect locally grown food to child nutrition programs.

The Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grants program was initiated in 2013, but according to a news release, the fiscal year 2026 investment represents the “largest total amount” the department has offered in a given year.

The Farm to School Grant announcement was made alongside U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s latest Make America Healthy Again report , which called for more whole, unprocessed foods in children’s diets.

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said the grants are “one of the best ways we can deliver nutritiou

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