New York State Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program 2026 Round 4

The NYS Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program will encourage the use of fresh New York State farm products in meal preparation for K-12 school children, reduce food insecurity, increase market opportunities for New York State producers, and strengthen the resiliency of our state’s food system. Additionally, this program will encourage workforce development by providing training for culinary arts, food processing, safe food handling and storage, logistics, delivery, and other community needs. This grant program will require that facilities serve multiple school districts, support their local community, and provide workforce development opportunities. Grant funds are available for the costs of capital projects, including services, expenses, and grants for the cost of construction, renovation, alteration, rehabilitation, improvements, installation, acquisition, repair or replacement of buildings or equipment for the development of facilities to support the preparation and distribution of New York focused meals for regional school infrastructure, such as aggregation, storage hubs and/or commissary-type kitchens. The following regions will be eligible for this grant: Finger Lakes: Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming, Yates Southern Tier: Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins Mohawk Valley: Fulton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneida, Otsego, Schoharie Capital Region: Albany, Columbia, Greene, Saratoga, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Warren, Washington Eligible Projects: Only capital projects necessary for construction, renovation, alteration, rehabilitation, improvements, installation, acquisition, repair or replacement of buildings, equipment, or permanent facilities for the development of facilities to support the preparation and distribution of New York-focused meals for regional school infrastructure, such as aggregation, storage hubs and/or commissary-type kitchens. For purposes of this program, a project may be a portion of a larger overall capital project. Grantees can only apply for the full amount of $5,000,000 per proposal. Business enterprises awarded an identical or substantially similar procurement contract within the past five years: Awarded in previous rounds and excluded from being awarded in Round 4: Western New York: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara North Country: Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence Long Island: Nassau, Suffolk Central New York: Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego Mid-Hudson: Duchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, Westchester New York City: Bronx, Kings, New York, Richmond, Queens Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB) SDVOB Goal: 6.00% Minority / Women Business Enterprise contracting goals (MWBE) MBE Goal: 15.00% WBE Goal: 15.00%