Description
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is announcing the availability of $20 million in grants to support the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Equipment Assistance Grants. The purpose of the grant is to help ensure that schools have the equipment they need to serve healthier meals, improve food safety, and support the establishment, maintenance, or expansion of the School Breakfast Program (SBP). The grants will be awarded on a competitive basis to State agencies, which will then administer subgrants to eligible local education agencies (LEAs), school food authorities (SFAs), and schools. The selection criteria for the subgrants may include opportunities to improve the nutrition and quality of meals, age or lack of appropriate food service equipment, ability of food service equipment to increase efficiency, availability of existing State and local funding, and strategies for adopting cafeteria changes.
• The grant is authorized under the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, and the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026.
• The grant is open to 54 States that administer the NSLP and have agreements with FNS.
• The award floor is $25,000, and the award ceiling is $2,362,417.
• The application deadline is May 28, 2026.