Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub Opens GrantApplications to Revolutionize Our Region’s School Food System: Application opens on February 14; interested grant applicants can now register for launch event
CHICAGO, IL, Jan. 21, 2025 — Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub announced today that it will open the second round of a funding opportunity for collaborations of local food system leaders that want to ensure their school meals better reflect the Lake Michigan region’s harvests and cultural diversity. These grants are funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative to improve the nutritional quality of school meals through food systems transformation. Grant applications open Feb. 14, 2025, for prospective grantees in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
“The Innovation Hub is thrilled to open our second round of grants for up to $100,000 each to build pathways for local and nutritious food to reach more schools—especially in areas that don’t have equitable access to resources,” said Kathryn Bernstein, Program Director of the Innovation Hub with the Illinois Public Health Institute (IPHI).
In 2024, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, IPHI convened state leads in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin; and other national and regional partners to create the Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub. The Innovation Hub seeks applicants who have ideas to strengthen the local school food system and want to join collaborative teams to bring those ideas to life.
This year, grants from $30,000 to $100,000 are available to teams that may include farmers, food producers, suppliers, distributors, school food service directors, food industry partners, community-based program leaders, and more. The Innovation Hub will invest in community- driven ideas of all sizes and scopes—from hyper-local projects to multi-state collaborations—so long as projects direct more resources to students, schools, and local economies. The Innovation Hub will prioritize investments in communities that have experienced racism and discrimination and/or communities that have been underserved. This includes Black or African American, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Hispanic or Latine, Asian or Pacific Islander, or other people of color; people who live in rural areas; and people with limited incomes. More information about eligible applicants can be found at InnovateSchoolFood.org.
“IPHI is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with partners in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin to fund innovative school meal projects across the region,” said Crystal Tyler, CEO of IPHI. “Communities are the best designers of innovative projects that will help students get the nourishing meals they need to thrive. We can’t wait to see—and support—innovations that will transform the school food system and address historical inequities in ways that better serve Midwest communities.”
For more information, prospective grantees in eligible states of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin can register for a launch webinar at this link (in English) or this link (in Spanish). The webinar will be held on Feb. 27, 2025, at 10 a.m. CST/11 a.m. EST in Spanish and at 11 a.m. CST/12 p.m. EST in English.
###
Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub nurtures community-driven collaborations that reimagine students’ meals. By working together, we’re building pathways for local, nutritious and culturally relevant food to reach more schools across Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana—especially in areas that don’t have equitable access to resources. We offer funding, training and other help to collectives of schools, school districts, organizations, farmers, producers, suppliers, distributors, and other food industry partners who are transforming our school food system to better serve our communities. We are funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative and convened by the Illinois Public Health Institute. Organizations leading the initiative include Seven Generations Ahead (Illinois), Michigan State University’s Center for Regional Food Systems (Michigan), NWI Food Council (Indiana), Kids Forward (Wisconsin), healthTIDE (Wisconsin), and Action for Healthy Kids. InnovateSchoolFood.org