Local Food for Schools and Child Care Cooperative Agreement Program (LFSCC) | USDA AMS 10185 CPLFS000 25 0001

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA AMS 10185 CPLFS000 25 0001

The Local Food for Schools and Child Care Cooperative Agreement Program (LFSCC) is a USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) cooperative agreement opportunity designed to help states buy local food and get it into school and child care meal programs. The core idea is straightforward: AMS provides funding to state governments so they can purchase local, domestic foods that are unprocessed or only minimally processed, and then distribute those foods to schools and child care institutions that participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Beyond increasing the amount of local food served to kids, the program is also meant to strengthen local and regional food economies by creating more reliable markets and income opportunities for local producers and the small businesses that help move food from farms and fisheries to kitchens.

A major emphasis of LFSCC is directing benefits toward historically underserved farmers, producers, and fishers, as well as small businesses such as processors, aggregators, and distributors. AMS explicitly encourages states to structure their purchasing plans so these groups have real access to contracts and sales, rather than being an afterthought. The program also encourages culturally relevant purchasing, meaning states can prioritize foods that reflect community preferences and needs, including kosher and halal items when appropriate. For states that intend to focus on historically underserved communities and businesses, AMS expects applicants to involve those intended beneficiaries while developing the Project Summary, with the larger goal that the relationships, sourcing pipelines, and distribution channels built through LFSCC will remain in place after the federal funding period ends.

Funding under LFSCC is tightly restricted to food procurement. In practice, that means the money is for buying qualifying foods, not for running the program. States cannot charge direct or indirect administrative costs to the award and cannot use these funds to cover staff time, program management, or other overhead tied to developing or administering the effort. The foods purchased must meet AMS definitions of both domestic and local, and they must be unprocessed or minimally processed, as defined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Applicants are expected to follow the NOFO guidance on what counts as allowable versus unallowable costs and activities, especially the section that spells out procurement-only limitations.

States apply by submitting a proposal that explains how the state, and/or participating schools and child care institutions, will use the funds to purchase commodities in ways that meet the program goals within that state. The funding is described as mandatory and is awarded through a non-competitive process, using a formula rather than a typical competitive scoring approach. Allocation is based on factors tied to participation in child nutrition programs: for schools, the formula uses enrollment and earnings associated with schools participating in NSLP and the School Breakfast Program (SBP), and for CACFP it uses participant meal counts. Even though the funds are formula-based, AMS still requires an acceptable Project Summary and expects the recipient to demonstrate that it can carry out the program in a way that aligns with LFSCC objectives.

Eligibility is limited to state governments, specifically state agencies, commissions, or departments that have relevant responsibilities such as agriculture, procurement, food distribution, emergency response, or administration of NSLP and/or CACFP (or similar functions). AMS will make only one award per state, so if multiple state agencies want to be involved, they must coordinate and present a unified approach rather than submitting competing applications. USDA AMS also plays an active role throughout the agreement by providing not only the procurement funding but also guidance, technical assistance, instruction, and monitoring across the life cycle of the cooperative agreement.

Key administrative details from the opportunity listing include the funding opportunity title (Local Food for Schools and Child Care Cooperative Agreement Program, LFSCC), funding opportunity number (USDA AMS 10185 CPLFS000 25 0001), funding instrument type (Cooperative Agreement), activity category (Agriculture, Food and Nutrition), and CFDA number (10.185). The original closing date listed is 2025-04-30, and eligible applicants are state governments, with AMS as the issuing agency within USDA.

• The Agricultural Marketing Service in the agriculture, food and nutrition sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Local Food for Schools and Child Care Cooperative Agreement Program (LFSCC)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.185.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-10.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-04-30. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments.

Apply for USDA AMS 10185 CPLFS000 25 0001

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