nourish to flourish school grant program

With a vision to support children and youth to eat nourishing food and to develop a deep understanding and appreciation for food, Sustain Ontario is working in close collaboration with Farm Boy and Farm to Cafeteria Canada to offer the nourish to flourish school grant program.

* Vous trouveriez les Directives à l’intention des candidats, la Gabarit de candidature et le formulaire en ligne en français ci-dessous. *

About the grants:

nourish to flourish will award one-time grants of between $500 and $3,000 to an estimated 30 schools across Ontario to support in-school meal programs and food literacy initiatives. The aim is to award 10 grants of $500, 5 grants of $1,000 and 15 grants of $3,000. Project activities must be implemented between January and June 2025.

** Farm to Cafeteria Canada, in partnership with the Schad Foundation, is also offering between 5-7 Dig in to Farm to School! seed grants for Ontario schools in the same grant range with the same guidelines. All schools who apply for the nourish to flourish grants will have the opportunity to be considered for one of the Dig In grants through the same application process. Schools are only eligible to receive one of the grants (not both).

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Guidelines for Applicants  |  Application template 

Apply Now through our grant portal

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Nous avons le plaisir d’offrir aux écoles la possibilité de soumettre leur candidature en français:

Directives à l’intention des candidats  |  Gabarit de candidature

Complétez le formulaire en ligne

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Eligibility:

Applications are open to all schools (kindergarten to grade 12) across Ontario. This includes schools in rural, remote and urban settings.

Schools in Indigenous communities/nations and schools that serve a high-proportion of low-income, racialized or other equity-deserving communities are strongly encouraged to apply.

The selection process is to fund schools across the province, but will look to select a greater proportion in urban regions as well as to schools that serve a high proportion of low-income, racialized or other equity-deserving communities.

Key dates:

Sept 9, 2024 Grant application window OPENS 

Oct 21, 2024 Grant application window CLOSES (11:59 pm EST) 

Early January 2025 Grant recipients notified

Jan – June 2025 School projects are implemented

End of June 2025 Deadline for participating schools to submit their grant experience survey & story

How to apply:

1. Review the Grant Guidelines – English  |  français.
2. Register for our upcoming webinar on September 25 at 3:30 pm (optional, in English but questions can be asked in either English or French)
   
3. Plan your project and use this template – English  |  français – to prepare your application responses (optional, but recommended)
4. Complete the Online Form – English  |  français – and submit your application

Use of funds:

The nourish to flourish School Grants are offered in three amounts:

• 10 grants of $500 each
• 5 grants of $1,000 each
• 15 grants of $3,000 each

Schools are welcome to apply for one or all of these amounts.

For the $1,000 and $3,000 grants a portion of allotted funds must be used to support in-school meal programs, including purchasing equipment and/or food. The food purchased with funds should be as fresh, healthy, culturally appropriate and as locally and sustainably sourced as possible.

The remaining funds can support educational programs, equipment and activities such as farm field trips, setting up a school garden, hosting in-school guest speakers and workshops on gardening, harvesting, cooking or other food literacy topics, or working with a permaculture designer or Knowledge Keeper to create a plan for and implement a food forest.

How will applications be selected?

• Applications will be screened for eligibility based on the following criteria:
  • The applicant meets the eligibility criteria
  • The requested funds are in the amount of $500, $1,000 or $3,000 (note that applicants can apply for any of these amounts. If you are offered a smaller grant than you requested we will ask you to modify and resubmit your budget before receiving the funding)
  • The application form has been completed in full, and submitted online by October 21, 2024 (11:59 pm EST)
  • The proposed activities support the vision of seeing more fresh, healthy and culturally appropriate food in schools as well as students more involved in hands-on food literacy education, and the activities reflect the local context, vision and needs: Applicants should consider and speak to the unique geographic, social and cultural contexts of their school community and how these will be honoured, respected and reflected in their proposed activities.
  • It is clear how the proposed activities will have an impact on the school community and contribute to positive change in the school food environment.  
• Grants will be selected by a selection committee, with a greater proportion of grants given to schools in urban regions and to schools that serve a high proportion of low-income, racialized or other equity-deserving communities.