Grant Opportunity: TN Taste of CA Recipe Challenge

The California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division (NSD) announces the Team Nutrition (TN) Taste of California Standardized Recipe Challenge (Taste of CA Challenge) grant. School food service professionals, nutrition professionals, and educators from family and consumer sciences and culinary programs are encourage to apply. The funding cycle for the subgrants will begin no later than April 1, 2021, through August 31, 2022.

All eligible school food authorities (SFA) interested in the Taste of CA Challenge grant must respond to this Request for Applications (RFA).

The Taste of CA Challenge grant will provide $8,500 to $24,000 to SFAs to develop standardized recipes featuring CA locally grown products for school meal service. The award will also support participation in regional training and professional learning, as well as implementation of nutrition education, food literacy, and community engagement activities.

The goals of the Taste of CA Challenge grant are to:

Develop and submit 24 standardized recipes to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA);
Support School Nutrition Programs across the state in developing standardized recipes; and Engage students in taste testing and nutrition education that increases students’ participation in school meal service and consumption of healthy foods.
Applicants are asked to provide a proposed standardized recipe featuring a locally grown product as the key ingredient, and a project implementation plan with an emphasis on connecting the recipe with nutrition and food literacy education and community engagement.

In the event that student instruction and food service adaptations, as well as related USDA Child Nutrition Program waivers for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) are still in effect for School Year 2021–22, the CDE NSD will adjust the Taste of CA Challenge grant implementation accordingly. This will include virtual meetings for all grant required trainings, professional learning calls, and technical assistance, as well as distance learning for nutrition education activities, remote taste testing, and collecting feedback online or in a socially distanced manner.

Grant Application Package and Deadline

The Taste of CA Challenge grant application package and instructions are available on the CDE TN Taste of CA Challenge Grant RFA web page.

The online application closes on Thursday, February 11, 2021, at 5 p.m. Late applications will not be accepted.

Informational Webinar

The NSD is providing an informational webinar, How to Apply for the TN Taste of CA Challenge Grant Webinar, on Tuesday, January 12, 2021, 3:30 p.m.–4:30 p.m. Applicants will learn how to complete the grant application. Preregistration is required.