School Meals
Rooted in Partnerships
Project SCALES supports people working to improve the school meal system.
We awarded our first round of grants in May 2024, supporting twelve rural school districts and charter schools across the United States. More information about those projects is available on this page.
A second round of grants is in progress and announcements will be made soon about the nine projects that will be supported in Cohort 2.
Fresh, Local, Meaningful
With funding from the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Project SCALES is led by Boise State University, in partnership with LunchAssist. Over the next five years, we will be issuing more than $10 million in funding. We fund projects that aim to build capacity and increase the resilience of food systems by supporting partnerships between school food authorities and growers, producers, distributors, and processors, as well as other industry partners.
Funding
The first round of grantees received up to $150,000 in funding to advance partnerships to bring more locally sourced foods into schools. The second round of grants will support large team-based projects.
Resources
Our school nutrition specialists at LunchAssist provide technical assistance including one-on-one calls, group meetings, skill-building tools, and other professional development activities.
Community
Through the Project SCALES learning community, grantees are strengthening existing partnerships and nurturing new ones. We share successes and lessons learned both within our network and across the country.