School Meals
Rooted in Partnerships
Project SCALES supports people working to improve the school meal system.
Our first cohort or projects was funded from July 2024 to June 2026, supporting twelve rural school districts and charter schools. For more information please see the Cohort 1 page.
Our second (and final) cohort funds nine large team-based projects from July 2025 until June 2028. The projects focus on a variety of goals including value chain coordination, local procurement, new product development, and building infrastructure for resilient school food systems. For more information please see the Cohort 2 page.
Fresh, Local, Meaningful
With funding from the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Administration, Project SCALES is led by Boise State University, in partnership withLunchAssist. Between 2024 and 2028, we will issue more than $10 million in funding for 21 projects located across the nation. These projects 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 cohort of grantees received up to $150,000 in funding to advance partnerships to bring more locally sourced foods into schools. The second cohort of grants support large team-based projects with up to $1 million each in funding.
Resources
Our technical assistance manager at LunchAssist provides expert technical assistance to grantees, 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.