December 12, 2024
CT DoAg Announces $750,000 Investment in CT Grown for CT Kids Grant Program
15 Projects Funded to Benefit More Than 18,000 Students
(HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Department of Agriculture (CT DoAg) announces the selection of 15 projects valued at more than $750,000 to receive funding through the Connecticut Grown for Connecticut Kids Grant (CTG4CTK Grant) in fiscal year 2025. This highly competitive grant program received nearly 80 applications for the full grant award categories with funding requests exceeding $2 million. These awards are in addition to the nearly $80,000 awarded for 19 Microgrant projects earlier this fall.
“These awards are more than just a financial commitment – they are an investment in the future of our children, our health, our food systems, and the agriculture industry here in Connecticut,” said Agriculture Commissioner Bryan P. Hurlburt. “Awarded projects have ensured children have access to healthy, local CT Grown foods while gaining hands-on experience in helping grow food for their classmates and community. As we look to the future, these investments lay the groundwork for a healthier generation, a more resilient food supply, and a thriving agricultural community in Connecticut – all of which will benefit from sustained funding and continued support.”
The CTG4CTK grant focuses on increasing the availability of local foods in child nutrition programs, allowing educators to use hands-on educational techniques to teach students about nutrition and farm-to-school connections, sustaining relationships with local farmers and producers, enriching the educational experience of students, improving the health of children in the state, and enhancing the state's economy.
Initially started in 2021 as a two-year pilot program funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), CTG4CTK received legislative approval in 2023 for up to $1 million annually in fiscal years 2024 and 2025. For this round of funding, eligible applicants were able to request up to $75,000 in funding with no match required. To date, CTG4CTK has awarded more than $3.87 million to fund 133 projects throughout the state.
The fiscal year 2025 Connecticut Grown for Connecticut Kids full grant awardees are:
Track 1: Farm to School (K-12) Local Procurement Assistance Grant
- Middletown Board of Education, Middletown: Increasing Scratch Cooking and Gardening Capacity Utilizing Locally Sourced Foods and Training
Track 2: Farm to School (K-12) Experiential Learning Grant
- Coventry and Andover School Nutrition Services, Coventry: Coventry and Andover Farm to School 3Cs Integration
- Danbury Public Schools, Danbury: Danbury’s 3 C’s – Classroom, Cafeteria, and Community
- East Hartford Public Schools, East Hartford: The East Hartford Farm to School Project
- Lyme Consolidated School, Lyme: Waste Warriors – The Lyme School Green Team
- Rocky Hill High School, Rocky Hill: Education, Endurance, and Efficiency for the RHHS Botany Program and Hydroponic Greenhouse
- Yellow Farmhouse Education Center, Stonington: Farm to Culinary Classroom (F2CC) Fellowship
- Mansfield Public Schools Food Service Department, Storrs: Field to Tray: Growing Local Food Fans and School Food Chefs
Track 4: Farm to Early Childcare and Education (ECE) Grant
- Bristol Child Development Center, Bristol: Little Chef
- United Way of Coastal and Western Connecticut, Danbury: Seedlings to Sprouts
- Enfield Child Development Center, Enfield: Harvesting Health: A Farm-to-Table Initiative for School-Aged Children and Local Seniors
- Odyssey Early Larning Center, Norwalk: Roots of Learning: Connecting Children to Healthy Eating through Farming, Learning, and Sustainability
- Plainfield BOE at Shepard Hill Elementary School, Plainfield: Where does our food come from
- The Jewish Community Center, Inc. (Stamford JCC), Stamford: Stamford JCC Farm to School Program
- LR Legacy Trading LLC dba Lindsey’s House, Stratford: Little Growers: Growing with Nature
To learn more about the CTG4CTK Grant, including success stories from previous recipients, please visit: https://portal.ct.gov/DOAG/ADaRC/ADaRC/Grants/CT-Grown-for-CT-Kids-Grant/Success-Stories.
The Connecticut Department of Agriculture (CT DoAg) mission is to foster a healthy economic, environmental, and social climate for agriculture by developing, promoting, and regulating agricultural businesses; protecting agricultural and aquacultural resources; enforcing laws pertaining to domestic animals; and promoting an understanding among the state's citizens of the diversity of Connecticut agriculture, its cultural heritage, and its contribution to the state's economy. For more information, visit www.CTGrown.gov.
FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Rebecca Eddy, Rebecca.Eddy@ct.gov
860-573-0323
