The Arkansas Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (ARLFS), funded through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS), will establish cooperative agreements between Arkansas schools, local and socially disadvantaged farmers/producers, and small businesses to provide local food to schools. Arkansas schools are defined by 7 CFR § 210.2 and currently served by the Commodities Distribution Unit’s National School Lunch Program. The purpose of this program is to strengthen Arkansas’s local food system while supporting local and socially disadvantaged farmers/producers and small businesses through building and expanding economic opportunities within their communities. The ARLFS will broaden partnerships between Arkansas schools and local and socially disadvantaged farmers/producers and small businesses to ensure food distribution to schools in Arkansas’s 75 counties extends beyond the life of the grant. It is the expectation that ARLFS schools will purchase domestic food from local and socially disadvantaged farmers/producers and small businesses.
Applications for participation will be available for local and socially disadvantaged farmers/producers and small businesses. Eligible applicants must demonstrate they have the capability to provide unprocessed or minimally processed foods to schools in Arkansas’s 75 counties.
The ARLFS is an 18-month program from USDA. Application for ARLFS does not guarantee an award.