Lake Michigan School Food Systems Innovation Hub

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The Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub is a new, USDA-funded grant-making initiative to reimagine school meals. We offer funding, training and other assistance for people working to improve school meals in Michigan and across our region — especially in areas that don’t have equitable access to resources.

Grants are available from $10,000 to $100,000 per year. Applications open in early 2025! 

Learn More

About the Hub

The Center for Regional Food Systems is the Michigan state lead for the Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub. The Innovation Hub supports people working to improve meals in schools across Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana — especially in areas that don’t have equitable access to resources. The USDA-funded grant-making initiative offers funding, training and other assistance to partnerships that include farmers, food producers, suppliers, distributors, schools and organizations.

En Español

Updates

2024 Grantees

The Illinois Public Health Institute and the Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub has announced their first round of 16 recipients for the Spark and Innovation Collaborative Awards.

Spark Awards

  • Greater Wabash Food Council, Illinois
    Planting Farm2School in Southeastern Illinois
  • Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Michigan
    Workshops to Expand Local Purchasing in Schools
  • Northeast Wisconsin (NEW) Hmong Professionals, Wisconsin
    Introducing Hmong Cultural Food to the School System
  • Rooted School Indy, Indiana
    Rooted School Indy Food System Hub Strategic Planning
  • Rooted WI, Inc., Wisconsin
    Growing for Schools
  • The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, Wisconsin
    Growing Capacity and Connections for Hmong Focused Farm to School
  • The Common Market Great Lakes, Illinois
    Lowering Adoption Barrier to Regionally Sourced Foods in Chicagoland Schools

Innovation Collaborative Award

  • Artisan Grant Collaborative, Illinois
    Grains to Trays II
  • Beyond Green, Illinois
    Buy Local, Cook Fresh Illinois
  • FoodRight Inc., Wisconsin
    Good School Food
  • Hundred Acre LLC, Wisconsin
    Bringing Fresh Salad Greens to Schools in Wisconsin
  • Madison Consolidated Schools, Indiana
    Growing Minds
  • Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Wisconsin
    Rising Suns
  • Partridge Creek Farm, Michigan
    Food Futures
  • REAP Food Group, Wisconsin
    School Nutrition Culinary Innovators of Tomorrow
  • Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative, Wisconsin
    Building a Farm to School Logistics and Pricing Model for the Great Lakes Region

The Illinois Public Health Institute and the Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub will work with the Spark and Innovation Collaborative Awards recipients throughout the grant period to support school food system and marketplace improvements and promote systems-level change. Grant awards are up to $75,000 each for Spark Awards recipients and up to $250,000 each for Innovation Collaborative Awards recipients. To learn more about the Illinois Public Health Institute grantees, view this spreadsheet and to stay up to date regarding the second round of funding opportunities visit https://innovateschoolfood.org/.

The Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub is funded through the U. S. Department of Agriculture and convened by the Illinois Public Health Institute. 

Center for Regional Food Systems

Farm to Institution/School

Food System Infrastructure, Planning and Policy

Michigan Good Food

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