Use this information to help you obtain letters of support when applying for a Farm to School and Early Care Grant funded by the Agricultural Growth, Research, and Innovation (AGRI) Program.
Full Tray Grant applications
Required:
- You must include at least one letter of support from a producer who will benefit if you receive this grant award.
- If you are planning to buy Minnesota-grown or raised foods via a distributor, you must include a letter of support from the distributor to name farms that will be helped if you receive the grant.
- If you are a Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) applying on behalf of an eligible early childhood education (ECE) center, you must include a letter from the ECE center.
Optional:
- You may include additional letters from other local producers you plan to source from during your project.
- You may include up to two letters of support from non-producer/distributor community partners to support your application. These partners should speak to how the increased local sourcing will contribute to the Cafeteria-Classroom-Community connections in your Farm to School Program.
First Bite Grant applications
Required:
- If you are a CACFP applying on behalf of an eligible ECE center, you must include a letter from the ECE center.
Other than that, you don’t need letters of support from producers, distributors, or community partners.
Letters of support
There’s no set criterion, but the letter should talk about:
- The partnership between the letter writer and the applicant.
- How the partnership benefits farm to school and early care efforts.
Letters of support can be typed on letterhead, hand-written, or sent through email to you to include with your application.
Optional template
Dear Grant Reviewers,
I am writing to express my support for [School District or ECE Center]’s AGRI Farm to School and Early Care Grant application.
- Introduce yourself. Include:
- Your name and title or role.
- The name of your farm or organization, location, and what you grow/produce/do.
- Briefly describe why you are supportive of the applicant’s grant proposal.
- How will you (and farms you work with) benefit if the applicant receives a grant?
- How will you work with the applicant if they receive a grant? Have you worked with them before, or is this a new relationship?
- Producers: What Minnesota-grown food item(s) can you sell to them?
- Distributors: What Minnesota-grown food item(s) can you sell to them, and what are the names and locations of the local farms that you buy from?
- Community Partners: What support will you offer the school?
- Share any other information about you or the applicant’s proposal that is notable.
Thank you for considering [School District or ECE Center]’s application.
Name
Farm or organization
Phone number or email address
