Michigan schools can get up to $100,000 to cook more meals from scratch with Michigan-grown food, and the first deadline is Nov. 24

LANSING — Michigan school districts that want to cook more lunches from scratch, with food grown on Michigan farms, can now apply for state grants of up to $100,000.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development launched its Scratch Cooking Pilot on Thursday, part of the department’s Farm to Family Program. The money comes from the bipartisan 2027 state budget that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed in July.

Scratch cooking means making meals from fresh, raw or lightly processed ingredients instead of heating up ready-made food. The department says school kitchens that want to do more of it often run into the same walls: not enough equipment, not enough staff and not enough money.

What the money can buy

Districts pick one of six packages, according to MDARD’s grant guidelines:

Chopping, up to $25,000, for equipment to process fruits and vegetables faster. Blending, up to $25,000, for homemade sauces, soups, smoothies and batters. Batch cooking, up to $50,000, for a tilt skillet or steam-jacketed kettle. Cooking proteins, up to $50,000, for equipment to prepare meat and plant proteins from raw. Partnering, up to $75,000, to hire staff or outside help to make scratch cooking last past the grant. And innovating, up to $100,000, for other projects or a mix of the above.

Every district that wins a grant also gets training and technical help. MDARD says it will use the pilot to measure how scratch cooking affects menu nutrition, how many students eat school meals, labor costs and local food buying.

Rep. Ken Borton, R-Gaylord, who chairs the House budget subcommittee that covers agriculture, said the money “will help schools increase their kitchen capacity while providing the training needed to prepare more meals from scratch,” and will strengthen ties between Michigan farms and schools.

MDARD Director Tim Boring said the pilot also creates “new market opportunities for Michigan farmers and producers.”

Who can apply, and when

Only local school districts can apply, and only those that already buy and serve Michigan-grown or Michigan-made food. Priority goes to districts with the largest share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, to plans that can expand local buying and to plans backed by principals, superintendents and food service directors. The department warns the pilot will take a good deal of staff time for data collection and reporting.

The process has two steps. Districts first send a letter of intent through an online survey, due by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24, according to the department’s announcement; one section of the grant page lists Nov. 18, so districts may want to file early. MDARD will hold an online information session Nov. 10 at 1 p.m.

The department will invite qualified districts in early December to send full applications, which are due Jan. 22, 2027, at 5 p.m. Winners will be announced in March 2027.

Sources:
Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, “MDARD Launches Scratch Cooking Pilot to Put More Michigan-Grown Foods on School Menus,” Oct. 29, 2026 (launch, FY2027 budget, barriers, Nov. 24 deadline, webinar, timeline, Boring and Borton quotes), https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/about/media/pressreleases/2026/10/29/mdard-launches-scratch-cooking-pilot-to-put-more-michigan-grown-foods-on-school-menus
MDARD, Scratch Cooking in Schools Pilot grant page (six packages and amounts, eligibility, priorities, important dates), https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/business-development/grantfund/scratch-cooking-in-schools-pilot
Photo: USDA Team Nutrition, “School Lunch (Team Nutrition) (20210805-FNS-PH-0004).jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, public domain, cropped, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:School_Lunch_(Team_Nutrition)_(20210805-FNS-PH-0004).jpg

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Tags: Michigan · School Lunch · MDARD · Michigan Agriculture · Grants · Schools