FY 2025 MA FRESH CORP Questions and Answers

1. Are food security non-profits eligible to apply for the FY25 MA FRESH CORP Grant?

   No. Eligible MA FRESH CORP applicants include licensed early childhood programs that offer meals through the Child and Adult Care Feeding Program (CACFP), Sponsoring Organizations of Family Day Care providers that provide meals through CACFP and schools or school districts serving students through 12^th grade that offer meals through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Food security non-profits may serve as external collaborators and contractors to eligible MA FRESH CORP applicants.

2. We have a Farm to School Coordinator. Can we leverage this funding to pay for their salary?

   Grant awards may not be used to fund existing staff positions. Funds can only be used to fund new staff time or salaries as a result of new or expanded initiatives.

3. My organization is not a school but, in the summer, we partner with the state to offer free summer meals to children. Is our organization eligible to apply for FY25 MA FRESH CORP?

   Unfortunately, Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sponsors who are not also a National School Lunch Program (NSLP) sponsor or Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) sponsor are not eligible to apply for the MA FRESH CORP grant.

4. I would love to apply for my school district — do I need to create a GEM login?

   To date, most schools and school districts in Massachusetts already have a primary GEM$ log in. Check with your school or district's administrative/grants office to confirm that the district has GEM$ access as well as a "LEA User Access Administrator." To gain direct access to the FY25 MA FRESH application in GEM$, request that your district's LEA User Access Administrator creates user access for you and assigns you to the GEM$ role of "LEA Grantwriter."

   For more guidance on GEM$ access and user roles, please visit GEM$ and navigate to "DESE Resources" on the left side navigation bar > GEM$ LEA User Roles – Guidance and Forms.

5. My business office has set me up with a log in for GEM$, but I am still having trouble accessing the grant application. How do I navigate GEM$ for access?

   If your district's GEM$ User Access Administrator (UAA) has created a GEM$ log in for you and assigned you as an "LEA Grantwriter" for FC 0723 (fiscal year 2025), you will take the following steps to access the application:

   1. On the GEM$ Funding Application Main Page on the left column navigation bar, you will select Search > Funding Applications.

   2. In the search function on this page, be sure to select "2025" as the fiscal year, "FC 0723" as the Funding Application and Application Status as "All"

6. I was wondering if there is a copy of the 2025 MA FRESH CORP grant application that you can share. It is helpful for our team to be able to review the questions/fields outside of the GEM$ application site, to better prepare our responses.

   A FY25 FC 0723 MA FRESH CORP Planning Template, outlining the questions asked in the GEM$ "Required Grant Questions" section, can be found on the GEM$ Home Page > DESE Resources > Miscellaneous Resources – SFS. While the FY25 FC 0723 MA FRESH CORP Planning Template may be used as a planning and organizing tool, responses to the questions in the "Required Grant Questions" section of the application must be submitted through GEM$ in order to be reviewed.

7. When is the grant implementation period for FY25 MA FRESH CORP?

   FY25 MA FRESH CORP project proposals should begin no earlier than March 2025. Pending appropriation, FY25 MA FRESH CORP competitive awardees will be eligible to apply for continuation funding in FY26, for a total grant length of 16 months (all project activities will need to be completed by June 30, 2026).

8. Can MA FRESH CORP funds be used to hire a contractor that will lead classroom and afterschool farm to school activities directly with students?

   The purpose of the FY25 MA FRESH CORP is to build internal staff capacity to create lasting, sustainable farm to school programming in classrooms, cafeterias, and communities in early education and Pre-K–12 settings. A strong application will make clear how the hiring of a contractor that will conduct programming directly with students is building long-term, internal staff capacity and how this programming will be sustained after the grant implementation period has ended.

9. Can MA FRESH CORP funds be used to fund garden coordinator stipends?

   If the garden coordinators' time represent a new role, yes. Strong applications will make clear how stipended positions build capacity to coordinate and execute local food system education and local procurement in Child Nutrition Programs.

10. What is the grant implementation period of the grant for FY25 and FY26?

    The grant implementation period for FY25 is anticipated as March 1, 2025 – June 30, 2025. The grant implementation period for FY26 is anticipated as July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026. These grant implementation periods may be subject to change based on the award and approval process.

11. Will awardees in FY25 need to reapply to receive funding in FY26?

    FY25 MA FRESH CORP awardees will have the opportunity to apply non-competitively for funding in FY26, pending appropriation. All MA FRESH CORP applicants must accurately anticipate and submit their budget proposal for FY25 and FY26 as part of this application process due January 17, 2025. Awardees will not have the opportunity to roll over unspent funds from FY25 into FY26.

12. Do you have guidelines around stipends for teachers?

    The compensation and structure of stipends within MA FRESH CORP proposals is at the discretion of the applicant. For further technical assistance, please consider scheduling a mini-coaching session with contracted partner, Mass Farm to School.

13. If an applicant has applied for FY25 MA FRESH funding, are they able to re-apply for their project proposal through FY25 MA FRESH CORP in case they aren't awarded MA FRESH funding?

    FC 0723 FY25 MA FRESH CORP is a new funding opportunity with different funding priorities and funding use than FC 0710 FY25 MA FRESH. If an entity is eligible, they can apply for both MA FRESH and MA FRESH CORP. In the event that an applicant is awarded both FY25 MA FRESH and FY25 MA FRESH CORP funding, final project proposals must be distinct, with only one funding source covering the cost of a supply, position, contract etc. If there is an overlap in the project proposals of two pending grant applications, upon award, an awardee would be required to amend their budget/workplan proposal appropriately to ensure that only one funding source is covering the cost of a given activity.

14. We are interested in applying for FY25 MA FRESH CORP, but we are unsure if we will be able to maintain the cost of new salaries, stipends or a contractor after the grant implementation period. Are awardees required to maintain the same new roles and positions created through MA FRESH CORP funding after the grant period has ended?

    Strong applicants will describe how farm to school activities conducted through new positions or a contractor will continue after the MA FRESH CORP grant period has ended. MA FRESH CORP awardees are not required to maintain the same roles and positions funded by MA FRESH CORP after the grant period and funding has ended, but strong applicants will demonstrate a strong sustainability plan for institutionalizing farm to school programming after the life of the grant period.

15. We are a past MA FRESH recipient and are looking to apply for MA FRESH CORP funds to continue our work with an on-going farm to school contractor that we have worked with in the past. Would this be eligible?

    Past MA FRESH recipients are eligible to apply for FC0723 MA FRESH CORP. Grant awards may not be used to fund existing staff positions or contracts. Funds can only be used to fund new salaries, positions or contracts that conduct new or expanded activities.

16. Because we will be hiring a consultant utilizing MA FRESH CORP funds - and the onboarding process may take some time in spring of 2025, will the funding cover work during the summer of 2025 to conduct PD trainings?

    The grant implementation period for FY25 is anticipated as March 1, 2025 – June 30, 2025. The grant implementation period for FY26 is anticipated as July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026. Please note: all awardees are required to have a budget proposal and project workplan in FY2025. If PD trainings will not occur until after July 1, 2025, this work would be considered part of the awardees FY2026 budget and a project workplan and budget proposal would still be required for FY2025.

17. Who would be an eligible member of our nutrition services team to fulfill the role of managing this project in our district. Or does the implementation plan have to include the hiring of a new team member?

    It is at the discretion of the applicant to determine how increasing farm to school capacity would be structured at the institutional level, however, MA FRESH CORP funds must be used to pay new positions or stipend new, part-time roles created to support additional farm to school activities. MA FRESH CORP does not specify the department or team where capacity may be increased — applicants should design an application and budget that best supports program goals.

18. Because our district is a regional district with four elementary schools and a regional middle/high school, will we need to provide a letter of partnership from all 5 schools? Or would one from our district office suffice?

    Applicants considering submission of a project proposal that supports multiple NSLP/CACFP sponsorships that have their own four-digital LEA codes should consider providing a letter of partnership for each entity with its own LEA code explaining how funding and staffing support will be shared across multiple LEAs. If an additional letter of partnership from the district office can help demonstrate the structure of this partnership, applicants are welcome to provide this letter of partnership in addition to the involved LEAs. Note: the lead applicant that will be submitting the application on behalf of the partnership in GEM$ does not need to provide a letter of partnership.

Last Updated: December 18, 2024