TAKE ACTION!
SPARKING HEALTHY CHOICES AND A VIBRANT ECONOMY.
10 Cents a Meal provides schools with match incentive funds to purchase and serve Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and dry beans—improving child health and supporting family farms. Funded as a pilot project by the State Legislature since 2016, 10 Cents a Meal transitioned to a statewide program in 2021. Child nutrition experts at the national level have praised 10 Cents a Meal as a leading, innovative model. Let’s make investing in local food for kids in schools a part of Michigan’s identity.
How does 10 Cents a Meal for Michigan's Kids and Farms work?
10 Cents a Meal for Michigan’s Kids & Farms is as simple as it sounds. It provides up to 10 cents per meal in matching grants to school districts to increase the Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and legumes that end up on children’s school lunch trays. The program doubles the state’s investment because schools match the grant with existing school food dollars, usually federal.
Can 10 cents from the state plus 10 cents from the school really buy enough local food to make a difference in a child’s health?
On average, school districts have only $1.20 to spend on school lunches, so 20 cents (10 cents from the state and 10 cents from the school) directed to local produce is a meaningful investment, and the extra dime gives schools the flexibility to try new things. Also, by focusing on locally grown food, the school can increase the nutrient quality of meals and the interest among children in eating healthy fruits and vegetables. Science suggests that nutrient-dense foods improve learning outcomes, increasing the odds that children will have brighter futures.
What do farmers say about how 10 Cents a Meal helps them?
By steering school lunch dollars to local farmers, the program adds an important element of financial stability to farm cash flow. Schools, in fact, are typically the biggest “restaurants” in any community, and the COVID crisis has shown they feed our children even when school buildings are closed. With 10 Cents a Meal now funded for the entire state and including early childhood education centers, the program gives a budget boost to hundreds of Michigan’s small and mid-sized farmers. It also strengthens Michigan’s food supply.
What is the current status of 10 Cents a Meal?
For fiscal year 2025-26, the legislature and governor chose to fund school lunches a different way, and did not fund 10 Cents a Meal. The new forumula removes the emphasis on locally grown food, which is likely to reduce the nutrient quality of school food and also reduce the income of family farms in Michigan. Groundwork and our partners are working hard to return funding for 10 Cents a Meal! You can help too. See our eomprehensive avocacy toolkit.
Take action!
For more information about 10 Cents a Meal, please contact Amanda Brezzell, Policy & Engagement Specialist at amanda.brezzell@groundworkcenter.org.
Also be sure to check out our advocacy toolkit, which has terrific assets—letters, legislator addresses, social media posts, and more—and advice for how to best use the various pieces.
Reach out to people and organizations like your school board, parent organizations, food service directors, legislators, health and wellness advocates, farmers and farm groups. Share Our Website, Success Stories, and the fact sheets, reports, and more below, and be sure to explore the 10 Cents Michigan website.
Toolkit Assets
All you need to be an effective voice for this important program that brings
health for children and financial stability for family farms.
FIND YOUR DISTRICT
Michigan has new House and Senate districts. If you don't know yours, look them up here, and then enter your district number into the top of the form at right.
other ways to make a difference
- You can also check out candidates’ web pages and social media to find times and dates for in-person or virtual coffee hours, town halls, and candidate forums.
- Here is a hand-out to share
Here's why 10 Cents a Meal is so important:
children's health and well-being
- 10 Cents a Meal provides kids access to nutritious, high-quality, local food so they are ready to learn and grow.
- Students tried 67 new Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and dry beans that schools hadn't served to them before, thanks to 10 Cents a Meal. Schools are where our children get up to two or even three meals a day—even if school is out for a crisis like COVID.
economy
- The program doubles the state’s investment because schools match the grant with existing school food dollars, usually federal.
- Schools direct the dollars to purchase Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and dry beans. This keeps money in Michigan’s economy—especially benefitting farm families—and strengthens the security of our state food supply.
Read more of former Sen. Schmidt's comments in the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
SPARKING HEALTHY CHOICES AND A VIBRANT ECONOMY.
10 Cents a Meal provides schools with match incentive funds to purchase and serve Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and dry beans—improving child health and supporting family farms. Funded as a pilot project by the State Legislature since 2016, 10 Cents a Meal transitioned to a statewide program in 2021. Child nutrition experts at the national level have praised 10 Cents a Meal as a leading, innovative model. Let’s make investing in local food for kids in schools a part of Michigan’s identity.
AGRICULTURE
- In the last pilot year, schools purchased 93 different fruits, vegetables, and dry beans grown by 143 farms in 38 Michigan counties.
- School food service directors say 10 Cents a Meal gives them needed funds to try new things, and children love the flavors and varieties that local farms grow —like the many different apple varieties and fun, multi-colored carrots.
EDUCATION
- Farm to school activities enhance classroom education through hands-on learning about food, health, agriculture, and subjects like science and math.
- Children also see their community reflected back to them when they learn where food comes from. Educators can draw connections to academics, such as teaching fractions by cutting up apples while also celebrating the local apples in the lunch line.
My goal, first and foremost, was to keep it alive. We got that accomplished. As the old adage says: 'Live to fight another day.' And that is what we are going to do.
Visit the 10 Cents website to learn lots more and find school and community resources, success stories, hand-outs, and legislative reports. A breakdown of the site's navigation can be found here.
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WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?
10 Cents NEWS
Local food in winter. This school figured it out.
ABOVE: Hydroponic lettuce, by Sarah Rypma On the road that leads from the farm to the tray, we encounter many folks along the way who contribute to feeding our kids. Who’s Feeding Our Kids is a series where we explore people and organizations within the food system...
Progress from our work in 16 west Michigan counties
ABOVE: What rural food partnerships look like. This is the diagram that resulted when partners in a regional meeting were asked to draw a line from their name to anybody they were working with to further the local food economy. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s...
Pilot program: 5 schools in Char-Em get funds for staff focused on local food
(We're stoked about this!) Northwest Lower Michigan is part of an emerging national movement to fund school staff who focus exclusively on local food in school meals and on nutrition and garden education for students. Five schools in the Charlevoix-Emmet Intermediate...