The Lost Sierra Food Project announces it has received a California Farm to School incubator grant for the 2025-2026 school years. This grant funding will allow the nonprofit to serve more Plumas County students, ages K-12, with farm field trips and local food activities.
LSFP says it will continue the popular in-school produce taste test days from last year and will offer farm-grown produce kits to high school culinary teachers and other career technical education programs.
LSFP is one of 195 farm to school projects funded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture this year. In addition to programming for kids, the grant allows for the purchase and upgrade of farm infrastructure and supports staff time to work with schools. LSFP collaborates with Plumas Unified School District Nutrition Services, Plumas Charter School and other regional school districts to plan and sell produce to cafeterias.
The state of California is currently supportive of Farm to School efforts and prioritizing funding for small farms and agricultural education, said LSFP. However, staff said it is important to note that there are many challenges to this work including the unstable local public school budget and federal funding cuts to Farm to School programs. “We know our community and our school partners want fresh, local food for our kids, so together we will stay creative and adaptable,” said LSFP.
LSFP invites all school teachers to schedule a spring or fall field trip at the nonprofit’s Rugged Roots Farm in Quincy. More information is available from farm educator Jessica Ritchey at [email protected].