the produce with their families, children learn about healthy eating and where food comes from, which can foster their appreciation for the natural world and its resources.
Policy and Investment Supports for Farm to Early Care and Education
Challenges: Procuring Locally Produced, Nutritious Foods
To increase access to locally produced and minimally processed foods, farm to early care and education initiatives offer a tangible way to educate young children about food origins, agricultural processes, and the environment. This is particularly relevant in the context of food deserts, defined as areas with limited access to affordable and nutritious food, especially for populations with low income( USDA ERS 2025). Challenges in access may be due to greater distances to grocery stores and reduced availability of fresh produce( Zenk et al. 2011; Rural Health Information Hub 2025) and other disparities( Feng et al. 2023; Odoms-Young et al. 2023). Therefore, farm to early care and education can play a key role in introducing nutritious options and fostering positive food relationships from an early age.
However, educators and program administrators may encounter barriers too. Like their communities, they may have limited access to nutrient-dense, affordable, nutritious foods or limited ability to afford them( Bobronnikov 2021; McCloskey et al. 2020). Although ordering in bulk may reduce costs, meeting minimum order requirements for a farm or food hub may be challenging( McCloskey et al. 2020). Other barriers include availability of onsite storage and kitchen equipment as well as limited staff skills and interest in the preparation of local foods( Bopp et al. 2022). Policy and funding supports can help address these challenges while avoiding adding extra administrative work( Rains et al. 2019).
To implement farm to early care and education successfully, educators and programs need supports at different levels.
To implement farm to early care and education successfully, educators and programs need supports at different levels. These include policies as well as investments to create funding streams for programs.
Federal Supports
Federal policy supports provide reimbursement for meals and snacks and encourage the purchasing of foods from local farmers and food producers, also known as geographic preference( USDA FNS 2025b). At the time of this writing, there have been no direct cuts to the CACFP— a primary source of funding for local food purchases in early learning settings— so it continues to be a key support for farm to early care and education initiatives, allowing programs to purchase and serve local foods. However, programs that help early care and education sites participating in the CACFP to purchase local foods— such as Local Food for Schools and the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grants— were terminated in the spring of 2025. USDA reopened the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grants in the fall of 2025, with a closing date of December 5, 2025 for grant applications. Additionally, the ending of funding for the Institute for Child Nutrition, which delivers technical assistance to the CACFP operators regarding nutrition education, has eliminated a vital resource that helped early learning settings to learn about and use locally purchased foods( National CACFP Sponsors Association 2025).
Federal funding can provide critical opportunities to help with local food purchasing. For example, in October 2024, the US Department of Agriculture( USDA) announced funding of $ 200 million directed to early learning settings participating in the national CACFP( USDA FNS 2024). There is also periodic one-time funding, such as the Supplemental Funds for Nutrition and Healthy Eating for Head Start Children and Families( ACF-OHS-PI-25-02). Offered in July 2025, and likely closed at time of publication, it provides infrastructure upgrades, food preparation tools, and nutrition education resources, including food during activities( USDHHS 2025). This is the first time that funding from the Child Care and Development
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