Governor Newsom signs legislation securing permanent funding for nation-leading Farm to School Program championed by First Partner

What you need to know: Governor Newsom signed SB 172, which permanently funds California's nation-leading Farm to School Program, ensuring schools can continue serving students healthy meals made with California-grown ingredients. Championed by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the program supports local farmers, strengthens regional food systems, and expands nutrition education in classrooms.

SACRAMENTO - Governor Gavin Newsom today signed SB 172, which permanently establishes California's nation-leading Farm to School Program into state law, ensuring children across the state continue to receive local farm-fresh nutritious school meals. This follows the Governor and First Partner's recent announcement that nearly 3.5 billion free school meals have been served since 2021, improving meal quality and access while reducing hunger for millions of families.

Governor Gavin Newsom, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, state leaders, and supporters of the Farm to School program.

California is leading the nation in supporting children's health by serving nutritious, locally grown school meals and providing food education that equips students with lifelong healthy habits. Supporting California farmers, local communities, and the health of California's children remains a top priority, which is why we have secured permanent funding for California's nation-leading Farm to School Program.

Governor Gavin Newsom

California's kids deserve access to school meals that are locally-sourced and full of nutrients to help them reach their full potential and thrive. Our Farm to School Program has been a lifeline for children across the state, not only providing free, healthy meals but strengthening local economies through food worker training and supporting California farmers and producers. I am thrilled to celebrate permanent funding for this vital program so we can continue giving kids the best start in life.

First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom

First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom petting goats at Fiery Ginger Farm, a CDFA Farm to School Incubator Grant awardee that provides ag-based learning opportunities for students and supplies K-12 local schools and institutions with healthy, locally grown food.

First Partner's leadership in the Farm to School initiative

The First Partner has championed California's Farm to School Program to expand access to healthy, locally grown food for students. First launched in the 2021-2022 budget, the program has helped drive lasting change in California's school food system. Administered by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Office of Farm to Fork, the Farm to School (F2S) Incubator Grant program supports sustainable, local food procurement, minimally processed school meals programs, and hands-on education for students from early childhood education through 12th grade. With ongoing funding secured in Governor Newsom's 2026-27 state budget, in partnership with the Legislature, this program will continue to improve children's health while strengthening local food systems and creating new opportunities for small and mid-sized farmers.

The initiative supports California farmers and local economies by helping schools purchase more food from nearby farms and producers, ensuring that more dollars stay within local communities. Through the F2S Incubator Grant Program, every $1 invested leads to $2.10 of economic activity generated for communities, illustrating the bigger impact beyond the cafeteria.

Lasting impact to children

Under the leadership of the Governor, the First Partner, and the Legislature, California allocated $60 million over two years in the 2021-2022 state budget to sustain and expand the F2S Incubator Grant Program, which connects local producers and school food buyers; increases food education in classrooms, gardens, and on farms; and engages schools and students with the agricultural community. Since 2021, the Farm to School Incubator Grant Program has invested $86 million in 375 projects, benefitting 49% of all California public school students.

"Thank you Governor Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom for the many actions you have taken to support school children," said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. "Farm to school programming helps students build lifelong relationships with nutritious food while providing consistent demand needed to sustain local small farmers. It has been a pleasure helping 49% of California students benefit from the Farm to School Incubator Grant Program so far, and CDFA looks forward to continuing this important work of sustaining local, resilient food systems."

To date, 80% of Incubator grantees are Title I schools and 100% of farmer grantees are small, mid-size, or socially/economically disadvantaged producers (veterans, women, indigenous, people of color, and limited-resource farm households). Additionally, 100% of producers funded through the grant program utilize climate smart, organic, and regenerative agricultural practices, providing a stable market for adoption.

Here are a few success stories:

• Los Angeles Unified School District: LAUSD utilized grant funding to connect cafeteria programs, career technical education, and an overhaul of their food procurement, warehousing, and distribution processes to increase local food procurement from small farmers, food hubs, and producers using climate smart, organic, and regenerative agricultural practices. They are on pace to purchase $4.7 million from these growers during the 2025-26 school year.

• SPORK Food Hub: When SPORK first applied for the program, the new Davis-based food hub served just four school districts and generated $80,000 in sales. Now, with grant funding investments in infrastructure, staffing, and equipment, the food hub serves over 40 school districts and generates $6.5 million in annual sales - an 812% increase that directly supports California small and midsize producers who access the institutional food market through the food hub.

• Burns Blossom Farm: This Chico-based organic farm invested grant funds in comprehensive food safety planning, production infrastructure, and new farming equipment to improve farm efficiency, safety, and production. Now, the farm is hosting school farm tours and planting new acreage to serve the growing school food marketplace.

The 2022-2023 state budget strengthened the state's initial investment with an additional $30 million in funding for farm to school demonstration projects at priority, high-need schools, and included $600 million in funding available over three years for school kitchen infrastructure upgrades and equipment, food service employee training, and compensation for work related to serving universal meals using more fresh, minimally processed California-grown foods.

Governor Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom engaging with students.

Nutritious meals for all students

With 1-in-6 children facing hunger in the U.S., California became the first state to guarantee every public school student - nearly 6 million children - free school meals regardless of income. California is paving the way for the country to make healthy, minimally processed school meals a part of every child's school day through programs like the F2S Incubator Grant Program.

Over 2 million children in California do not have access to healthy whole foods, with Black and Latino children face food insecurity at twice the rate of children in white households. Schools are a key source of food for children, and access to nutritious foods is essential to children's health and preventing diet-related chronic disease, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Research has shown that students who participate in school meal programs are more likely to consume nutritious foods, less likely to experience nutrient deficiencies, and show improved attendance, better academic performance, fewer visits to the nurse's office, and reductions in behavioral issues, anxiety, and depression. Through investments in hands-on education opportunities in school gardens, local farms, or culinary classes, the F2S program teaches students early on about healthy eating habits and environmental stewardship, setting up children for success and a healthier future.

California leads the nation in protecting student health, ensuring access to food

In 2021, Governor Newsom signed a landmark budget agreement with the Legislature to launch a universal school meals program for the 2022-2023 school year. This law requires local education agencies - school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education - to provide one free breakfast and one free lunch per school day to any student requesting a meal. Over the course of the past four years, approximately 3.5 billion breakfasts and lunches have been served under the School Nutrition Program since the Universal Meals Program implementation - of which nearly 3.45 billion have been eligible for universal meals reimbursement.

Since taking office, Governor Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom have worked with legislative champions to advance a series of first-in-the-nation reforms to eliminate toxic additives, strengthen nutrition standards, and expand healthy food access in schools statewide. Here are key investments the Newsom administration has made to support the well-being and nourishment of students:

• Last summer, more than 4 million California children received SUN Bucks food benefits via EBT cards, with each eligible child receiving $120 in food benefits.

• In October 2025, Governor Newsom signed AB 1264 (Gabriel, 2025), the first-in-the-nation law to ban ultra-processed foods from school meals - banning dangerous food dyes and chemicals that harm and interfere with children's ability to learn.

• Governor Newsom also signed AB 418 (Gabriel, 2023) and AB 2316 (Gabriel, 2024), banning four potentially harmful chemical food additives from products sold statewide, including red dye 3 and brominated vegetable oil, which is often used as a stabilizer in citrus-flavored beverages, and prohibiting schools from serving and selling foods containing synthetic food dye additives associated with risks to health harms in children, including cancer, damage to the immune system, and neurobehavioral issues. The federal government and numerous states have taken similar actions following California's lead.

• In 2024, Governor Newsom signed a legislative package to increase enrollment in state food assistance programs, reduce youth consumption of processed foods, and increase access to healthy, locally grown food in all California communities.

• In 2023, California became the first state to codify President Biden's updated federal guidelines on school nutrition standards to reduce sugar and salt in school meals, and established a process for California to maintain those standards should a different federal Administration lower the standards via SB 348 (Skinner, 2023)

Together, these investments embody a bold vision for school nutrition - one that supports student learning and health, strengthens local economies, and lightens the burden on families' grocery budgets. Five years in, California's transformational approach to school meals is delivering results, inside the classroom and beyond.

The Governor also announced that he has signed the following bill:

SB 1058 by Senator Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) - School districts: contracting: purchases for child nutrition programs.