Let's Eat Healthy Community Grants

Igniting sustainable solutions to champion healthier communities through the Let’s Eat Healthy Initiative

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The Let’s Eat Healthy Community Grant program advances the activation of Dairy Council of California’s Let’s Eat Healthy Initiative, engaging champions to empower healthier children, families and communities by investing in great ideas and partnerships to meet community needs. 

This funding program supports collaborative solutions to provide equitable access to evidence-based nutrition education, dairy agricultural literacy and nutritious foods that include milk and dairy foods. 

Grant Program Goals

• Advance nutrition security by increasing access to healthy, wholesome foods, including milk and dairy foods, to support healthy, sustainable eating patterns across key life stages.
• Increase access to evidence-based, consistent, age-appropriate, culturally inclusive nutrition education.
• Enhance food literacy and dairy-inclusive agricultural literacy. 
• Elevate the Let’s Eat Healthy network of California champions. 

Funding Tracks

Proposals must engage project collaborators and target audiences in at least one of the following funding tracks:

• Child Nutrition 
• Community Health
• School Wellness 

Proposal Priorities

Projects must address at least one of the following proposal priority areas: 

• Nutrition security that enhances the accessibility of milk and dairy foods as part of any of the following: federal child nutrition programs, school environment or community setting.  
• Food literacy that supports dairy agricultural literacy as part of farm-to-school efforts.  
• Nutrition education that focuses on integrating educational programs as part of food access programs.  
• Nutrition education that focuses on enhancing nutrition programming within any of the following settings: school environment, child care or community. Project may address the following: 
  • Campaign activation promoting milk and dairy foods. 
  • Promotion of milk and dairy foods through cultural foods, traditions and food literacy programming. 
• Engagement of youth ambassadors and/or university dietetic program supporting or leading nutrition education, dairy agricultural literacy and/or nutrition security project that promote dairy in a school or community setting.

Grant Criteria 

• Proposals must be consistent with the values of Let’s Eat Healthy and align to at least one Let’s Eat Healthy strategic framework goal and objective. 
• Projects must address at least one of the proposal priority areas. 
• Projects must demonstrate effective utilization of solutions and educational tools provided by Dairy Council of California.  
• Projects must be implemented and evaluated by December 31, 2025.

Eligibility 

• Applicants must represent a legal entity in California (school, district, nonprofit, local government, community organization, university, etc.).
• Applicants must either represent or collaborate with organizations that align with at least one of the following sectors outlined in the Request for Proposals’ funding tracks: Child Nutrition, Community Health and School Wellness. 

Funding Availability

• A total of $30,000 is available to be awarded. Dairy Council of California plans to fund 3-6 awards.
• Proposals for community grants may request up to $10,000. 

Applications are now closed for the 2024–2025 Let’s Eat Healthy Community Grants.

Learn more about projects funded by Let’s Eat Healthy Community Grants and the impacts of champions! 

2023-2024 Let’s Eat Healthy Community Grant Recipients

Learn more about the projects Let’s Eat Healthy has funded and its community impact with partners!

Dairy Inclusive Nutrition Education

San Miguel Joint Union School District
San Luis Obispo County

Enhancing nutrition and food literacy programming to connect the classroom, garden and cafeteria.

Griffiths Middle School
Downey Unified School District
Los Angeles County 

Enhancing the Downey Unified School District middle school culinary program through expanded experiential activities and launch of a districtwide culinary competition.  

Ladera Ranch Middle School
Capistrano Unified School District
Orange County 

Incorporating nutrition education and expanding dairy food labs in the school culinary program.  

My Healthy Reader, LLC
Riverside County 

Expanding family-centered nutrition education services and resources to underserved communities in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.  

Dairy Agricultural Literacy

Community Housing Opportunities Corporation
Solano County 

Expanding nutrition education and dairy agricultural literacy programming to youth in underserved communities across Sacramento and Yolo counties, targeting eight locations. 

Lake Elsinore Unified School District
Riverside County  

Enhancing dairy agricultural literacy within Lake Elsinore Unified School District’s Expanded Learning program. 

Supporting Milk + Dairy Advocacy

Orcutt Union School District
Santa Barbara County 

Transforming a high school cafeteria to support nutrition security by implementing Smarter Lunchrooms Movement strategies to increase student participation in school meals. 

Vista Del Mar Union School District  
Santa Barbara County 

Engaging in a youth empowerment project to transform school meals and increase student participation in school meals. 

OC Fair & Event Center, Centennial Farm
Orange County

Enhancing dairy agricultural literacy and advocacy strategies in the farm’s programming.