UPDATED 2/10/2025

Award Amount: $1,000+

Application Period: Closed

Grant Recipients: 
•    The 2023 NSLP Equipment Grants (CFDA 10.579) list of awardees
•    General FAQ about the 2023 Equipment Grant 
 

IMPORTANT: Award recipients must be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM). Recipients will not be able to receive funds without an active Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) # registered with SAM. You may begin the registration process at Getting Started with Registration for SAM.  This can take several weeks, so do not delay.
 

Notification of awards were sent via USPS to Child Nutrition Directors and Superintendents of winning School Food Authorities (SFAs). Contracting entities that did not receive an award will not receive notification.
 

Requests for Applications (RFA) were distributed to Superintendents and Child Nutrition Directors (CNDs) of all Contracted Entities (CEs) eligible to apply. If your CE did not receive an invitation, it was not eligible for the 2023 NLSP Equipment Assistance Grant.

** Your ESC can provide additional guidance. **
 

Additional questions about the NSLP Equipment Grant may be sent to NSLPEquipmentGrants@TexasAgriculture.gov.

Equipment Grant Application Process:
The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) competitively awarded kitchen equipment assistance grants to eligible School Food Authorities who were National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) participants. These kitchen equipment assistance grants are to allow SFAs to purchase nonexpendable, tangible kitchen equipment with a useful life of more than one year. The 2023 grant minimum equipment acquisition cost per item is $1,000. TDA used a competitive award process to distribute $3,745,223 provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, (Public Law 117-328) in reimbursement grants among the SFA sites that best fit USDA selection factors detailed at 2023 Equipment Grant Processing Methodology.

The application period was September 3, 2024 – October 11, 2024. All applications were submitted through the application web portal. Applications were not accepted past the deadline.   TDA announced awards in December of 2024. 

For the 2023 NSLP Equipment Assistance Grants selection process, eligible SFAs had to be participating in the NSLP, SBP, or SSO programs and be in good standing. Sites that had received previous NSLP Equipment Assistance Grants were ineligible. Priority was given to CEs that did not have any sites that had received an award from a previous NSLP Equipment Assistance Grants over CEs that had sites that had received previous year’s awards. 

Scoring considered:

• Percentage of free and reduced/CEP – priced meals
• Access to other financial resources to acquire equipment
• Age of food service equipment being replaced
• The proposed equipment’s potential meaningful impact on nutrition and quality of meals
• Improving food safety
• Equipment that provides more convenience and appeal to the student population in highlighting healthier choices

See the scoring criteria here.

If you have any questions about the NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant, send an email to: NSLPEquipmentGrants@TexasAgriculture.gov

SFAs must follow all Federal, State, and Local procurement laws when purchasing equipment with these grant awards. 
As with all Federal grant funds, procurement regulations at 7 CFR Part 210.21 and 2 CFR Part 200.317-326 apply, and equipment competitively procured using these grant funds must be necessary, reasonable, and allocable.
Though not required, SFAs awarded grant funds are encouraged to purchase equipment made domestically.
 

Grant Recipients:

• The 2022 NSLP & 2023 ARPA NSLP Equipment Grants (CFDA 10.579) List of Awardees
• General FAQ about the 2022 Equipment Grant 

Equipment Grant Application Process:
The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) competitively awarded kitchen equipment assistance grants to eligible School Food Authorities who are National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) participants. These kitchen equipment assistance grants allow School Food Authorities (SFAs) to purchase nonexpendable, tangible kitchen equipment with a useful life of more than one year. The 2022 grant minimum equipment acquisition cost per item was $1,000. TDA used a competitive award process to distribute $3,957,295 provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (Public Law 117-103), and $6,423,486 provided by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)(Public Law 117-2) in reimbursement grants among the SFA sites that best fit USDA selection factors detailed at 2022 Equipment Grant Processing Methodology.
 
The application period was November 1, 2022 – November 30, 2022. All applications were submitted through the application web portal. Applications were not accepted past the deadline. TDA announced awards in January 2023.

For the 2022 NSLP Equipment Assistance Grants selection process, eligible SFAs had to be participating in the NSLP, SBP, or SSO programs and be in good standing. Sites that had received previous NSLP Equipment Assistance Grants were ineligible. Priority was given to CEs that did not have any sites that had received an award from a previous NSLP Equipment Assistance Grants over CEs that had sites that had received previous year’s awards.
 

Scoring considered:

• Percentage of free and reduced/CEP - priced meals
• Access to other financial resources to acquire equipment
• Age of food service equipment being replaced
• The proposed equipment’s potential meaningful impact on nutrition and quality of meals
• Improving food safety
• Equipment that provides more convenience and appeal to the student population in highlighting healthier choices

SFAs must follow all federal, state, and local procurement laws when purchasing equipment with these grant awards. As with all federal grant funds, procurement regulations at 7 CFR part 210.21 and 2 CFR part 200.317-326 apply, and equipment competitively procured using these grant funds must be necessary, reasonable, and allocable. Though not required, SFAs awarded grant funds are encouraged to purchase equipment made domestically.
 

Grant Recipients: The 2021 NSLP Equipment Grant (CFDA 10.579) list of awardees
 

Requests for Applications (RFA) were distributed to Superintendents and Child Nutrition Directors (CNDs) of all Contracted Entities (CEs) eligible to apply. If your CE did not receive an invitation, it was not eligible for the 2021 NLSP Equipment Assistance Grant.
 

Equipment Grant Application Process:

The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) competitively awarded kitchen equipment assistance grants to eligible School Food Authorities who are National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) participants. These kitchen equipment assistance grants will allow School Food Authorities (SFAs) to purchase nonexpendable, tangible kitchen equipment with a useful life of more than one year. The 2021 grant minimum equipment acquisition cost per item is $1,000. TDA used a competitive award process to distribute $3,816,551 in reimbursement grants among the SFA sites that best fit USDA selection factors detailed at 2021 Equipment Grant Processing Methodology

The application period was August 24, 2021 – September 30, 2021. All applications were submitted through the application web portal. Applications were not accepted past the deadline. TDA announced awards in December of 2021.

Eligible SFAs had to be participating in NSLP, SBP, SFSP, or SSO and be in good standing. CEs that did not receive an award from a previous American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) or NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant were given priority in the 2021 NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant selection process.
 

Scoring considered:

• Percentage of free and reduced/CEP - priced meals
• Access to other financial resources to acquire equipment
• Age of food service equipment being replaced
• The proposed equipment’s potential meaningful impact on nutrition and quality of meals
• Improving food safety
• Equipment that provides more convenience and appeal to the student population in highlighting healthier choices

General FAQ about the 2021 Equipment Grant

SFAs must follow all Federal, State, and Local procurement laws when purchasing equipment with these grant awards.

As with all Federal grant funds, procurement regulations at 7 CFR Part 210.21 and 2 CFR Part 200.317-326 apply, and equipment competitively procured using these grant funds must be necessary, reasonable, and allocable.

Though not required, SFAs awarded grant funds are encouraged to purchase equipment made domestically.

Application Period: July 8 - August 16, 2020

Grant Recipients: The 2020 NSLP Equipment Grant (CFDA 10.579) list of awardees

Award recipients must be registered with System for Award Management (SAM). Recipients will not be able to receive funds without an active SAM #. You may begin the registration process at Getting Started with Registration for SAM. This can take several weeks, so do not delay.

Written notification mailed to Child Nutrition Directors and Superintendents of grant recipients. Contracting entities that did not receive an award will not receive notification.

General FAQ about the 2020 Equipment Grant

Additional questions about the NSLP Equipment Grant may be sent to PO.BOps@TexasAgriculture.gov.

Application Documents:

• Quick Reference Guide
• Application FAQs

Equipment Grant Application Process:

The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) will competitively award kitchen equipment assistance grants to National School Lunch Program (NSLP) participants. These kitchen equipment assistance grants will allow School Food Authorities (SFAs) to purchase nonexpendable, tangible kitchen equipment with a useful life of more than one year. The 2020 grant minimum equipment acquisition cost per item is $1,000. TDA will use a competitive award process to distribute $3,746,210 in reimbursement grants among the SFA sites that best fit USDA selection factors.

The application period is July 8 – August 16, 2020. All applications must be submitted through the application web portal. Applications will not be accepted past the deadline. TDA will evaluate the applications and plans to announce awards in September of 2020.

Eligible schools must participate in the NSLP and be in good standing. School sites that did not receive an award from a previous American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) or NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant will be given priority in the 2020 NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant selection process.
 

Scoring will consider:

• Percentage of free and reduced-price meals
• Access to other financial resources to acquire equipment
• Age of food service equipment being replaced
• The proposed equipment’s potential meaningful impact on nutrition and quality of meals
• Improving food safety
• Equipment that provides more convenience and appeal to the student population in highlighting healthier choices

Your ESC can provide additional guidance and has login and password credentials.

2019 NSLP Equipment Grant Awardees UPDATE: USDA has extended the performance period to September 30, 2022. However, SFAs who were awarded a 2019 NSLP Equipment Grant will be required to fully expend their funds by August 31, 2022.

Award amount: $1,000+

Application period: May 3 – June 7, 2019, 8 p.m. CDT

Update: The 2019 NSLP Equipment Grant (CFDA 10.579) list of initial awardees is posted.
Update: The 2019 NSLP Equipment Grant list of 1st reallocation awardees is posted.

Written notification was sent to awardees. Contracting entities that did not receive an award will not receive notification. Questions about the NSLP Equipment Grant may be sent to PO.BOps@TexasAgriculture.gov.

Equipment Grant Application Process

• 2019 Application Frequently Asked Questions
• 2019 Quick Reference

• Access to other financial resources to acquire equipment
• Age of food service equipment being replaced
• The proposed equipment’s potential impact on improving meal quality, such as if it improves: 
  • the safety of the food served in the school meals served,
  • overall energy efficiency of the school food service operations, or
  • NSLP or SBP participation rates.
• The equipment’s role in a larger strategy for adopting smarter lunchrooms (lunchroom changes that provide more convenience and appeal to the student population, highlighting healthier choices, redesigning menus that target healthier entrees/options).

Award amount: $1,000+

Application period: December 4, 8:00 a.m. – January 11, 7:00 p.m., CST

Update: The 2018 NSLP Equipment Grant (CFDA 10.579) list of initial awardees is posted.
Update: The 2018 NSLP Equipment Grant list of 1st reallocation awardees is posted.

Award recipients must be registered with System for Award Management (SAM). Recipients will not be able to receive funds without an active SAM #. You may begin the registration process at Getting Started with Registration for SAM. This can take several weeks, so do not delay.

Written notification was sent to awardees. Contracting entities that did not receive an award will not receive notification. Questions about the NSLP Equipment Grant may be sent to PO.BOps@TexasAgriculture.gov.

Equipment Grant Application Process

• 2018 Application Frequently Asked Questions
• 2018 Quick Reference

• Access to other financial resources to acquire equipment
• Age of food service equipment being replaced
• The proposed equipment’s potential impact on improving meal quality, such as if it improves: 
  • the safety of the food served in the school meals served,
  • overall energy efficiency of the school food service operations, or
  • NSLP or SBP participation rates.
• The equipment’s role in a larger strategy for adopting smarter lunchrooms (lunchroom changes that provide more convenience and appeal to the student population, highlighting healthier choices, redesigning menus that target healthier entrees/options).

Click to see an overview of the scoring criteria and specific equipment score values. Click here to learn more about how the equipment score values are determined.

 
The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) will be awarding grants for National School Lunch Program (NSLP) participants. Grants will allow School Food Authorities (SFAs) to purchase nonexpendable, tangible property for schools with a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost of $5,000 or more. TDA used a competitive grant process to distribute money among Texas schools that best fit the consideration requirements. Awards are based on actual expenses.
 

The application period is Oct. 16, 2017 to Nov. 16, 2017. The awards were scheduled to be announced on Dec. 11, 2017, but TDA is continuing to evaluate the applications and the grantees will be announced at a later date. Grants are made to SFAs, which will be responsible for procurement. 

Eligible schools must have at least 50 percent of enrolled students eligible for free or reduced price meals. Grant evaluations gave priority to schools that did not receive an award from a previous NSLP equipment assistance grant and those with limited access to other financial resources.

Evaluations considered the following:

• Age of food service equipment being replaced
• The proposed equipment’s potential impact on improving meal quality, such as if it improves:
• the safety of the food served in the school meals served,
• overall energy efficiency of the school food service operations, or
• NSLP or SBP participation rates.
• The equipment’s role in a larger strategy for adopting smarter lunchrooms (lunchroom changes that provide more convenience and appeal to the student population, highlighting healthier choices, redesigning menus that target healthier entrees/options).

Click to see an overview of the scoring criteria and specific equipment score values. Click here to learn more about how the equipment score values are determined.