Introducing the

PLANTS Grant

 
 

The Partnerships for Local Agriculture & Nutrition Transformation in Schools or PLANTS grant is an exciting opportunity funded by USDA Food & Nutrition Services as part of their School Food System Transformation Challenge Sub-Grants initiative. The goal of the PLANTS grant is to catalyze regional partnerships to create new systems, policies, processes, and tactics that create joy, health, trust, and regenerative economic outcomes among these target producers, students, foodservice workers, and community stakeholders and partners.

 
 
 

Who is the Kitchen Sync Strategies Collaborative- and what is PLANTS?

Kitchen Sync Strategies Collaborative (KSSC) is comprised of multiple value chain consultancy companies who have deep experience in supporting institutions to reinvent their procurement processes that are more inclusive of small-scale, local, organic, regenerative, and BIPOC producers. KSSC is made up of:

  • Shared Plate Strategies led by Ben Thomas. Ben has been working in institutional procurement for 13 years, most recently overseeing the statewide Farm to Cafeteria Program at the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) from 2015-2022. Ben founded Shared Plate Strategies in 2022 to address the increasing need from school child nutrition departments for technical assistance to advance their Farm to School and scratch cooking visions while navigating complex procurement regulations, production processes, and sourcing and logistics pathways.
  • Supply Change, LLC led by H Nieto-Friga. Heather or H works through Supply Change to build power with underserved producers and connects them to corporate and institutional foodservice through their nationally-recognized expertise in value chain coordination. The company also partners with food justice organizations, government, public health collectives, and market stakeholders on deeper place-based policies, strategies, and networks that serve to re-regionalize and embed equity into food systems across the country.
  • Kitchen Sync led by Elliott Smith. Elliott co-founded Kitchen Sync wiht Sarah Axe in 2019, and focuses on connecting buyers, suppliers, and supporters of a fairer, more nourishing food economy.