County Executive Ryan McMahon Announces Onondaga County Health Department Receives Grant from New York’s Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – County Executive J. Ryan McMahon, II today announced that the Onondaga County Health Department has been awarded $5,000,000 from New York State to help grow and expand access to fresh foods in our local schools. The funding, “New York’s Regional Food School Food Infrastructure Grant Program” is administered by New York State Ag & Markets.
County Executive McMahon said, “Onondaga County and Central New York is blessed with a rich and diverse agricultural economy and my administration has worked diligently to support and grow access to our abundance of fresh locally grown products.” McMahon continued, “I want to thank our team in the health department, as well as our food access partners, for their diligent work to secure this grant. Thanks to their successful efforts, we will be able to expand our efforts exponentially while also investing in our historic Regional Market.”
The Onondaga County Health Department will use the $5 million to develop a food business venture space at the CNY Regional Market with the goal of increasing school access to New York State grown products. The money will be used to expand an existing warehouse and distribution center. Twelve school districts will initially be supported by the venture including the Syracuse City School District with expansion to additional districts occurring as the project gets underway.
For more information on the program can be found here: NYS Farm to School Program.