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The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's (DESE) Office of Food and Nutrition Programs (FNP), with support from contracted partner Massachusetts Farm to School , is launching the Northeast Food for Schools (NFS) Challenge: a call to action for Massachusetts school nutrition programs to collectively invest $6 million in our state's local farmers, fishers, and food producers by the end of 2026.
Building upon the Commonwealth's investment in Universal Free School Meals and the successful supply chain relationships established through the Local Food for Schools Program , the NFS Challenge will be an opportunity to demonstrate to the Commonwealth that school nutrition is committed to the health of students as well as to the health of Massachusetts' economy.
Participating in the NFS Challenge will boast exciting advantages including access to a food purchase tracking platform, FoodTrails , procured and funded by FNP for school year 2025-2026 (SY2025-26). Participation will also include promotional incentives including branded materials to promote your NFS Challenge engagement and program recognition, such as regular updates to a local purchasing leaderboard on a newly launched Northeast Food for Schools website.
Collectively, School Food Authorities (SFAs) that pledge to participate in the NFS Challenge will strive to purchase $6 million of Massachusetts and regionally grown and produced foods by the end of 2026. This $6 million goal represents the amount originally earmarked for local food purchases for SY2025-26 through the United States Department of Agriculture's now-terminated Local Food for Schools Program .
Each SFA participating in the NFS Challenge will pledge to spend the dollar value of federal funding that was originally projected for their SFA for SY2025-26 on Massachusetts and regional foods. Use the NFS Challenge Local Investment Chart to identify your SFA's pledge value.
FNP will cover the cost of FoodTrails access during SY2025-26 to allow SFAs to track the geographic origin of food purchases. FNP will consider continuing to cover this cost for SFA's on an annual basis. Moreover, participating SFAs will have access to technical assistance from our contracted partner, Massachusetts Farm to School, to support NFS Challenge participation and local procurement.
Qualifying purchases will include unprocessed or minimally processed fruits and vegetables, dairy products (including fluid milk), grains, meat, and seafood that is grown, raised or harvested in New England or New York. Eligible Massachusetts foods will be counted in the NFS Challenge at their purchase value - regional foods grown, raised or harvested in New York, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Maine will be counted at $0.33 for every $1.00 spent.
Progress made toward an SFA's pledge goal will be tracked both collectively and at the SFA-level through a public-facing Northeast Food for Schools website .
FoodTrails, Inc. was launched to help public institutions and schools track where food comes from. Built with security and data privacy in mind, FoodTrails helps SFAs track local and regional food purchases easily and accurately, using data and paper trails that already exist in food supply chains, such as velocity reports from suppliers and distributors.
During SY2025-26, FNP will work alongside SFAs and FoodTrails, Inc. to refine the platform to meet the needs of Massachusetts operators. To ensure feedback from Massachusetts operators can be effectively integrated into the platform during this pilot year, FNP will conduct a phased approach to SFA onboarding to FoodTrails. As a result, a majority of interested SFAs will gain platform access in Winter and Spring 2026. As SFAs await log in access, Massachusetts Farm to School and DESE will provide guidance on how to request velocity reports from distributors and suppliers. Gathering and sharing these reports with DESE, Massachusetts Farm to School and the FoodTrails team will allow us to address SFA questions and concerns early, while customizing and continually improving the platform for Massachusetts users.
Participation in the NFS Challenge will be an exciting opportunity to take advantage of several benefits including:
Providing transparency around where program food is produced, a state priority identified by the Massachusetts School Meal Nutrition Standards Commission .
Access to a food purchase tracking platform, FoodTrails, procured and funded by FNP, which can be leveraged for participating in the NFS Challenge as well as for compliance with the new food cost cap updates to the Buy American Provision.
A NFS Challenge promotional toolkit with graphics and customizable social media templates designed to help you easily promote your program to community stakeholders.
SFA-specific program recognition by DESE and DESE partners include website highlights and social media spotlights.
Playing a vital role in a public awareness campaign designed to help Massachusetts taxpayers better understand the contents and quality of Universal Free School Meals in Massachusetts as well as its return on investment for the agricultural and fisheries sector in the Commonwealth.
With your support and pledge, Massachusetts School Nutrition Programs are on track to fuel healthier futures and boost our local economy — reaching $6 million by the end of 2026!
Interested school nutrition operators may pledge their SFA's participation in the NFS Challenge through a newly added FY26 compliance packet component in the DESE Security Portal entitled "Northeast Food for Schools Challenge Attestation." Up to two individual users per SFA will be granted log in credentials for FoodTrails. To pledge participation in the NFS Challenge, all interested and eligible SFAs must complete the following steps:
Note: registration will continue through SY2025-26 on a first-come, first-serve basis. To ensure participation in the NFS Challenge and access to FoodTrails, early registration is strongly encouraged.
If you are a vended meal program interested in participating in the NFS Challenge, please email FNP Local Food System Specialist Maggie Nowak for more information.
If you have questions about the initiative or resources outlined in this memorandum, please contact nutrition@doe.mass.edu or 781-338-6480. Also consider participating in an upcoming Communication Plan offering to ask questions or learn more such as FNP's monthly newsletter, town hall or office hours series.