08/26/2026
Virginia Cooperative Extension
🎉 BIG NEWS for Grayson County Farm to School! 🎉
We've been awarded a $38,595 Governor's Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Infrastructure Grant from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services!
This funding — combined with a local match from the Grayson County EDA — will equip the GATE Center's shared-use commercial kitchen with cold storage and food processing equipment. Here's what that means for our community:
🥫 Local produce like tomatoes and berries can be turned into value-added products — think spaghetti sauce and freezer pops — made right here and served in Grayson County schools.
🧊 New cold storage will let us receive and stage fresh, locally grown food for both school meals and kitchen processing.
🤝 The expanded space will also be available to other local food entrepreneurs using the GATE Center kitchen.
This is a huge step toward our goal of connecting Grayson County farms directly to Grayson County students — building on the salad bar program launching this year, minimally processed local produce making its way into school menu items, and the school gardens coming in 2027.
A huge thank-you to Governor Spanberger's office (Governor of Virginia), VDACS (Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services), the Grayson County EDA (Grayson County, Virginia), Grayson County Public Schools, Virginia Cooperative Extension, and everyone who has supported this initiative so far. This is what's possible when a community invests in local food and local kids together.
Want to be part of what's next? We're always looking for farms to supply the program, volunteers for the kitchen and school gardens, and community support. Reach out anytime!
