Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced Thursday that the Webster City Community School District is a recipient of a grant to participate in the Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Program for Schools. The one-year pilot program connects Iowa schools with Choose Iowa members to encourage school food service programs to purchase and serve more ingredients and products sourced from local farmers and small businesses. The pilot program was authorized during the 2024 legislative session and is an initiative of Choose Iowa, the state’s branding and marketing program that identifies and promotes Iowa grown, made and raised food, beverages and ag products. The school pilot program has a total budget of $70,000 and each school was eligible to apply for up to $1000 per school building. Both public and private schools were encouraged to apply. Selected schools are required to provide a minimum one-to-one financial match. For example, a school receiving $1,000 must provide at least $1,000 from other sources for a total of $2,000 spent on local foods through the pilot program. Choose Iowa received applications from 61 schools or school districts totaling $158,249, an overall request far exceeding available funding. There were 33 school districts selected for the food purchasing grant. Other area district selected are in Boone and Hampton-Dumont-CAL.