Ohio Nutrition Bulletin Points Schools to New DEPEND Funding Initiative

Ohio education officials are drawing attention to DEPEND, a new federal initiative intended to support school nutrition projects. The program is highlighted in a September bulletin from the Department of Education and Workforce's Office of Nutrition.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Real Food in Schools webpage confirms that the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the National Institutes of Health are launching the initiative. It describes funding for schools to deliver nutritious food and strengthen evidence for nutrition interventions.

The HHS page currently labels the opportunity as coming soon and offers an interest form for updates. Schools should use the federal page to check when application information becomes available; the announcement itself is not an open application window or an award notice.

The federal information is available at https://www.hhs.gov/real-food-in-schools/index.html.