Farm to School

This Farm to School resource page is intended to help parents, teachers, and farm to school advocates get connected with information to help begin and strengthen Farm to School projects. For agricultural producer interested in selling to schools, please visit the Selling to Schools, Hospitals, and Institutions resource page.

Organizations and Web Resource Lists
Farm to School Curriculum
Resources for Beginning Farm to School Projects
Farm to College
Policy Information

Case Studies and Success Stories

*Each resource within four corners region will be marked with an asterisk

See also the “Four Corners Marketing Programs & Services” listings of regional resources applicable to a variety of topics.
http://www.swmarketingnetwork.org/fcms.htm

Arizona Resources

*Arizona Farm to School Programs
These listings of Farm to School programs in Arizona are compiled on the Farm to School website. Program profiles include the Flagstaff High School Pilot Farm to School Snack Program and the Litchfield School District Farm to School Program.
http://www.farmtoschool.org/AZ/programs.htm

*Tucson Farm to School
The Community Food Bank’s Community Food Security Center surveyed Arizona school food service directors and farmers. They are developing a plan to start Farm to School programs in Tucson area schools. For more information about Farm to School plans in Tuscon, AZ please visit the following website:
http://communityfoodbank.com/community-food-security-center/tucson-farm-to-school/

Colorado Resources

*Farm to School Projects in Colorado
The Farm to School website profiles projects in Colorado that connect the produce from NM farmers with schools in the state.
http://www.farmtoschool.org/state-home.php?id=48

*Healthy Kids and Healthy Economies
This article documents the results from the 2006 Farm to School Survey of Colorado Food Service Operations. The survey has shown that Colorado has tremendous promise to provide year-round produce to schools.
http://www.farmtoschool.org/files/publications_112.pdf

*Sustainability Alliance of Southwest Colorado: Farm to School

The purpose of the Farm to School project is to ensure that our Pre-K through College students consume the highest quality, sustainably produced, culturally appropriate foods from local farms and ranches. The website includes information about school wellness policies, web resources and information about meetings of the Farm to School group in SW Colorado.

http://www.sustainableswcolorado.org/farm_to_school

*Southwest Colorado School Wellness Policies

Federal guidelines required that all schools participating in federal school meal programs establish Wellness Policies prior to the 2006-07 school year. These policies are to address nutrition, nutrition education, and physical activity. Since they must include public participation, they present a great opportunity for community involvement in all three areas. Examples are given from school districts in southwest Colorado.

http://www.sustainableswcolorado.org/node/113

New Mexico Resources

*Farm to School Projects in NM
The Farm to School website profiles projects in New Mexico that connect the produce from NM farmers with schools in the state.
http://www.farmtoschool.org/nm/

*New Mexico Food and Agriculture Policy Council
The New Mexico Food and Agriculture Policy Council, initiated through citizen-based, grassroots activism, is a vehicle to work with public and private entities towards strengthening all of New Mexican’s access to sufficient, high-quality food; strengthening the economy of New Mexico’s ranches, farms, and value-adding food processors.
http://www.farmtotablenm.org/policy/

Utah Resources

*Slow Food in Schools & The Schoolyard Garden Program

Slow Food in Schools is a garden–to–table program with children that cultivates the senses and teaches an ecological approach to food.
http://www.slowfoodutah.org/main_sfu_projects.html

Organizations and Web Resource Lists

*Farm to School
The National Farm to School Network is a collaborative project with the goal of strengthening and expanding activities in states with existing programs and assisting others that do not yet have programs.
http://www.farmtoschool.org/index.htm

Community Food Security Coalition: Farm-to-School Program
Brings together farmers, school food service directors, parents, and community organizers to address the barriers and opportunities involved in creating a farm-to-school project.
http://www.foodsecurity.org/farm_to_school.html

Farm to School Curriculum

Food, Land & People

Food, Land & People is a nonprofit organization committed to helping people of all ages better understand the interrelationships among agriculture, the environment, and people of the world. Food, Land & People's science- and social sciences-based curriculum, Resources for Learning, currently serves Pre-K to 12th grade students throughout the United States. The curriculum consists of 55 hands-on lessons, developed and tested by more than a thousand educators.

http://www.foodlandpeople.org/

French Fries and the Food System

This year-round curriculum provides kids from varied backgrounds a fertile environment in which they can develop an appreciation for the close links between farming and food systems. Lessons range from practical, hands-on activities to social and economic aspects of the food cycle.

http://www.kidsgardeningstore.com/21-4041.html

National Gardening Association: Books & Posters

The NGA has a wonderfully complete on-line bookstore that includes titles about gardening with kids and teaching food systems.

http://www.kidsgardeningstore.com/books.html

Resources for Beginning Farm to School Projects

Bringing Local Food to Local Institutions
This publication provides farmers, school administrators, and institutional food-service planners with contact information and descriptions of existing programs that have made these connections between local farmers and local school lunchrooms, college dining halls, or cafeterias in other institutions.
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/farmtoschool.pdf

Eat Smart- Farm Fresh: A Guide to Buying and Serving Locally-Grown Produce in School Meals
This is a report published by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service that evaluates several aspects of beginning farm to school projects. Topics covered include; distribution models, building support for local purchasing, and how to find locally produced foods.
http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Guidance/Farm-to-School-Guidance_12-19-2005.pdf

Kindergarten Initiative Toolkit
The Kindergarten Initiative toolkit outlines the story of how The Food Trust created a program that promotes healthy eating through education, snacks from local farms, parent involvement, and community support. It also demonstrates options for implementing a similar program in your area by tailoring the Kindergarten Initiative to suit your particular needs.
http://www.thefoodtrust.org/php/programs/kindergarten.initiative.php

Local Food Connections: Food Service Considerations
This publication explores the benefits and challenges of institutional buying. This article also explains how a food service operation can start purchasing local foods.
http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/other/files/PM1853C.pdf

National Farm to School Website
Initiated in 2000, the National Program has spearheaded the development of the farm to school movement across the country, successfully assisting organizations in starting up and sustaining farm to school efforts, fundraising, and providing informational resources, education and training for farm to school stakeholders.
http://www.farmtoschool.org/index.php

Small Farms/School Meals Initiative: Town Hall Meetings
A step-by-step guide of activities for groups to plan, conduct, and publicize professional town meetings that encourage small farmers and local school food officials to begin a farm-to-school project.
http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/Downloadable/small.pdf

Farm to College

New Markets for Producers: Selling to Colleges
This is a report of the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The report looks at six colleges involved in “Farm to College” relationships and explains the benefits of institutional selling.
http://www.cias.wisc.edu/archives/1999/02/02/new_markets_for_producers_selling_to_colleges/index.php

CFSC Farm to College Page
The Community Food Security Coalition has a webpage devoted to “Farm to College” information and resources. In addition to resources to start new projects, the site has a report on existing Farm to College projects.
http://www.foodsecurity.org/farm_to_college.html

Food Routes: Farm to College Resource Page
This webpage empowers college students to advocate for local foods in their college cafeterias. Resources include fact sheets and other advocacy tools.
http://www.foodroutes.org/farmtocollege.jsp

Local Food Connections: Food Service Considerations
This publication explores the benefits and challenges of institutional buying. This article also explains how a food service operation can start purchasing local foods.
http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/pubs/other/files/PM1853C.pdf

*Prescott College Crossroads Café
Get a delicious, local-food-rich breakfast or lunch in Prescott, Arizona, at the newly opened Crossroads Cafe. A part of the larger Crossroads Center at Prescott College, the cafe serves as a meeting point for residents, students, visitors and staff in the area. The cafe offers a number of local food delights from vegetarian Borscht to Beef Bourguignon to daily sandwich specials, salads and soups.
http://www.localharvest.org/restaurants/M10306

Policy Information

The Farm to Cafeteria Projects Act
The National Farm to School website has a very comprehensive policy page about the federal grant program, “The Farm to Cafeteria Projects Act.”
http://www.farmtoschool.org/policy.htm

Case Studies and Success Stories

A Growing Movement: A decade of Farm to School in California
Only in the past decade has farm to school emerged as a movement to change the way children understand food and to offer farmers new markets for what they produce. From a handful of local efforts about ten years ago, farm to school has grown to involve 85 California school districts—and the movement continues to grow through a combination of local and statewide coordinating efforts.
http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/publications/a_growing_movement.pdf

Direct Marketing to Schools: A New Opportunity for Family Farmers
This case study—part of a larger study on direct marketing techniques used by small farmers—focuses on the experiences of six farmers in California who have participated in farm-to-school farmers market salad bar projects.
http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/CDPP/directmarketingtoschool.htm

Farm to School: Case Studies & Resources for Success
This 2004 study highlights Farm to School Success Stories from around the country. The report includes a comprehensive list of resources to help schools and farmers with Farm to School projects.
http://www.foodroutes.org/doclib/243/FarmtoSchoolSuccess.pdf

Going Local: Paths to Success for Farm to School Programs
This report showcases innovative farm to school programs from around the country. It draws upon the existing information as well as new research to present a compilation of eight case studies of farm to school programs operating in different regions of the country.
http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/cfj/publications/goinglocal.pdf