As Farm to School Month Wraps Up, Celebrating (and
Training) Teachers
Everyone can agree that teachers have a lot their
plates. In addition to preparing daily lessons for sometimes large classrooms
of students, they are often asked to participate in a host of other committees,
initiatives, and programs. Adding food and garden education to the mix can
sometimes be overwhelming, which is why we treasure stories about districts
taking the time and finding the resources to bring teachers fully into the fold
on farm to school efforts. This Farm to School Month, the New York City
Department of Education celebrated with a teacher-based event organized through
its Garden to Café Program. The Program connects school and community gardens
with school meals through seasonal harvest events and educational activities.
To prepare for the fall harvest season, teachers were invited to participate in
an intensive workshop. A full day of talking, tasting, and harvesting under
sunny skies on a urban farm on Governor’s Island in the New York Harbor left
teachers educated, inspired, and ready to teach their students about food
systems. And we know that when messages about food and nutrition are reinforced
by teachers in the classroom and garden, children are more likely to try and
enjoy healthier items offered in the cafeteria.
As October comes to an
end, we want to thank everyone who makes farm to school possible—teachers,
students, food service staff members, school administrators, non-profit
partners, state agency staff members, parents, and others, and recognize their
tireless dedication to enriching their communities and nourishing children’s
bodies and minds.
So, thank you, and (for the last time this year) Happy Farm to School
Month!
Call for Stories: Serving Local Traditional Foods
In
preparation for Native American Heritage Month in November,
we are collecting success stories about incorporating local
traditional foods into the child nutrition programs. Do you have a story to
share? Use the link below to fill out a quick form, and be sure to include any
photos!
 New
Policy Memo Clarifies Local Meat Purchasing
Fruits and vegetables are often
gateway products to farm to school programs, but many districts are filling out their meals with local meat products too! From
buffalo in Montana, chicken in California, to beef in Nebraska, schools are
finding a place for locally raised protein products in the cafeteria. While
many districts have already jumped in, we’ve received a variety of questions
related to purchasing local meat products and a recently released memo
outlines the food safety requirements for purchasing and serving poultry,
livestock, game and eggs in child nutrition programs. Here are a few highlights:
-
Livestock must be slaughtered a
state or USDA inspected facility to be served in child
nutrition programs (CNPs).
-
FNS recommends that poultry
be slaughtered at a state
or USDA inspected facility to be served in CNPs,
though there are a few exemptions from inspection and schools could
purchase from producers operating under an exemption.
-
Wild and domesticated game must be voluntarily inspected at state or USDA inspected
facility to be served in CNPs.
- Egg products (liquid, frozen, dried) must be USDA inspected. Shell
eggs do not need to be pasteurized.
2015 Farm to School Census Reminder
Have you heard? USDA recently
released early results from the second Farm to School Census!
We are accepting submissions of
new data and encouraging districts to correct existing records as necessary
through November 20, 2015. Just follow the three easy steps
outlined on the site to find your district, check your record, and either
update your data or make a new entry. After the submission period has closed,
we will re-tabulate the numbers and begin releasing final results in early
2016.
A National Survey of Local Procurement, Gardens and Food and Farm Education in
Early Care Settings
The National Farm to School Network is currently conducting a
survey of early care and education staff and providers to gain a better
understanding of current farm to preschool practices as well as barriers and
challenges to implementing farm to preschool/early care initiatives.
If you are an early care and education provider, please complete the survey
below by Friday, November 20. By completing the survey, you will qualify for a
drawing to win one of 5 framed prints of artwork created collaboratively by
attendees of the 2012 National Farm to Cafeteria conference and designed by
Vermont artist Bonnie Acker.
Please share this survey with early care and education staff and providers
in your networks. Thank you for your time and assistance in capturing this
important information!
A Student’s Perspective: How Fuel Up to
Play 60 Supports Farm to School
This post was written by Andrew, a Wisconsin seventh-grader
and Fuel Up to Play 60 Student Ambassador.
Fuel Up to Play 60 is an in-school
nutrition and physical activity program launched by National Dairy Council and
NFL, in collaboration with USDA, to help encourage young people to lead
healthier lives.
I am a
student ambassador (for Fuel Up to Play 60) at my middle school in Wisconsin. I
live in a dairy state. We have a lot of farms. In the short six mile drive from
my house to school, I go by seven farms! There are also some green thumb
farmers in our school. That is why we have our very own school garden. Our
gardens have 22 garden beds that are planted with different fruits and
vegetables in them. With those fruits and vegetables, we can harvest them for
our schools so we can eat them!
Fruits and
vegetables are an important part of fueling up every day! The Fuel Up to Play
60 Ambassadors at my school participate by helping out with the gardens. We
have pulled weeds, made garden beds, shoveled the soil, planted the seeds,
watered the plants, and most importantly, ate the fruits of our labor! With
these students helping out in the garden, we also learned more about gardening.
Farm to School has been a great addition to our
Fuel Up to Play 60 program.
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