Farm to School Month Recap
This year’s National Farm to School Month brought schools, child care centers, and producers together to recognize and celebrate Ohio’s local foods, school gardens, and nutrition education! Schools and child care centers served local meals featuring Ohio-grown produce, grains, and even locally raised beef. Taste tests of fresh cauliflower, radishes, and different varieties of apples encouraged kids to try new tastes and flavors. Food service staff joined the fun by decorating lunchrooms with harvest themes and dressing as their favorite farmers to get kids in the spirit.
Some examples of creative celebrations from across the state included:
Parma City Schools hosted an Apple Crunch booth at their local farmer’s market. Families could try three varieties of local apples and vote for their favorite!
Crestwood Local Schools combined Farm to School Month with the National School Lunch Week and hosted a pirate-themed local lunch featuring corn, apples, baked potatoes, and a scratch-made chili with local beef.
Lakota Local Schools hosted a “Dress as a Farmer” day featuring Ohio Department of Education and Workforce’s nutrition mascot, Munch the Fox. School meals featured local roasted parsnips, mashed butternut squash, and sauteed cabbage!
Joseph Badger Schools invited Department of Education and Workforce members to observe their flour milling process for freshly baked rolls and pizza dough, hydroponic grow towers, and the Food and Nutrition and Botany classes.
Child nutrition program sponsors celebrated Farm to School Month with taste tests, harvest meals, farmers' days, and more!
Crunching in October with the Great Apple Crunch
The 2024 Ohio Apple Crunch was a huge success! This year, 177 schools, child care centers, and community organizations crunched on local Ohio apples, totaling 179,146 kid and adult crunchers. Apples were sourced from 43 different farms and orchards throughout the state. Schools and child care centers got creative with fun, engaging celebrations, promoting local apples and the Ohio farmers who grow them!
Thanks to the following for sharing their Great Apple Crunch celebrations:
Louisville Local Schools celebrated with local apples from Arrowhead Orchards in Paris, Ohio. Students could choose peanut butter, chocolate hazelnut spread, or caramel as a special apple dipping sauce. Staff wore red and green shirts matching the apple theme!
Westerville City Schools offered local apples from Bauman Orchards at all 23 schools in the district and provided elementary students with coloring pages.
Woodridge Local Schools provided four different local apple varieties for students. Apple fact posters were displayed across the cafeteria. Staff dressed as farmers, and the Office of Nutrition mascot, Munch the Fox, joined the celebration!
Horizon Education Centers sourced local apples from Royalton Farms in North Royalton for a Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) snack. Children learned about the parts of an apple while completing a fun apple craft!
Photos from Great Apple Crunch celebrations throughout the state.
Summit County High School Grows Fresh Produce and Community through Community Agriculture for Local Impact Program
In the back of Cuyahoga Falls High School (CFHS), glowing lights are seen from the classroom of agriculture teachers Steve McIntosh and Steven Newlon. The lights are part of a multi-unit hydroponic growing system where students grow Butter Crunch and other lettuce varieties throughout the school year. Mushroom tents line the back wall where students experiment growing several varieties, including Golden and Pink Oysters. Classroom windows overlook the school’s greenhouse and chicken coop where students care for three lively chickens year round. A short walk from the greenhouse is the final piece of the CFHS Farm: an outdoor garden with 40 raised beds and composting area. |
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While the CFHS Fresh Farm has operated since 2018, in 2023, Cuyahoga Falls High School became home to the Community Agriculture for Local Impact career and technical education (CTE) program. The program is available to students within the Six District Educational Compact, which includes Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, Kent, Stow-Munroe Falls, Tallmadge City Schools, and Woodridge Local Schools. Forty students are enrolled in the CTE program this year with an additional 60 students taking the elective course Intro to Urban Agriculture. While students donate most of the farm’s produce to a local food pantry, they also have opportunities to sell school grown produce to local restaurants and for development of specialty food products, like homemade hot sauces with chili peppers. Mr. McIntosh sees the powerful benefits of a program that brings together students of different backgrounds and cultures while learning various growing methods at the CFHS Farm as they come to understand how selling locally grown foods can impact the communities where they live.
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In 2026, the CFHS Fresh Farm will be on the move as a new sixth through twelve building is complete. The central location of the new campus, with a single kitchen and cafeteria, expands their growing systems to allow all middle and high school students access to the farm right outside their classrooms and creates opportunities to work with the district’s food service staff in bringing CHFS-grown produce into school meals.
The Community Agriculture for Local Impact Program and CFHS Fresh Farm are showing students, staff, and families the importance of investing in local food systems. As the program and farm continue to grow, so do the next generation of students ready to shape how local communities grow, purchase, and consume fresh food.
Interested in learning more? Follow CFHS Fresh Farm on Instagram to keep up with student programming or contact Agriculture Educator Steve McIntosh at cf_mcintosh@cftigers.org!
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Feed Our Future’s Annual Farm to School Local Purchasing Report
Feed Our Future’s Annual Local Purchasing report provides a snapshot of local food purchases specifically in Northeast Ohio and Cincinnati Public schools in Southwest Ohio. Data shows local spending is on the rise with a total of almost one million dollars being spent in the 2023-2024 school year on local foods in the Northeast alone, a 43% increase from the previous school year! Access the full reports for Northeast and Southwest Ohio to learn more including the top local food items purchased and what local producers schools are buying from.
Upcoming Promotions
National School Breakfast Week: National School Breakfast Week (NSBW) celebrates the importance of a nutritious school breakfast in fueling students for success. This year’s NSBW will take place March 3-7, 2025, with the theme of “Clue In to School Breakfast”.
There are many delicious ways to implement farm to school into your breakfast program! Consider trying a few of the following ideas.
- Muffins made with local spring produce like apples and
- Add school grown or locally purchased herbs such as cilantro and basil to savory breakfast dishes like eggs, breakfast pizza, and tacos.
- Give local eggs a try! Locally purchased eggs are allowable in child nutrition programs. Contact the local public health department for appropriate regulations on serving in meal programs. See the USDA memo for additional information on using shell eggs in child nutrition programs.
- Substitute a locally roasted diced potato for frozen hashbrowns. Try this recipe!
2025 Smoothie Slurp: The American Dairy Association Mideast and the Ohio Farm to School Network invite schools, child care centers, after-school programs, and more to participate in a “smoothie slurp” this February. Have fun making, serving and tasting smoothies made with milk or yogurt blended with fruits and vegetables for breakfast or lunch! Register your slurp today!
Check out the American Dairy Association Mideast’s Smoothie Kit for some delicious and creditable smoothie recipes to try in February or year-round!
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