Volume 3, Issue 30, November 14, 2017
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C.H.O.P takes center stage for PBS Newshour feature
The Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment's Team Nutrition program, Cooking Up Healthy Options with Plants (CHOP) Farm to Preschool program exposes preschool students to agricultural education. PBS Newshour features the CHOP program and brings to life how preschoolers in a low-income area in Pueblo, Colorado benefit from learning their ABCs while preparing healthy meals.
Upcoming Webinars
Getting Down to Details: How to Use Velocity Reports to Up Your
Game on Sourcing Local Food
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 15th from 2:00pm - 3:00pm ET
Looking
to increase your local purchases but not sure where to start? Join Michael
Webster, the general manager of dining at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut,
and Rachel Harb, the training coordinator at Massachusetts Farm to School, for
a one-hour webinar focusing on velocity reports for campus dining service.
Learn how to amplify your purchasing power and streamline the planning process
with practical data gathering and velocity report analysis.
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Montana Beef to School Webinar
Date: November 15, 2017 at 4:00pm ET
Learn about successful strategies for purchasing and
serving local beef in Montana schools. This webinar will provide information about the Montana Beef to School
Project’s findings and
resources, as well as, give participants the first look at beef to school
procurement templates! Jay Stagg, Foodservice Director of Whitefish Public
Schools, will share his journey and recommendations for purchasing and serving
Montana beef. Beef is the Montana Harvest of the Month for March!
This webinar is part of Montana Office of Public
Instruction’s Webinar Wednesday series. Registration is not required, join now! Each installment
of Webinar Wednesday counts as 1 hour of continuing education for school
nutrition professionals.
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CACFP Halftime: Thirty on Thursdays
Join Team Nutrition for a
monthly CACFP Halftime:
Thirty on Thursdays training webinar! This new webinar series will
focus on hot topics related to the CACFP Meal Pattern requirements.
Upcoming webinars:
Webinars will be held on the third Thursday of every month, in English from 2:00–2:30 PM ET and in Spanish from 3:00–3:30 PM ET.
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Funding Opportunities
Farm to School Grant Request for Applications Important
Updates
It's hard to believe, but there are only five weeks until the FY
2018 Farm to School Grant Request for Applications closes! The purpose of the USDA Farm to School Grant Program is
to assist eligible entities in implementing farm to school programs that
improve access to local foods in eligible schools. On an annual basis, USDA awards
up to $5 million in competitive grants for training, supporting operations,
planning, purchasing equipment, developing school gardens, developing
partnerships, and implementing farm to school programs. The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 tasked USDA with
supporting farm to school efforts through grants, training, technical
assistance, and research.
Interested in applying? Complete
applications must be submitted on grants.gov by 11:59pm ET on December 8, 2017.
Check out our resources for applicants and see a list of awardees since the release of our
first RFA in 2013!
For those in the process of applying, please note:
- The farm to school coversheet that was on grants.gov and linked in the RFA is out of date – please download the updated farm to school coversheet from grants.gov. The updated version was just posted late last week. The latest version of the form requests enrollment data for school year 2016-2017 (old version states school year 2013-2014 which is incorrect).
- The RFA has been updated. It is available on grants.gov.
There were some questions around the State agency definition originally
found on page 13 of the RFA. The State agency definition provided in the RFA
was to dictate which State agency entities would receive “priority” designation
not to define a “State agency.” This definition can now be found on page 11 of the
RFA under the FY 2018 Priorities section.
- If you
haven’t, start your DUNs and SAM registration process which is required to
submit a Farm to School Grant application. Don’t know what these things are?
The FY 18
Farm to School RFA webinar has all of the details and is available
on the Applicant
resource page.
- We have
received a number of inquiries about the RFA that have now been included we will be including in our FAQ
document. You should check on this document periodically for updates.
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Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program
In FY 2018, the National Institute for Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) Community Food Project (CFP) intends to solicit applications and fund two types of grants:
- Community Food Projects (CFP)
- Planning Projects (PP)
The primary goals of the CFP are to:
- Meet the food needs of low-income individuals through food distribution, community outreach to assist in participation in Federally assisted nutrition programs, or improving access to food as part of a comprehensive service;
- Increase the self-reliance of communities in providing for the food needs of the communities;
- Promote comprehensive responses to local food access, farm, and nutrition issues; and,
- Meet specific state, local or neighborhood food and agricultural needs.
Interested in applying? Check out the Request for Applications (RFA). Applications are due December 4, 2017!
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New Resources
Food from Farms: Toolkit
for Direct Purchasing of Local Food
The Food from Farms: Toolkit for Direct Purchasing of Local Food provides examples and
templates to start community-based local food procurement directly
from farmers. The toolkit was originally developed for a small school district in
northern Minnesota, and was designed to comply with USDA guidelines.
The toolkit is
adaptable and has been used for local
food procurement by a hospital and a non-profit organization. The Aitkin County Public Health, Healthy Northland, and Minnesota's Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) sponsored the development of the toolkit and its associated materials. Compilation of the
toolkit was sponsored by Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture
(MISA). Valuable insight and feedback came from the Minnesota Farm to School
Leadership Team.
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Qaqamiigux: Head Start Traditional Foods Preschool Curriculum
Qaqamiigux: Head Start Traditional Foods Preschool Curriculum, developed by Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, Inc., provides a series of lessons and activities that preschool teachers can use to teach the nutritional value of the local, traditional foods in the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Region. The aim is to provide culturally-relevant nutrition curriculum specific to the foods in the region.
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Learn more at http://www.fns.usda.gov/farmtoschool or contact us at farmtoschool@fns.usda.gov.
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USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).
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