Even though the snow is falling and school is in full swing, now is the time to start thinking about the opportunities for bringing local foods to summer meal programs. The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) in Massachusetts, known as Summer Eats, is a Federally-funded nutrition program that provides free meals to children ages 18 and under when school is not in session. The program is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with outreach support from the Child Nutrition Outreach Program at Project Bread. In Massachusetts, nearly 10% of households experience food insecurity and Summer Eats helps to fill the meal gap during the summer months. By providing free meals throughout the summer, Summer Eats ensures that every child has access to the nutritious foods they need to succeed.

With support from a USDA Farm to School grant, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education worked with the Child Nutrition Outreach Program and the Massachusetts Farm to School Project to create a series of resources to encourage and support SFSP sponsors to increase the use of local foods and nutrition education activities at summer meal sites.  

Watch these great videos to see the benefits of farm to summer in action! You can also check out their Procuring Local Foods Guide and their How to Bring Local Foods into Summer Eats Guide to find the tools you need to build a successful program, incorporate local foods into your menu, and plan activities that will engage kids and teens. For tasty recipes that take advantage of summer bounty, try these recipes that feature Strawberries, Cucumbers and Peaches.

The Colorado Department of Education’s farm to school team has developed multiple resources and trainings that illustrate a dedicated and comprehensive approach to incorporating “Farm to” concepts in the SFSP. Training topics such as incorporating local foods into menus, procuring local foods, and forming partnerships to include farm to summer activities are included. Aside from many sponsor success stories, the State agency has quantifiable results from sponsor surveys attributing increased participation to improved meal quality via the inclusion of local foods.

The State agency also worked with summer sponsors to develop best practice videos for their 2019 in-person training. The videos covered a variety of topics, including “How to Plan High Quality Summer Meals” featuring sponsors discussing their strategies to improve meal quality and increase farm to summer activities.

During the Mountain Plains Regional Office’s 2019 Farm to CNP Summit, attendees took a field trip to visit producers that participate in Farm to Child Nutrition Programs in Colorado and provide local produce to children through summer feeding programs.

Connecting Classrooms, Cafeterias, Communities: A Guide to Building Integrated Farm to School Programs, created by Vermont Feed and supported by NOFA-VT and Shelburne Farms, is intended to support school communities in developing robust, long lasting, and integrated farm to school programs, addressing whole school change. This guide is primarily intended for a multidisciplinary team of individuals working within the K-12 system: school nutrition staff, teachers, administrators, students, community members, and members of support organizations.

Each school community will have a different level of experience and familiarity with farm to school. This resource can support a team as they align their existing activities to their school culture and community priorities, while also sustaining changes. A robust, long-lasting, and integrated farm to school program should be able to:

• Maximize equitable student access to fresh, nutritious, locally grown foods,
• Educate students about food systems and healthy eating habits through hands-on and community-based experiences, and
• Support and grow market opportunities for local producers and processors.