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Volume 8, Issue 6, March 2022
Title: Teaching Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with Farm to School
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Charlottesville, Virginia is a foodie town. There are acres of rolling farmland that sell to local gourmet restaurants and weekly farmers’ markets overflowing with fresh vegetables, local meat, and delicious pastries. Even with this abundance, Charlottesville struggles with food equity and access. Prior to the increased strain on food access brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, Virginia’s rate of food insecurity was 11%, while in Charlottesville that rate was 17%.
To change that narrative, nonprofit Cultivate Charlottesville, a Fiscal Year 2021 USDA Farm to School Implementation grantee, engages youth and the community in building equitable and sustainable food systems through garden-based experiential learning, growing and sharing healthy food, amplifying community leaders, and advocating for food justice.
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In 2020, Cultivate, in collaboration with Charlottesville City Schools (CCS), began their 5-year Healthy School Meals Initiative. The overarching goal of the Healthy School Meals Initiative is to ensure that CCS students have increased and equitable access to healthy, from scratch school meals. This initiative involves strategies beyond the procurement of fruits and vegetables and requires a look at the larger picture of school foods and other components that affect the sustainability of this initiative.
To achieve this goal, Cultivate and CCS are utilizing multiple, coordinated strategies that will adjust the program incrementally and intentionally while focusing on student voice.
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Strategy #1 Equity Through Access
To be sustainable, CCS needs increased student engagement in the meal program. They identified student-led decision-making as a tool to engage students in the school meal program. This results in more students eating school meals, which in turn means there is less hunger in their city’s schools and more program funds available for additional initiatives and fresh food options.
Strategy #2 Staff & Equipment
To improve the school nutrition program’s preparation of fruits and vegetables, Cultivate and CCS invested in tools, equipment, and a robust training program for school nutrition staff to increase their skills and confidence in the kitchen when preparing school meals.
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Strategy #3 Fresh, Scratch, and Local
Cultivate and CCS are collaborating with local nonprofits and farmers to increase procurement of local and fresh produce and foods and reduce the amount of processed and prepackaged meals served to students.
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Strategy #4 Youth Voice & Choice
Cultivate and CCS are investing in decision-making opportunities for students and developing opportunities for students to have their voices heard and direct change. Through the Cultivate Youth Food Justice Internship, Cultivate has hosted a weekly unit in their summer program working with students to develop priorities for their nutrition program, research recipes, and present these recipes to the Nutrition Director. Mr. Jones, the CCS Nutrition Director, was given 32 large-scale recipes that the students chose highlighting fresh ingredients. Over the summer, students engaged in taste tests of these recipes, and if the recipe was approved, the foods were added to the school year menu as a “student choice” option. In September 2021, Student Choice options were available 27 times.
Strategy #5 Youth Nutrition Education
Cultivate and CCS connect youth with how their food is grown. In 8 schoolyard gardens students enhance academic learning, cultivate healthy living skills, and build leadership skills at all grade levels through hands-on, experiential learning. This experience builds student understanding of the role food plays in their lives.
Combining all 5 of these strategies allows Cultivate and CCS to move forward to create a more equitable space for students, where they feel their voices heard and they know their food is good, and good for them.
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Feeding the Future With Local Foods - It’s Elementary!
Caption: Food Nutrition and Consumer Services Deputy Under Secretary Stacy Dean and Marketing and Regulatory Programs Deputy Under Secretary Mae Wu
It’s not every day that students have their lunch prepared by a USDA Deputy Under Secretary and Congresswoman. This was a special treat for Tyler Elementary School in Virginia’s Prince William County.
Deputy Under Secretary Stacy Dean was joined by Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (VA-10) at Tyler Elementary School to celebrate National Nutrition Month, by donning aprons to make chicken enchiladas - using locally sourced chicken and tortillas from a nearby taqueria.
After meeting with a terrific group of students, they talked with the school nutrition staff who gave them a hands-on lesson in one of the scratch recipes they make for the nearly 77,000 meals the district serves each day. They ended their visit watching the children make their way to cafeteria, ready to enjoy the healthy food that was lovingly prepared for them by their visitors and dedicated cafeteria staff.
Royalton-Hartland (Roy-Hart) School District in Middleport, New York, has created an innovative K-12 Agricultural Education Center of Excellence Program
Royalton-Hartland (Roy-Hart) School District in Middleport, New York, has created an innovative K-12 Agricultural Education Center of Excellence Program that helps to educate their youth about opportunities to choose a career in agriculture and food sciences. Their Agriculture Education Center has three areas of focus: Small Animal Care, Food Science, and Agri-Science Labs.
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Roy-Hart High School students have more reason now to pursue higher education in agricultural sciences with the opening of the new labs:
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Agri-Science Lab: In their agri-science lab students are working on projects related to innovation in agriculture, such as finding improved alternative designs for greenhouses, using growing towers that use UV light to grow lettuce, and coding for automated farming vehicles.
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Small Animal Care Lab: The small animal care lab has multiple animals who were tended to by students: hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, a chinchilla, and a bearded dragon. This lab is designed to support the animal science curriculum and provide hands-on learning opportunities for students.
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Food Science Lab: The lab/classroom space features the latest instructional technology and can serve up to 30 students. It is equipped with multiple workstations for the preparation and processing of food.
Read more about the K-12 Agricultural Education Center of Excellence Program:
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The 2022 Season of Produce Safety University is Here!
March 8th marked the official kickoff for the 2022 Produce Safety University (PSU) season! USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, in collaboration with the Agricultural Marketing Service and the Institute of Child Nutrition, hosted the first of five PSU trainings for school nutrition professionals. PSU is a train-the-trainer immersion course committed to helping foodservice staff identify and manage food safety risks associated with fresh produce. PSU covers all aspects of the fresh produce supply chain through lectures, laboratory instruction, and field trips. Participants learn to identify and manage food safety risks associated with fresh produce whether it’s purchased from farmers or distributors, received whole or fresh-cut, or grown in a school garden.
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How does PSU support Farm to School and Souring Local?
The PSU curriculum addresses fresh produce from all sources, including farms! Farm to school is integrated into classroom lectures and discussion throughout the course. Participants leave with increased knowledge of farming operations, business practices, and applicable food safety practices which helps them partner with farmers. Participants also learn about local and regional sourcing on field trips to produce distributors.
After the training, PSU graduates return with the confidence and knowledge to enhance their school nutrition programs. For example, the information presented on school gardens encouraged a participant to make the following change: "I walked the school garden with the teacher in charge of the garden. We made changes to where the chickens and goats were being housed in relation to where the garden was, got covers on the rain barrels, spoke about how the students need to be aware and trained in handling the produce especially after working with the animals." Learn more about PSU’s impact.PSU’s Impact
PSU is offered annually to local school nutrition program operators and State agency staff involved in administration, training, and technical assistance for school nutrition programs. Follow #ProduceSafetyU to keep up with us this season!
To learn more about PSU and Produce Safety check out the new Produce Safety University page:
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USDA Farm to School Program Releases Four Updated Fact Sheets!
We are excited to announce the USDA Food and Nutrition Service Farm to School Program has updated and released four fact sheets! These fact sheets, geared towards various farm to school stakeholders, provide updated guidance and resources, examples from Farm to School grantees and more. Check them out today!
Farm to School Resources are LIVE in the ICN CNSS Resource Hub
The Institution for Child Nutrition's (ICN) Child Nutrition Sharing Site (CNSS) Resource Hub is a one stop shop for all operation-related child nutrition program resources. The resource hub now features a section for farm to school resources.
These free resources from various farm to school stakeholders cover a variety of topics, such as building your farm to school team, promoting your farm to school program, native/traditional food resources, and more.
Has your organization created farm to school resources that might be helpful for other organizations? We invite you to share them via the easy-to-use Farm to School Resources Submission Form. Farm to school stakeholders, including USDA Farm to School grantees, have the ability to upload resources created to the new Farm to School hub. To submit a resource, visit the Resource Hub Submission page and complete the form.
Dig Into Your Knowledge of School Gardens
Test your knowledge and build your nutrition skills with this fun Team Nutrition School Gardening Quiz!
Click the photo to go to the quiz
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USDA Rural Development has Released New Fact Sheets!
USDA Rural Development has released two fact sheets! These fact sheets review their Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program and the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program.
Check them out today!
SAVE THE DATE!
Join the Edible Schoolyard Project this summer for a week of training sessions and workshops exploring the fundamentals of edible education.
Virtual Summer Training 2022: June 21 – 24th
USDA Announces American Rescue Plan Technical Assistance Investment to Benefit Underserved Farmers, Ranchers and Forest Landowners
USDA has announced that it is accepting grant applications for the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Technical Assistance Investment Program to provide historically underserved farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners technical support in accessing USDA programs and services.
USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) will provide, at a minimum, a $25 million investment of American Rescue Plan funds, with awards ranging from $500,000 to $3.5 million for a five-year cooperative agreement.
The deadline to submit applications is June 1, 2022.
Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) & Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP)
In Fiscal Year 2022, the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) will receive a total of $97 million in competitive grant funding to help local and regional food entities develop, coordinate and expand producer-to-consumer marketing, local and regional food markets, and local food enterprises. Of the $97 million, LAMP’s Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program (FMLFPP) will receive $57 million and the Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP) will receive $40 million.
Learn more about the grants during webinars for FMLFPP at on April 5 and RFSP on April 6.
Applications must be submitted electronically by Monday, May 16, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) - Education and Workforce Development (EWD) Funding Opportunity
NIFA’s AFRI-EWD focuses on developing the next generation of research, education, and Extension professionals in the food and agricultural sciences. These grants aim to cultivate future industry, government, or academic leaders who can solve emerging agricultural challenges of the 21st Century. Click the button below for more information.
USDA Announces $35 Million Funding Opportunity to Support Underserved and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers
USDA announced approximately $35 million in available funding to community-based and nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, and tribal entities that help historically underserved and veteran farmers and ranchers own and operate successful farms. Funding is made through the USDA’s Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program (also known as the 2501 Program). Click the button below for more information:
Learn more through upcoming webinars:
Session 1: March 30, 2022, at 2 p.m. EDT
Session 2: May 4, 2022, at 2 p.m. EDT
Turnip The Beet Awards
The Summer Food Service Program, also known as the Summer Meals Program, has announced their 2021 Turnip the Beet Awardees. This award recognizes outstanding summer meal program sponsors across the nation who work hard to offer high quality meals to children that are appetizing, appealing, and nutritious during the summer months. The Summer Meals Program plays a critical role in the lives of millions of their nation’s youth, whose risk for food insecurity increases during the summer months when they no longer have access to healthy and nutritious school meals.
See the list of winners
Fueling My Healthy Life Nutrition Education Materials for Grades 7 and 8
Food and Nutrition Services’ Team Nutrition released lessons plans, informational texts, videos, and digital interactive materials for 7th and 8th grade teachers and students as part of the Fueling My Healthy Life collection. This inquiry-based middle school curriculum is designed to engage students in nutrition education, while meeting educational standards for English Language Arts and Health. These new materials are currently available on the Team Nutrition website.
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Michigan Department of Education Farm to School Video Series
The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has developed and launched a series of seven videos for all school food service staff, agricultural educators, school food producers, and anyone interested in learning about bringing fresh local foods to schools and early childcare centers. The video series features topics including procurement, sourcing local, school gardens, agricultural education, food safety, and meal quality.
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The Dirt is a monthly publication of USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Community Food Systems Divison, providing news and resources for Farm to School Grantees and all readers who want to know what is new and exciting in farm to school.
Learn more at https://www.fns.usda.gov/cfs or contact us at farmtoschool@usda.gov
Not yet subscribed to The Dirt? Join us by clicking here.
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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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