USDA Farm to School E-letter - June 11, 2013

NEWS & UPDATES

USDA Farm to School Staff All Across the Country
Whether you are just starting out or fine tuning a program that has been in place for years, USDA Farm to School staff are ready to assist you in your farm to school efforts.

The USDA Farm to School Program is operated by the Department’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), which has seven regional offices around the country. In each is a Farm to School Regional Lead who is available to provide farm to school related support to state agencies and other entities in their region.

Names and contact information for regional and national USDA Farm to School Program staff can be found on our Web site.

Matt Benson Joins USDA National Office Farm to School Team
Please welcome the newest addition to the USDA Farm to School Program, Matt Benson. Benson recently graduated with a PhD in Agricultural and Extension Education from Virginia Tech. His dissertation explored Cooperative Extension’s role in encouraging adoption of farm to school programming. At USDA, Benson will focus on analyzing results from the recent USDA Farm to School Census, monitoring impacts of the USDA Farm to School Grant Program, and identifying and synthesizing emerging best practices in the field of farm to school. Benson’s contact information can be found on our Web site.

BITS FROM BLOGS

In Virginia, a Food Hub Helps Growers Scale Up
Mark Seale got out of agriculture early. A Virginia native raised on the family farm, he didn’t see a future in the business once he finished high school – and his family didn’t argue with him.

But over the years, Mark found himself drawn back to agriculture in Virginia. Working with produce was something he’d grown up around, and a desire to do something in the industry was tugging at him. He returned to Virginia and opened Simply Fresh Produce, a retail outlet in Charlottesville. That’s where he met Jim Epstein, a real estate developer concerned about the disappearance of Virginia farmland. Jim knew that economically viable farms were the best buffer against development pressure and that smart development could in turn strengthen the local food system. So in 2010, Jim and Mark joined forces to build Blue Ridge Produce, a food hub in the rural community of Elkwood. MORE >

Little People's Garden Teaches Big Life Lessons
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. This Chinese proverb is the idea behind the Little People’s Garden in Montevideo, Minnesota.

“Children need to know where their food comes from,” said Liz Ludwig, Farm Service Agency county executive director. “It’s not made in a factory; it’s grown in the soil, raised by farmers and ranchers, and cared for by people we call farmers.”

Initiated by Ludwig, the Little People’s Garden — now in its fourth year — was planted at Kinder Kare learning center in Montevideo, providing preschoolers a hands-on opportunity to learn where their food comes from and how to make healthy food choices. MORE >

WEBINARS AND TRAININGS

Integrating Farm to School in Summer Feeding Programs
A reminder to learn more about incorporating local foods into summer meals by checking out the National Farm to School Network’s webinar on the topic, scheduled for June 11.

Stay up-to-date on all the latest USDA news and stories on the USDA Blog!