Georgia Organics - Ten Simple Steps

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

Farm To School

FARM TO SCHOOL
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is Farm to School?

At a time when childhood obesity and nutrition-related disease is rapidly rising and America's small farms are decreasing, Farm to School programs are emerging as thoughtful, holistic solutions. Farm to School programs connect schools with local farms. Their objectives include:

serving healthy meals in school cafeterias
improving student nutrition
supporting small, local farmers

Download the Farm to School and Educational Garden Programs resource guide.

Who is involved in Farm to School programs?

Farm to School programs generally strive to involve all of the stakeholders participating in school food web. These individuals include food service professionals, farmers, distributors, teachers, administrators, nutritionists, students, parents, and community members .

What are some of the opportunities of having a Farm to School program?

Increased student nutrition . Evaluations of Farm to School programs have shown to increase students' consumption and knowledge of local and nutritious foods.
Supporting local farmers. With more than 30 million children eating the federally supporting school lunch every day, farmers have a great opportunity in selling food to community schools.
Supporting local economy. While most food travels over 1,500 miles before it reaches a plate, schools can choose to spend some of their dollars on fresh, local produce.

What are some of the challenges to having a Farm to School Program?

Distribution. Often, new distribution avenues must be explored, as finding a distributor that will provide local produce is sometimes more difficult.
Lack of convenience. Many schools rely on frozen, pre-cooked food, and no longer possess kitchen equipment or expertise to prepare fresh foods.
Lack of time. Schools on a budget often have a limited staff of food service professionals to prepare fresh food. Likewise, teachers in the classroom are often faced with strict state curriculum guidelines that must be addressed daily.

How can I start a Farm to School program?

Host a forum for discussion. Invite all stakeholders (see above) to a community meeting to discuss the possibility of a Farm to School program. See that all participants have an opportunity to convey their thoughts on the challenges and opportunities presented.
Draft a policy. Having a written policy approved by the school board can be instrumental in sustaining and growing a program. See http://www.foodsecurity.org for examples.
Understand school food service contracts. Often, a school district has a contract for food management services. While these contracts can be challenging, there are many examples of private contractors integrating local foods into school cafeterias.
Adopt a fully integrated nutrition curriculum that connects experiential learning at the farm and in the garden to healthy choices in the lunchroom and improved healthy throughout life.
Take a field trip to a farm. Exposing students to a local, working farm is a great way to introduce their local food system. Have the farmer talk about food production and life cycles, and engage students in hands-on farm activities.
Research a variety of programs. There are many different types of Farm to School programs, and there are several useful reports and evaluations. See reverse side for websites.

LITERATURE

Helpful resources in understanding the impacts and influences of farm to school program.

Farm to school:

Azuma, A. & Fisher, A. (2001). Healthy Farms, Healthy Kids: Evaluating Barriers and Opportunities for Farm to School Programs. Community Food Security Coalition: Venice, CA.

Bellows, Barbara. Bringing Local Food to Local People: A Resource Guide for Farm-to-School and Farm-to-Institution Programs (2003) Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas.

Crane, Elizabeth. (2003) The Incredible Edible Schoolyard: School Garden Projects Are

Reaping the Benefits of Teaching Hands-on. Learning District Administration. pp. 28-32.

Demas, Antonia (1995) Food Education in the elementary classroom as a means of gaining acceptance of diverse low-fat food in the school lunch program . Cornell University: Ithaca, NY.

Harmon, A. (2002). Farm to School: A Guide for Food Service Professionals . Los Angeles: National Farm to School Program.

History of the National School Lunch Program, http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/

Sanger, K. (2002). Institutional Sales for Small Farms and Farm-to-School Program: Resources and Information Gathered from Programs and Researchers Around the Country. Washington State Department of Agriculture. Olympia, WA.

Young, Morris, J.L., & Zidenberg-Cherr, S.(2003) Garden Enhanced nutrition curriculum improves fourth-grade school children's knowledge of nutrition and preferences for some vegetables. Journal of the American Dietetic Association . 102(1),91-93.

Understanding child nutrition & food preferences:

Baxter, S.D. & Thompson, W.O. (2002). Fourth-grade Children's consumption of fruit and vegetable items as a part of school lunches in closely related to preferences. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior , 3,166-171

Birch, L.L. (1980). Effects of peer models' food choices and eating behaviors on preschoolers' food preferences. Child Development, 51 , 489-496.

Briggs, M., Morris, J., Zidenberg-Cherr, S. (2002). Development and Evaluation of a Garden Enhanced Nutrition Education Curriculum for Elementary School Children. The Journal of Child Nutrition and Management , 2. Retrieved April 18, 2005 from

http://www.asfsa.org/childnutrition/jcnm/02fall/morris/.

Demas, A. (1995). Food Education in the elementary classroom as a means of gaining acceptance of diverse low-fat food in the school lunch program . Ithaca: Cornell University.

Domel, S.B., Baranowski, T., Davis, H., Leonard, S.B., Riley, P., & Baranowski, J. (1993). Measuring fruit and vegetable preferences among 4th- and 5th-grade students. Preventive Medicine, 22, 866-879.

Food and Nutrition Information Center (2004). Food Guide Pyramid. Retrieved on May 29,2004 from http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/Fpyr/pyramid.html

Meyer, Conklin, Lewis, Marshak, Cousin, Turnage & Wood (2001). Barriers to healthy nutrition environments in public school middle grades. Journal of Child Nutrition and Management, 25, 66-71.

LATEST NEWS:

10.1.08: Let the new President and Congress know your thoughts about school lunch!

On June 30, 2004, President Bush signed the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 into law (Public Law 108-265). Every five years the window of opportunity opens on Capitol Hill as lawmakers and their staff work together to improve, tweak and reauthorize the federal Child Nutrition Programs. The act contains several provisions that could affect school gardens and the use of local food in cafeterias. Please submit your recommendation by mail, fax or electronically by October 15, 2008.

Click here to view a sample letter supporting Farm to School.
Click here to read Georgia Organics' letter of support.