This Week in Farm to School from NC

May 19, 2022

Come to the Table Eastern Regional Gathering

May 24, 2022 // 10 am - 3 pm 

Join Come to the Table at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park for a day of learning and networking! Come to the Table staff are leading an outdoor gathering to explore the theology of food, provide opportunities for relationship building, examine policies, and create space for conversations and questions. The gathering will feature sessions on hospitality and policy, and a partner presentation from faith leader Veronica Watson and farmer Steve Moore. 

Register here.

Cooking Matters Series

June 1 - July 6, 2o22 // 7 pm EDT

Join the Carolina Hunger Initiative for free online nutrition and cooking education lessons! This Cooking Matters series encourages caregivers and their children to prepare healthy meals and snacks together. Lessons will also share ideas on how to help kids eat more fruits and vegetables, and will include live cooking demonstrations. All lessons will be held via Zoom. The Zoom link will be sent to participants after completing the registration form.

Register here. 

Funding Your School Food Garden

June 14, 2022 // 4 pm EDT

In this webinar, hosted by Kids Gardening, a panel of garden experts will discuss ways to fundraise. From crowdfunding, to securing donations, learn what makes your program attractive to local supporters. Join to learn how to fundraise and secure donations locally. 

Register here.

Recording: School Gardens Support For Food Relief and Food Pantries

In this webinar, School Garden Support Organizations shared how school and community garden programs distributed their harvests to address food insecurity and provide food relief during COVID-19.

View recording here.

Recording: Local Foods for Schools - Models for Success

On April 20th, the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service hosted a webinar for Child Nutrition State agencies and other State-level farm to school stakeholders. This webinar featured State agencies sharing best practices and success stories in the areas of State-led local procurement and value chain coordination. The webinar content can help State agencies think about how to design a proposal for the Agricultural Marketing Services' Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS). 

Watch the recording here.

Meet the Coalition Working to Get More Locally Grown food in NC Schools

This is the first article in a three-part series on farm to school efforts in North Carolina. 

Read more here.

NC Cooperative Extension School Garden Resources

School Gardens can be rich, vibrant spaces for young people to deepen their understanding of local foods. Browse this article for resources, ideas and materials that can support a school garden program.

Read more here.

Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program - Produce Prescription Program

Deadline: June 30, 2022

The National Institute for Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program - Produce Prescription Program focuses on projects that improve dietary health through increased consumption of fruits and vegetables; reduce individual and household food insecurity; and reduce healthcare use and associated costs. Submissions for grants have now opened. Applications may only be submitted by government agencies and non-profit organizations; however, award recipients may sub-award to organizations not eligible to apply provided such organizations are necessary for the conduct of the project.

Apply here.

National Institute of Food and Agriculture Grant

Deadline: July 28, 2022

The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Sustainable Agricultural Systems supports approaches that promote transformational changes in the U.S. food and agriculture system. NIFA seeks creative and visionary applications that take a systems approach for projects that are expected to significantly improve the supply of affordable, safe, nutritious, and accessible agricultural products while fostering economic development and rural prosperity in America. 

Learn more here.

National Farm to School Network State (NFSN) Policy Map

NFSN Partners and state policy advocates are advancing state-level policies that are win for our kids by ensuring nourishing food is served in meals and snacks; a win for farmers by creating school market opportunities that provide reliable and consistent sales and fair pay; and a win for our communities by creating conditions for school food to be grown, distributed, prepared and consumed in ways that benefit everyone along the way. Interact with the map below to see what's happening in your state or territory during the current legislative session.

View the map here.

BIPOC Leaders Share Food Sovereignty Strategies

Bioneers gathered three community leaders together to discuss how they are working to break through the impacts of colonization to develop a community-owned food system that is equitable, profitable, and built on respectful relationships. 

Watch here.

Six Food Sovereignty Principles

This article provides Climate Justice Alliance’s six tenets of food sovereignty. Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. 

Read more here.

Indigenous Food Sovereignty Movements Are Taking Back Ancestral Land

From fishing rights off Nova Scotia, to grazing in Oklahoma and salmon habitats on the Klamath River, tribal groups are reclaiming their land and foodways.

Read more here.