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This Week in Farm to School from NC
April 7, 2022
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Farm to school connects local agriculture, schools, and partners to benefit students, educators, farmers, families, and communities.
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Five High School Teams Win Honors in NC Jr. Chef Cook-Off
Five high school finalist teams competed in the annual North Carolina Jr. Chef cook-off this month to create unique school lunch entrée recipes. Apex High from Wake County Public Schools won first place in North Carolina’s fifth statewide and second virtual competition. The “Spice Girl’s” Sope recipe intertwined familial heritage with innovative flavors. Their recipe was a twist on a traditional Mexican street food: a masa shell topped with seasoned chicken, beans, pineapple salsa, cabbage, queso fresco and crema.

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Today! Ecological Gardening: Companion Planting and Other Earth-Friendly Practices
April 7, 2022 // 7 pm EDT
Join KidsGardening as they talk with garden expert and author Charlie Nardozzi about how using an ecosystem-based approach in the garden including techniques such as companion planting and no-dig gardening can help you grow a successful and sustainable youth garden program. They will also explore how the garden can be used to teach youth about the intricate and vital relationships of plants, animals, fungi, and other microorganisms in our world and the benefits of environmental diversity. All registrants will be entered to win a Tubtrug full of garden goodies and a copy of Charlie’s book The Complete Guide to No-Dig Gardening.
2022 CEFS’ Committee on Racial Equity (CORE) Two-Day Training – Focus on the Food System
April 12 - 13, 2022 // 9:30 pm - 3:30 pm EDT
Join CORE for their multi-day virtual racial equity training that will offer a shared language, a shared framework, and a shared history for understanding how racism and systemic barriers inhibit equity in the food system, with a focus on food insecurity.
For Kids by Kids Garden Chat
April 14, 2022 // 4 pm EDT
KidsGardening is hosting a livestream created just for kids. This 45-minute livestream will celebrate Kids Garden Month with three kid gardeners sure to uplift and inspire. Join Kendall Rae Johnson (6), Te'Lario Watkins II (14), and Emma Biggs (16) as they share stories of how they came to gardening and why growing plants can change the world. Come with your questions! The kid gardeners are eager to hear from their peers and share advice on how to get started in the garden. Please note that this webinar is geared toward kids, but KidsGardening asks that an adult be in the room as well.
Listen Up! Understanding Food Justice and Environmental Justice through Music (Virtual)
April 14, 2022 // 7:30 pm EDT
Music can be used to understand and communicate about food justice and environmental justice. Communicating through music can strengthen and uplift food and environmental justice practice that is diverse in terms of epistemology, representation, and mode. This event is hosted by the Food Studies Program and the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School. It is part of the Food Studies’ Program’s Critical Food Studies and Social Justice Spring 2022 event series and the Tishman Environment and Design Center’s 2022 Earth Week activities.
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Join a Farm to School Coalition of North Carolina Working Group!
Are you interested in collaborating with other farm to school stakeholders in North Carolina? The Farm to School Coalition of NC is seeking individuals to join one or more of our Working Groups – education & engagement, systems change, impact & outreach, resiliency, and sustainability. If you’d like to learn more about these Working Groups and how you can get involved please complete our interest form below. We look forward to collaborating with you all!

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Life Lab Nature Journaling
In this lesson, students create their own garden journals and use them to record observations of nature in the garden through drawing, writing, and painting. Journaling brings literacy, art, and creativity into the outdoors and can be used as a one-time activity or as an ongoing routine; it can be guided and scientific, open-ended, or anywhere in between.
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Journal Article: Mapping New Agricultural Lands: From Conventional to Regenerative
Published through the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), researchers study how conventional agriculture has come under question for its environmental and social costs. Their research suggests that regenerative agriculture and land management practices can be organized around farming and grazing practices that regenerate interdependent ecological and community processes for generations to come.
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What You’re Eating Podcast: Episode 4 – The Big Problem of Food Waste
What You're Eating is a podcast series from the team at FoodPrint. Their collection of podcasts shed light on the food system and the culture of food. In episode 4, FoodPrint talks to experts about why food waste is a problem and digs into some of the cultural reasons why our society treats food as disposable.
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Tomorrow! Outdoor Classroom Challenge
Deadline: April 8, 2022
Project Green Schools is challenging schools across the country to develop and implement a meaningful outdoor classroom and learning space that awards one Grand Prize of $10,000 to further enhance an existing space or build a new space. Schools will submit a formal write-up, proposed budget, and design of their outdoor learning classroom/space. Project Green Schools will invite the top five designs to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges in Spring 2022 to determine the winner.
WNC Farm to School Jumpstart Grant
Deadline: April 15, 2022
The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s Growing Minds Jumpstart Grant is now open! Eligible schools and organizations can apply for funding in the amount of $500 to $1,000 to support their farm to school projects. Funding can be used to start new projects or to expand upon existing activities. Pre-k through 12 schools, homeschool groups, teacher and nutrition education programs, and community-based organizations serving children and families are eligible to apply (see below for more details). Schools/organizations must be located within the 23 westernmost counties of North Carolina (Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, Yancey) or the Qualla Boundary. Applications are due on the 15th of each month through August 2022.
Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP)
Deadline: May 16
USDA has opened grant applications under the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP). This funding is available through three channels, with the USDA including a focus on Farm to Institution (FTI) projects for two of the funding streams: The Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) grants will develop food businesses that connect local food to institutions, and the Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP) grant supports public-private partnerships that build and strengthen the viability of local or regional food economies. The third stream, the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP), supports direct-to-consumer markets such as farmers markets and CSAs. The Wallace Center has created this set of resources on applying.
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.
Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) Grants
CSPI is releasing several grant opportunities this funding cycle that is organized into 4 focus areas: State and local policy grants, Community prioritized policy innovation grants, Federal lobbying grants, Power building grants. Many topics will be relevant to school food, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR), and other categories related to Farm to School. Click the link below to find more information, including resources for applicants and application information, and sign up to be notified about relevant funding opportunities.
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Support Kids Not Red Tape
Senator Stabenow and Senator Murkowski introduced a bipartisan bill to extend the USDA waiver authority for Child Nutrition programs (read more about why that's important). Follow this link to urge our Senators to support this bill.
National Farm to School Network State (NFSN) Policy Map
NFSN recently launched an exciting new State Policy Map resource. State legislative sessions are in full swing, and they would love to learn about state policies that should be highlighted and shared through this interactive tool.
Extensions for Child Nutrition Waivers
A report released on March 7 by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service underscores the negative impact of supply chain disruptions and staffing challenges on School Nutrition Programs during the 2021-2022 school year. The report also found that nearly 90 percent of school districts used the Seamless Summer Option (SSO) waiver to serve meals for the school year 2021-2022, which allows schools to offer all students meals at no charge and provides higher reimbursement rates which have been needed to support nutrition finances during the pandemic.
Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) Update
Advocates are gearing up for another potential push for Child Nutrition Reauthorization, the largest piece of federal legislation that authorizes school, summer, after-school, and early care and education (ECE) meal programs. You can read more about the CNR process and National Farm to School Network's top issues here, and see information about key legislative proposals ("marker bills") here. While no package of legislation has yet been released, there is an opportunity to build support among legislators for strengthening these programs through funding, access, farm to school activities, and an equity lens that can truly shift power for a racially just food system. Use this form to reach out to your legislator and let them know the Child Nutrition priorities that are important to you.
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EmbraceRace
EmbraceRace has stories that speak to how racialization shapes our individual and collective lives.
Racial Equity Tools
Racial Equity Tools is designed to support individuals and groups working to achieve racial equity. It offers tools, research, tips, curricula, and ideas for people who want to increase their understanding and help those working for racial justice at every level – in systems, organizations, communities, and the culture at large.
21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge
Food Solutions New England will host its 8th version of the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge from April 4th to the 24th in 2022.
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Our F2SCNC Steering Committee had the opportunity this week through a virtual retreat to dream big for what farm to school could look like in our state.
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Tag us on Facebook and Instagram to share what farm to school values resonate with you? |
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