July 7, 2022

This Week in Farm to School 

Farm to school connects local agriculture, schools, and partners to benefit students, educators, farmers, families, and communities.

Abolitionist Teaching in the Garden Workshop

July 18, 2022 // 9 am - 4 pm // Burlington, NC

This in-person workshop, hosted by the NC School Garden Network, is about the intersection between abolitionist teaching and garden-based learning. All levels of experience (in education and gardening) are encouraged to register. Both CEU credit and EE credit are available. 

Register here.

Racial Equity in Farm to School (Virtual)

July 19, 2022 // 3 - 5 pm ET (postponed - originally scheduled for June 21)

The Farm to School Coalition of NC and CEFS Farm to School Initiative are hosting a FREE five-session training series on Racial Equity in Farm to School. These trainings will be filled with important information, compelling discussions, and accessible action items. The first session will cover implicit bias and will contribute to achieving the overall objectives of understanding how biases contribute to systemic harm, making connections between language and power and applying a racial equity lens to farm to school practices.

Register here.

Virtual Film Screening Event: Financial Impacts of Climate-Resilient Agriculture in North Carolina

July 27, 2022 // 6 pm ET

Join the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) for a short-film screening highlighting the experience of three North Carolina farms adopting climate-resilient agriculture practices. There will be an engaging session with the three farmers and their extension agents. Also, you can expect to come away with a better understanding of climate-resilient practices and the financial impacts they have on North Carolina farms. 

Register here.

The Center for Environmental Farming System's (CEFS) Symposium on Agriculture, Food Systems and Climate Change

August 11, 2022 // 1 - 7 pm ET

The CEFS Symposium on Agriculture, Food Systems, and Climate Change will bring together interdisciplinary researchers, policymakers, farmers, and community leaders for interactive discussions to highlight novel ideas and priorities for agriculture and food systems to address climate change. This symposium is open to all and will conclude with a networking opportunity to cultivate new collaborations and communication among symposium participants. CEFS is excited to exchange ideas, share solutions, and engage with others committed to addressing climate change.

Register here.

The USDA Farm to School Planning Toolkit

The Farm to School Planning Toolkit guides you through questions to consider and helpful resources to reference when starting or growing a farm to school program. It is designed for use by schools, school districts, and community partners. The toolkit is filled with tips and examples, insights from others, and lists of resources for further research. Each school district is unique, so browse the topics to find the resources most relevant to you and your implementation team! 

Read more here.

Garden Curriculum

Check out these garden tested lessons by educators and K-12 students from around the country! Topics range from accessibility in the garden to literature. 

Learn more here.

Little Seeds Pollinator Pals Grant

Deadline: July 15, 2022

Little Seeds and KidsGardening are excited to announce the launch of the 2022 Little Seeds Pollinator Pals Grant. This grant will award a total of 20 programs $500 in funding to develop new or expand existing pollinator gardens. Any nonprofit organization, school district, university, government entity, or tax-exempt organization, like religious organizations and Tribal governments, in the United States and US Territories serving at least 15 youth is eligible to apply. Programs must be planning a new or expanding an existing youth garden designed to teach about the importance of pollinators. Previous winners of the Little Seeds Pollinator Pals Grant are not eligible. 

Learn more and 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 US 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.

Funding for qualified lenders Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program

Deadline: Application accepted until funds are exhausted

The USDA Rural Development Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program is authorized by the American Rescue Plan. This program guarantees loans of up to $40 million for qualified lenders to finance food systems projects, specifically for the start-up or expansion of activities in the middle of the food supply chain. The program will support new investments in infrastructure for food aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storage, transportation, wholesaling, and distribution.

Learn more here.

Sign On: It's Time for Food Education

For the first time in 50 years, the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health is convening in September 2022. This conference has the potential to influence food policy for decades to come, which makes now a critical time to elevate nutrition issues that matter most. You can help make sure food education has a seat at the table. Food education is key in nourishing every child’s health, education, and sense of belonging at school, especially for children of color, who face health and education inequities. Join FoodCorps and other partners in urging the White House to support placing a food educator in every school.

Sign the petition here. 

USDA Funding Input

On June 30, USDA announced that it would award $934 million in Commodity Credit Corporation funds to school meal programs in the 2022-23 school year. This funding will likely have similar guidelines to the Supply Chain Assistance Funds distributed to school food authorities earlier in 2022. In order to provide feedback to USDA on how we would like to see these programs implemented the most beneficially, the National Farm to School Network is interested in hearing from you:

• Farm to School State Formula Grants
• Healthy Food Incentive Fund
• Usefulness of other funding sources – Organic Transition Initiative or Food Safety Certification for Specialty Crops

Please contact Karen Spangler (karen@farmtoschool.org) to share your input!

Anti-Bias Education in the Early Years

The film focuses on teachers in diverse early childhood classrooms who are committed to equity - in terms of race, gender, disability, language, class and other identities of the students and families they serve - on a daily basis. During the film, teachers use anti-bias strategies in early childhood classrooms and also see them reflecting on their practices.

Watch here.

CEFS Committee on Racial Equity (CORE) Racial Equity Toolkit

The goal of this toolkit is to support development of a shared understanding, shared language and shared analysis of structural racism as one of many root causes of food systems disparity. Understanding this lens will support our understanding the intersection of various forms of inequity (i.e. gender and economic) and the historical and current impacts on all communities.

View here.