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Brown swiss cow in snow

Dear Members,


It’s been so great seeing you this month! In our meetings, you asked questions about empowering new staff, choosing value-aligned sponsors for events, and how to introduce new educators to the production sides of your farm. You offered tips for designing summer programming with racial equity at the center, and how staff can find alignment using a project management tool, SCRUM. Whether you were part of these conversations or not, thank you! We’re trying our best to keep up with your dynamic questions, and hope to pick up these conversations in future meetings.


See you soon,

Vera Simon-Nobes

FBEN Coordinator

Ani Steele

P.S. Have you met Ani yet? Ani Steele is the owner of Builder/Weaver, LLC, a food and culture consulting service based in Denver. She’s facilitating this spring’s Summer Camp Learning Community.


Feel free to reach out and say “hello” via email: ani@builderweaver.com

Upcoming FBEN Workshops

Spinach buds in greenhouse. Photo by Sarah Webb.

Managing Growth and Demand Panel Part II


March 2, 3:304:30 ET (Online): You asked so many great questions at the first part of this workshop on 2/22 that we decided to open up another space to keep the conversation going. Join this informal Zoom on March 2. We’ll ask you for your strategies for growing your program sustainably, how to prioritize programming for people/students that need it most, the role of strategic planning, and how you balance growing demand and revenue potential with what will create the best experience for participants. Join the Zoom, no advance registration required.


Watch the recording of Part I.

Two young campers in market garden. Photo by Sarah Webb.

Summer Camp Learning Community (Bi-Weekly)


Next date March 16 12 - 1 pm EST (Online): Do you host camp on your farm? Join FBEN’s 4th annual virtual summer camp learning community. This free peer-learning space offers perspectives, tips, and ideas about hiring, registration, staff training, activity planning, and more. This year’s community is facilitated by food and culture consultant Ani Steele, owner of Builder/Weaver, LLC. Register for 3/16.


Watch the recording of our last meeting on 2/13.

Large tree with sun streaming through leaves

Healing the Roots of Racism


March 22–November 15 (Online): For people who want to discover how whiteness has shaped them and practice new cognitive, emotional, and bodily/somatic patterns. This series is a deep dive for people who already have some foundational understanding of structural racism in the US. Join this space to listen, learn, and try out acting differently in our bodies and from our bodies so that we can move with alignment for racial justice in farm-based education and beyond. Learn more and register now.

Bleeding heart flowers bloom

Death on the Farm: A Panel Discussion Offering Multiple Perspectives


Animal death is a normal part of life on a farm, and there are innumerable approaches to talking about it. Our attitudes about death are shaped by our beliefs and experiences, and navigating kid (and adult!) questions can be complicated. This panel discussion will introduce the thoughtful approaches taken by two farm-based education organizations. Registration and info coming soon!

Group of farm-based educators pose in front of sugar shack

ABCs of Farm-Based Education (Fall)


October 22–24, 2023 (Shelburne Farms, VT): Registration is open! (Or join the waitlist for the Spring ABCs session!). Are you looking to build a farm-based education program, or inspire your existing programming? At the ABCs of Farm-Based Education workshop, you’ll fill your toolbox with kid-tested activities as you join a community of peers from around the region. Spend time in hands-on, activity-based learning while you explore Shelburne Farms’ dairy, farmyard, garden, and forest classrooms. Designed for farmers, farm-based educators, and non-formal educatorsRegister now.

Note: We had a recording glitch and our February 8 panel, Onboarding Newly Hired Farm-Based Educators, was not recorded, but you can read notes here. Many thanks to those who made it and the presenters!

More Learning Opportunities

WEBINAR

Garden-Based Summer Camp Model


February 28, 7 PM ET (Online): Washington-based non-profit Classroom in Bloom offers a very successful 4-6 week summer camp program for children ages 6-10 yrs old. Executive Director Kim Romain-Bondi and Youth Education Coordinator Mia Sundstrom will share ways to help you harness children’s energy in the garden into an inquiry-based learning environment, packed with engaging activities. Offered by Kids Gardening. Register now.

SGSO logo

WEBINAR

Non-Linear Garden Design as an Identity Affirming Garden Practice


March 15, 2 PM ET (Online): From the chinampas of Mexico to the terraced gardens in Asia and companion planting practices around the world, our ancestors point the way to designs that circumvent tidy row cropping most common in gardens. By exploring non-linear designs we can re-center the practices of ancestral growers and invite conversations about identity and heritage into our garden programs. Join the School Garden Support Organization Network as we journey towards collective care and common ground in our school gardens. Hosted by the Academy for Global Citizenship in Chicago, IL. More information and registration.

New England Farm to School Institute gathering on grassy lawn at Shelburne Farms. Photo by Sarah Webb.

YEAR LONG INSTITUTE

Northeast Farm to School Institute


June 27- 29 at Shelburne Farms (In Person): The Institute is a unique year-long professional learning opportunity for selected school, district, or early childhood teams from New England and New York.

Since 2010, the Farm to School Institute has been bringing teams together to build relationships, skills, and a collaborative action plan for their school. With the support of a coach, teams spend the school year putting their plans into action and strengthening their capacity to impact classrooms, cafeterias and communities, with change that lasts.

Applications due March 6, 2023

RESOURCE

¡Basta! Working Together to Prevent Sexual Harassment in the Agricultural Workplace


This month we had a request from a member looking for training resources around harassment prevention in the workplace. While education alone will not stop harassment, it’s an important strategy in a multi-faceted approach to prevention. In this webinar, participants will be introduced to The ¡Basta! Prevent Sexual Harassment in Agriculture training, toolkit, and video, which uses an evidence-based, community engaged approach to help employees, HR staff, and growers prevent and address sexual harassment in the agricultural workplace.


Another person recommended this collection of general Workplace Harassment Training Resources. Do you have other resources to share? Let us know!

Seeking Your Feedback

Listening and Learning to Serve BIPOC FBEN Members 


Do you identify as BIPOC/people of the global majority and work in farm-based education, farm to school, garden-based ed, or a related food systems field? We invite you to help shape FBEN's 2023-2024 offerings for you!


In 2022, Richael Faithful (they/them), a folk healing artist, facilitated a six-part series for BIPOC that met monthly. Richael has hosted spaces with FBEN since 2019. To start 2023, Richael and Vera, FBEN Coordinator, want to pause to deeply listen for what, and how, FBEN can be most supportive of BIPOC/people of the global majority working in farm/garden/land/food systems education. This form of listening is the first relational step in understanding if, and what, FBEN offers in the future. We look forward to deepening relationships within the network.


Ways to share your insight and ideas:


We thank you for your feedback, and are offering maple syrup, TrueLove Seeds giftcards, and EarthSeed Detroit tea as a thank you offering.

How are Soil Microbes and Climate Change Connected?


We’re gathering feedback on a program idea that would bring farm-based educators together for a virtual soil microbe workshop series! Program dates are TBD. This immersive workshop series will invite you into an exploration of soil microbes and their power in regenerating agricultural soils, protecting and purifying the world’s waterways, reversing climate change, and providing super-nutritious foods.


During meetings, we’ll work with a soil scientist to explore questions like:

  • What is the soil food web and how is it helping reduce atmospheric carbon to safe levels? 
  • What microbes am I seeing when I look under a microscope? 
  • How is the soil food web preventing erosion? 
  • How can a healthy soil food web take the place of inorganic fertilizers in agriculture?


We’d love your input as we shape this offering! Share your thoughts in a short form.

Note: We heard your feedback on the Youth Entrepreneurship Series! We’re currently meeting with City Blossoms to design the program, and are planning dates for the fall. We’ll let you know as soon as dates are set!

Grants and Jobs

Growing dome discounts for non-profit organizations. Growing Spaces is offering grants to registered non-profits, schools, or veterans’ organizations that are actively providing fresh food to underserved and food insecure communities. These grants are offered in response to the increased demand facing food banks across the country caused by the pandemic and inflation. Available until funds are exhausted. Apply now.

2023 I Love Strawberries educator resource grants. The purpose of these grants is to provide educator packs that include one copy of the Ag Foundation’s Book of the Year: I LOVE STRAWBERRIES, one copy of the accompanying educator guide, and one set of 30 Specialty Crop ag mags for educational use. By providing this grant, AFBFA, Nationwide Insurance, and Nestle Purina hope to help educators teach young learners with more accurate information about agriculture. All US educators may apply (including home schoolers). I LOVE STRAWBERRIES is best suited for grades K-3. Applications due Feb. 28.

Job Openings from Members and Partners



Are you hiring? Post a job on FBEN's forum.

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News and Inspiration

RECIPE

Maple Glazed Carrots with Dill


Our friends at Holiday Brook Farm in Dalton, MA boiled their first sap of the season on Feb. 17! We’re honoring maple syrup with this recipe for maple glazed carrots with dill, from Vermont’s Harvest of the Month.


Get the recipe.

Large barred owl in tree

In snowy Vermont, wintertime farm programming often means animal tracking! Check out this Winter Wildlife Detectors blog, featuring an all-star cast of local Vermont wildlife.


Tree roots in winter

FBEN member Dana Spett from Pony Power Therapies in Mahwah, NJ found this article inspiring, so we wanted to share it here. Where in your organization are there opportunities for scaling “deep” rather than scaling “up?” Via Nonprofit Quarterly.

Ira Wallace in greenhouse

We were honored to welcome the "Godmother of Southern Seeds", Ira Wallace, to the 2019 Farm-Based Education Network Conference as a Presenter and Keynote Speaker. This tribute shares her story and will inspire you to try a new seed this spring. Via New York Times.

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The Farm-Based Education Network (FBEN) is a free member network established to strengthen and support the work of educators, farmers, and community leaders who provide access and experiences on working farms. Our mission is to inspire, nurture, and promote farm-based education. The FBEN is a project administered by Shelburne Farms and supported by regional groups, advisers, and founding partners.

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