This Week in Farm to School | |
Farm to school connects local agriculture, schools, and partners to benefit students, educators, farmers, families, and communities. | |
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Make Your #NCCrunch Activities Count!
Did you serve North Carolina-grown fruits and vegetables or offer any educational activities for kids and adults to taste and learn about NC-grown fruits and vegetables during October? If so, make sure your efforts count toward the 2023 #NCCrunch in celebrating Farm to School and Early Care and Education Month. Our goal is to reach all 100 counties and 500,000 kids and adults. So far, 2023 data show that we reached 172,309 kids and adults at 1060 sites in 63 counties plus the Qualla Boundary.
If you participated in the #NCCrunch and did not complete the sign-up or did not know how many potential sites or participants you could reach when you completed the sign-up, then please complete the 2023 #NCCrunch sign-up by December 15. Completing the sign-up is easy and takes 5 minutes or less. Help us know if the 2023 #NCCrunch was heard across the state!
NC Crunch sign up.
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School Meals for All NC 5K Fun Run
December 2, 2023 // Wrightsville Beach, NC
The SMFA Ambassadors are hosting a 5K Fun Run to bring awareness and support for School Meals For All NC. They are offering a virtual run in addition to the in-person event.
Learn more and register.
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Project SCALES Informational Webinar
December 6, 2023 // 2 pm ET
Please join Boise State University and Lunch Assist for this webinar where they will share information about the Project SCALES grant opportunity offered as part of the USDA's Healthy School Meals Incentives Initiative. Listen in as they introduce the Project SCALES team, the details of the grant opportunity, and the type of projects they expect to fund. They'll also describe the application submission and review processes, and how to develop a compelling application.
Learn more and register.
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North Carolina Produce Safety Professionals Conference
December 12, 2023 // NC A&T University
This one-day conference, hosted by NC Cooperative Extension, will expand your knowledge on the legal aspects of food safety regulations when growing and selling produce and other value-added products. The audience will gain an understanding of the interplay of federal and state law and regulations in the area of produce safety, what happens in the event a farm or facility is involved in an official regulatory action (such as recalls, outbreak investigations), and how to put in place mitigation strategies to protect your farm and/or business. They strongly encourage growers, market managers, food hubs, CSAs, roadside stand operators, small food distributors, consultants, and extension agents to attend. The deadline to register is December 8th.
Learn more and register.
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Growing School Gardens Summit – Registration Now Open!
March 15-18, 2024 // San Diego, CA
Join the nation’s largest gathering of school garden educators next spring at the 2024 Growing School Gardens Summit (San Diego, CA). You’ll learn from some of the best in the field through immersive workshops, educational field trips, and hands-on lessons while growing your network and sharing your experiences. Already, 80 sessions have been added to the agenda, and more are yet to come (view Summit Agenda). The inaugural 2022 Growing School Gardens Summit sold out early, and we anticipate 2024 to be the same. Don’t miss your chance to attend and be a part of the movement! This Summit is hosted by Sprout Healthy Communities Foundation in partnership with Life Lab and the School Garden Support Organization Network.
Learn more and register.
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Overview of Local Food Systems: Online Professional Development Training
Are you interested in learning more about local food systems? Do you work with local food projects, but are unsure of the research about their impacts or the resources available to support you? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might be interested in NC Cooperative Extension Local Food Program’s Overview of Local Food Systems Online Professional Development Training. The Training Program consists of three courses. Register in December for the second and third courses in the series:
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Farm to Fork: Foundations in Local Food Supply & Value Chains, 15 hours: Price = $200 (register starting December 1, course begins 1/15/24)
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The Bottom Line: Economic Realities and Other Considerations of Local Food Systems, 15 hours: Price = $200 (register starting December 1, course begins 1/15/24)
Please note that in order to register for these two courses, you must have completed the first course in the series, Foundations in Local Food Systems Development.
Learn more.
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Serving Traditional Indigenous Foods in Child Nutrition Programs
The United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) understands the importance of serving traditional Indigenous foods. It encourages all operators of Child Nutrition Programs (CNP) to source locally grown and raised foods. FNS has a variety of resources to assist Child Nutrition Program operators in determining how traditional Indigenous foods may contribute toward a reimbursable meal.
Learn more.
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Engaging Community Members: A Guide to Equitable Compensation
Compensation is an important factor in building sustainable partnerships between organizations and communities. This brief, created by The Center for Health Care Strategies, offers guidance to help health care organizations develop appropriate compensation practices for community members — including adults, youth, families, and caregivers.
Learn more.
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Drawing Differences Program - An Art Program for Kids and Their Adults
Drawing Differences was designed, by Embrace Race, for 8 to 11-year-old kids (and their adults) but is adaptable for older and younger kids. The art lessons can be used at home or as part of a classroom, library, or after-school program. The lessons in Drawing Differences encourage a representation of differences with a specific focus on racial differences and drawing faces. Each activity cultivates close observation as well as conversation about, and appreciation of, the range of skin colors, hair textures, facial features, and expressions that make individuals unique.
Learn more.
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The Beautiful Solutions Gallery and Lab
The Beautiful Solutions Gallery and Lab is an interactive space for sharing the stories, solutions, and big ideas needed to build new institutional power and point the way toward a just, resilient, and democratic future. Developed by Beautiful Solutions in partnership with This Changes Everything, this is an open-ended project that will continue to evolve based on the ideas people submit to the Lab and the ongoing contributions of the thinkers and practitioners at the forefront of building alternatives.
Learn more.
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NC Innovative School Breakfast Grants
Deadline: December 1, 2023
Governor Roy Cooper recently announced that $1.4 million in federal funds will go to support North Carolina public schools in expanding School Breakfast Programs. The funding will provide grants of up to $50,000 per School Nutrition Program to allow schools to better provide students with innovative school breakfast options, such as Breakfast in the Classroom, Grab-and-Go Breakfasts, or Second Chance Breakfasts. Priority will be given to schools that are newly participating in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).
Learn more and apply.
2024 Youth Garden Grant
Deadline: December 15, 2023
Since 1982, KidsGardening’s Youth Garden Grant has supported school and youth educational garden projects that enhance the quality of life for youth and their communities. In early 2024, fifty organizations will be awarded $500 in funding and a collection of gardening supplies for their youth garden program. Among the fifty winners, ten programs will also receive a specialty award package: five from their friends at Crescent Garden and five from their friends at Garden Tower. The selection of winners is prioritized based on demonstrated need and program impact.
Learn more and apply.
Partnerships for Local Agriculture & Nutrition Transformation in Schools (PLANTS)
Deadline: January 22, 2024
The Chef Ann Foundation is seeking proposals for projects led by groups of local partners with systemic and equity-driven approaches to transforming school food supply chains. Projects should seek to build and strengthen relationships among community-based food system stakeholders and School Food Authorities (SFAs) as well as expand scratch cooking in schools in order to build more nourishing school meal programs. This program is funded by the USDA Food & Nutrition Service Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative and is administered by Chef Ann Foundation in partnership with Kitchen Sync Strategies Collaborative, Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, and National Farm to School Network.
Learn more and apply.
2024 Farm to School Grant
Deadline: January 24, 2024
The USDA Farm to School Program is excited to announce the official release of the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Farm to School Grant Program Request for Applications (RFA). USDA will award up to $12 million in competitive grants to eligible entities through the grant program this fiscal year. Each grant will help implement farm to school programming that increases access to local food in eligible schools, connects children with agriculture for better health, and inspires youth to consider careers in agriculture. The RFA includes five tracks - Implementation, State Agency, and three Turnkey grants - to support a variety of projects and implementation stages. A wide variety of entities are eligible to compete for funding through this grant opportunity. Schools and other institutions operating the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, and/or Summer Food Service Program; State agencies; local agencies; ITOs; small- to medium-sized agricultural producers or groups of small- to medium-sized agricultural producers; and non-profit organizations are eligible to apply for Farm to School Grants.
Learn more and apply.
Center for School and Community Partnerships at Boise State University
Deadline: January 26, 2024
The Center for School and Community Partnerships at Boise State University’s Request for Applications for the Supporting Community Agriculture and Local Education Systems Sub-Grants (SCALES) is now open. SCALES will award up to 35 rural School Food Authorities (SFA) across the nation. Grant awards will be up to $150,000. SCALES will work with SFA directors over a two-year period to build partnerships for innovative solutions to increase local procurement in school meal programs.
Learn more and apply.
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Urban School Food Alliance Announces USDA Cooperative Agreement to Support Innovation in School Food Purchasing
USDA is partnering with the Urban School Food Alliance (USFA) to develop and implement trainings, tools, and resources to help school districts purchase high-quality foods while keeping costs low. USFA will organize an advisory group of School Nutrition stakeholders to create an action plan that will address school food procurement challenges through targeted trainings and resources. For example, USFA will develop an interactive bid template that will help standardize procurement processes. USFA will begin sharing trainings and resources with school districts immediately, and the advisory group’s work will begin in 2024.
Learn more.
2023 Farm to School Census
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service released the fourth Farm to School Census on October 2nd and your participation counts! The Census surveys all public, private, and charter school food authorities (SFAs) operating the National School Lunch Program about their farm to school relevant activities. The Census results are publicly available, and the information is vital to help schools, partners, advocates, and producers understand the role of farm to school in supporting resilient local food systems and contributing to student experiences at school.
Learn more.
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