Colorado Farm to Child

Eating, Growing, & Learning - Comiendo, Creciendo, & Aprendiendo

October is National Farm to School Month

CDPHE is committed to increasing access to local, seasonal, and nutritious fruits and vegetables for children in care. Join us each week in October as we discuss the components of Farm to Child and how to introduce these activities into your programs.

Three core components of Farm to Child:

Eating - Purchasing locally grown foods.
Growing - Gardening with children, both outside and inside.
Learning - Education in nutrition and agriculture, how food is grown, and how food helps us grow.

Access the week one Farm to Child newsletter here.

Learn more here.

Local Purchasing - Eating

Farm to Child focuses on purchasing, serving, and consuming local foods. Many ECE professionals may ask, "Why is seasonal and local produce important?” Seasonal foods are harvested and served during the season in which they grow. This means strawberries are served during the summer when they grow in Colorado. This reduces the distance that food must travel. Strawberries that are purchased in December are likely from California or Mexico, traveling a great distance to reach the plate. Travel time impacts both our earth, and the freshness and nutritional value of the fruit. When food is fresh and delicious children are more likely to consume that food, increasing consumption! Local food also supports our Colorado economy, local businesses, and creates jobs. Lastly, purchasing local and seasonal food increases equity in our food system. When customers purchase local foods, our stores and farmers will increase how much local food is offered in our area. This provides more opportunities for all people to engage in local food purchasing.

Snack time is a great opportunity to offer a seasonal local fruit or vegetable. View the Association of State Public Health Nutritionist CACFP Snack Menu Template and Recipe Collection. You may also access the Colorado Produce Calendar to increase your knowledge of local foods and the seasons in which they grow and are available at the market.

Resource Highlight:

Eating, Growing, Learning

Farm to Child Guide

Released in 2021, the Colorado Farm to Child Guide has helped many early care and education providers develop goals, plans, and hold themselves and their staff accountable to implement the Farm to Child program within their budget and time constraints.

This guide walks you through five chapters.

Chapter 1 - Overview of Farm to Child.
Chapter 2 - Exploring gardening with young children.
Chapter 3 - Exploring cooking and tasting with young children.
Chapter 4 - Procuring local foods for CACFP.
Chapter 5 - Engaging families, staff, and community.

Explore the guide today, in English or Spanish. The many linked resources, appendixes, and connections to local organizations will assist you as you begin, restart, or plan for next year’s efforts.

Crunch Off Registration is Open!

Celebrate National Farm to Child Month by participating in the Mountain Plains Crunch Off - a competition to see which state can get the most folks crunching into locally grown produce. People can crunch any time during the week of October 17-21, 2022. School districts, early childhood education providers, businesses, hospitals, community groups, and any other local food enthusiasts can register to participate.

Hands-on Activity:

Exploring Pumpkins

Read How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin by Margaret McNamara. This story teaches math and science while modeling kind behaviors.

We continue our lesson from week one of Farm to Child month by exploring, counting, and examining the seeds of a pumpkin. Children will also learn about circumference by measuring with a string and ruler to find out how big the pumpkin is. Additional activities include water-coloring, and roasting and tasting the seeds.

Explore all of the pumpkin lesson plans here.

Get Involved

Join the Farm to Child Collaborative, a diverse group of 110 members representing over 40 organizations across the state. Colorado's Farm to Child initiative envisions a state where fresh produce and other nutritious foods from local farms are an essential component of strong and just local and regional food systems.

Join the mailing and meeting list here.

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