September 29, 2022

This Week in Farm to School 

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

NC Crunch Countdown!

NC Crunch events offer youth and adults an opportunity to taste and learn about locally-grown NC produce as well as honor our #NCFarmtoSchoolHeroes!

Register below for a free guide with tips, templates, and links to resources.

Register here.

North Carolina Food Advocacy Coalition Farm Bill Training

Today! September 29, 2022 // 12 pm ET

Join the North Carolina Food Advocacy Coalition for their final Farm Bill 101 training. Walk away with knowledge on how you can be and advocate in your local community as well!

Register here.

Driving Sustainable Farm to School Initiatives Through the Farm to School Institute Model

October 11, 2022 // 1 pm ET

Since 2010, Vermont FEED has hosted the Northeast Farm to School Institute, a unique year-long professional learning opportunity for school, district, and early childhood teams to build robust, sustainable farm to school programs. The FTS Institute builds capacity in school communities to create a culture of wellness while improving educational, environmental, and community outcomes, and it is rapidly becoming a national model. Join this webinar to learn about this impactful training model, the evidence base behind its design, the key components of farm to school sustainability, and how the FTS Institute is being adapted across the country, with support.

Register here.

Meal Talk: Taste-Test Events

October 12, 2022 // 3 pm ET 

In honor of National School Lunch Week, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Team Nutrition Initiative will present a Meal Talk webinar on taste-test events. Team Nutrition staff and guest speakers from the Pennridge School District in Pennsylvania and Kern County Superintendent of Schools in California will share tools, tips, strategies, success stories, and best practices related to hosting taste-test events with elementary and secondary school students. 

Register here.

Community Garden Leadership Academy

October 29th and November 5th // 9 am - 3 pm ET

Join North Carolina A&T University for a FREE two day intensive training for community garden leaders. This training will cover the community building skills and horticultural knowledge needed to start and sustain a community garden. Lunch will be provided.

Register here.

Building a Future with Farmers 2022: Results and Recommendations from the National Young Farmer Survey

The 2022 Survey findings, Building a Future with Farmers 2022: Results and Recommendations from the National Young Farmer Survey, share the voices of a generation of young farmers who are working hard to feed their communities and build successful careers in agriculture despite the significant challenges they face, including access to farmland and capital, student loan debt, access to healthcare, affordable housing, and the increasing impacts of climate change. The survey also confirmed that all of the top young farmer challenges are experienced at higher rates by BIPOC farmers.

Learn more here.

United States Department of Agriculture I’m New to Farm to School Resource

The USDA Farm to School Program has created a resource portal to help you get your farm to school program up and running in your community. The resource types range from technical assistance and guidance, fact sheets, toolkits, trainings, and history. 

Learn more here.

Farm to School Month: NC Crunch

This video continued Brunswick County Extension's 2021 series highlighting Farm to School month. Learn more about how Brunswick County Extension celebrated NC Crunch!

Watch here.

Guilford County School Garden Grant 

Deadline: October 7, 2022

School Garden Grant applications for the 2022-2023 school year are available! The purpose of the Extension Master Garden (EMG) School Garden Micro-Grant Program is to provide funding support for Guilford County School vegetable gardening programs. Grants up to the amount of $250 each will be dispersed to recipients. 

Apply here.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program

Deadline: October 7, 2022

Community Food Projects are designed to increase food security in communities by bringing the whole food system together to assess strengths, establish linkages, and create systems that improve the self-reliance of community members over their food needs.

Learn more here.

Budding Botanist Grant 

Deadline: October 14, 2022

The Klorane Botanical Foundation is committed to supporting programs that teach respect for the environment and protect nature through the preservation of plant species and biodiversity. Designed to further their mission, the Budding Botanist Grant will help students learn about plants, explore their world and inspire them to take care of the life they discover in their local ecosystems. In late 2022, twenty high-need schools across the United States will be awarded $1,000 in grant funding to support their youth garden programs. 

Learn more and apply here.

Whole Kids Foundation Bee Grant

Deadline: October 15, 2022

The Whole Kids Foundation is offering two grants to support establishing or growing bee programs. The Traditional Bee Grant allows for K-12 schools or non-profit organizations that serve any grades K-12 to start a new or enhance an existing bee program hosting live bees on their campus. The traditional track is for new applicants only. The Renewal Bee Grant allows for K-12 schools or non-profit organizations that have previously received a Bee Grant to receive support to grow their programs. The renewal is for previous Bee Grant recipients only. 

Learn more here.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture - From Learning to Leading: Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals

Deadline: November 15, 2022

The primary goal of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) From Learning to Leading: Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals Program (NEXTGEN) is to enable 1890 institutions, 1994 institutions, Alaska Native-serving institutions and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions (specifically, the certified Hispanic-serving agricultural colleges and universities (HSACUs)), and insular area institutions of higher education located in the U.S. territories to build and sustain the next generation of the food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences (FANH) workforce primarily through student scholarship support, paid internships, fellowships, and job opportunity matching, and facilitating pathways to employment in the federal sector.

Learn more here.

White House National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health

This strategy released by the Biden-Harris Administration details Calls to Action for various entities to do their part in ending hunger and increasing healthy eating and physical activity by 2030. 

Read more here.

Community Eligibility Provision

The North Carolina Alliance for Health’s new blog series, For What It's Worth, attempts to break down the intricacies and confusion around school meals and hopefully shed light on the “worth” of school meals. This week’s blog post explores Community Eligibility Provision!

Learn more here.

Community Food Strategies Candidate and Community Forums Toolkit

The steps outlined in this toolkit, created by Community Food Strategies, are based on their own experiences organizing candidate and community forums, their experiences working with elected officials, and on common best practices for these types of events. Most of this document will refer to food councils as the hosts of these events, however any community group can use this toolkit as a guide to organizing a successful forum or meet-and-greet event.

Learn more here.

An Annotated Bibliography on Structural Racism Present in the US Food System, Ninth Edition

This annotated bibliography, created by Michigan State University’s Center for Regional Food Systems, provides current research and outreach on structural racism in the US food system for the food system practitioner, researcher, educator, and advocate.

Read more here.

The (R)Evolution of Indigenous Foods

Chef Sean Sherman, Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge reservation, is the founder of The Sioux Chef. Through his research and culinary experience of thirty years he has uncovered and mapped out the foundations of the indigenous food systems and where its revitalization belongs in the future.

Watch here.