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This Week in Farm to School
March 17, 2022
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Farm to school connects local agriculture, schools, and partners to benefit students, educators, farmers, families, and communities.
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KidsGardening Teaching Webinar (Part 2)
March 23, 2022 // 7 pm EST
Join KidsGardening to discuss Applying Antiracism and Abolitionist Teaching in Garden-based Learning, a 2-part interactive webinar series that will support educators in applying these principles within their teaching and student learning.
Build a Better District Wellness Policy
March 24, 2022 // 2 pm EST
Join an Alliance for a Healthier Generation as they guide participants through revising their district’s wellness policy. Participants in this 30-minute session will learn how to use Healthier Generation's one-of-a-kind digital policy builder tool to select evidence-based practices, add state or local policy requirements, along with USDA final rule language, and collaborate with district leadership to update your policy for school board approval.
School Garden Support Organization Network Webinar: What Makes School Gardens Thrive?
March 24, 2022 // 2 pm - 3:15 pm EST
Come learn about two key pieces of research on indicators of building successful school garden programs by Associate Professor Jaimie Davis of UT Austin and Assistant Professor Kate Burt of Lehman College at the City University of New York. Jaimie will share a summary of her research of over 110 school gardens and introduce viewers to a school garden sustainability survey and scorecard. Kate will share an overview of the GREEN Tool, including its domains, as well as initial results and observations from her work identifying how school gardens build a resilient support community.
Policy and Advocacy for Food Systems Change Courses (Virtual)
April 5-7 // 1-2pm EST & April 20 // 3pm EST
Join the Wallace Center’s Food Systems Leadership Network for a spring series dedicated to building collective knowledge around policy and advocacy for food systems change. Equity Advocates will debunk the misconceptions around nonprofits and advocacy and offer tips for how to get started and stay involved, and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition will walk through the Farm Bill as everyone gears up for its 2023 reauthorization.
2022 CEFS’ Committee on Racial Equity (CORE) Two-Day Virtual Training
April 12 - 13, 2022 // 9:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Join CORE for their multi-day virtual racial equity training that will offer a shared language, a shared framework, and a shared history for understanding how racism and systemic barriers inhibit equity in the food system, with a focus on food insecurity.
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Join a Farm to School Coalition of North Carolina Working Group!
Are you interested in collaborating with other farm to school stakeholders in North Carolina? The Farm to School Coalition of NC is seeking individuals to join one or more of our Working Groups – education & engagement, systems change, impact & outreach, resiliency, and sustainability. If you’d like to learn more about these Working Groups and how you can get involved please complete our interest form below. We look forward to collaborating with you all!
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Growing School Food Gardens Community
KidsGardening is thrilled to announce that the new Growing School Food Gardens Community is live in the Kids Garden Community. With the support of the USDA, they will facilitate peer-to-peer learning opportunities, mentorship programs, regional networking, and resource exchanges among food garden educators across the country. The hope is that you will join them to: connect with other educators teaching in school food gardens, get support from experienced peer garden educators, share your expertise growing a school garden, and find vetted school food garden and farm to school resources to support your growing and teaching adventures.
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Providing Shade and Shelter From Weather
As spring approaches, many outdoor education programs are providing more programming outside but shifting weather patterns throughout the day can be challenging to navigate. Physical comfort is centrally important to the success of outdoor learning programs. This article describes many different approaches to providing shade and shelter for outdoor learning.
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United States Department of Agriculture’s School Garden Quiz
How much do you know about school gardens? Try the USDA Team Nutrition's web quiz to find out!
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School Nutrition Foundation Equipment Grants
Deadline: March 31, 2022
The School Nutrition Foundation is teaming up with industry partners to provide new kitchen equipment to deserving districts. Apply now for the 2022 SNF Equipment Grant Program, featuring applications for not one but FIVE grants! Eligible applicants have the opportunity to win equipment grants, each worth between $20,000 to $100,000 of equipment. Applications and photos must be submitted by a School Nutrition Director. This year, only finalists will be asked to submit a 2-3-minute video. They will announce the recipients in May of 2022.
Outdoor Classroom Challenge
Deadline: April 8, 2022
Project Green Schools is challenging schools across the country to develop and implement a meaningful outdoor classroom and learning space that awards one Grand Prize of $10,000 to further enhance an existing space or build a new space. Schools will submit a formal write-up, proposed budget, and design of their outdoor learning classroom/space. Project Green Schools will invite the top five designs to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges in Spring 2022 to determine the winner.
Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP)
Deadline: May 16
USDA has opened grant applications under the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP). This funding is available through three channels, with the USDA including a focus on Farm to Institution (FTI) projects for two of the funding streams: The Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) grants will develop food businesses that connect local food to institutions, and the Regional Food System Partnerships (RFSP) grant supports public-private partnerships that build and strengthen the viability of local or regional food economies. The third stream, the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP), supports direct-to-consumer markets such as farmers markets and CSAs. The Wallace Center has created this set of resources on applying. USDA is hosting informational webinars for FMPP and LFPP on April 5th 1 PM EST and for RFSP on April 6th 1 PM EST.
Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) Grants
CSPI is releasing several grant opportunities this funding cycle that is organized into 4 focus areas: State and local policy grants, Community prioritized policy innovation grants, Federal lobbying grants, Power building grants. Many topics will be relevant to school food, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR), and other categories relevant to Farm to School. Click the link below to find more information, including resources for applicants and application information, and sign up to be notified about relevant funding opportunities.
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Transitional Standards for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium - Final Rule
The USDA is finalizing its November 2020, proposed rulemaking regarding Child Nutrition meal pattern requirements. The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service invites interested persons to submit written comments, before March 24, 2022, on the provisions of this final rule.
North Carolina Alliance for Health (NCAH) Action Alert: Share Your School Meals Story
School Nutrition Programs (SNPs) are essential programs that provide nutritious, affordable meals to students during the school day. These programs promote students’ nutritional, physical, social, emotional, and mental health, in addition to academic success. The last two years have highlighted the tireless efforts of SNP staff, and the critical role these programs play in ensuring all students have access to nutritious meals. The NCAH is working to highlight these efforts and secure increased support for SNPs from the State. Please take action to share your story about how School Nutrition Programs have impacted you.
Take Action: Congress Must Act Immediately to Keep Flexibility for Feeding Kids
Without immediate Congressional action, schools and local organizations are at risk of losing critical flexibility in how they reach kids with the food they need. Early in the pandemic, Congress gave the USDA the authority to issue Child Nutrition waivers so that schools and local organizations could adapt their meal programs and feed kids in ways that work best for their communities. But unless Congress takes immediate action, their ability to continue doing so is in danger; the waivers expire on June 30 even though the challenges school meal programs are facing won’t be over by then. (See a brief from No Kid Hungry for more details on how waivers work.) Contact your legislator today to let them know that Child Nutrition waivers help schools feed kids in ways that work for their community. Without intervention, these waivers are going to expire. Tell Congress to authorize the USDA to grant nationwide waivers through the 2022-23 school year.
Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) Update
Advocates are gearing up for another potential push for Child Nutrition Reauthorization, the largest piece of federal legislation that authorizes, school, summer, after-school, and early care and education (ECE) meal programs. You can read more about the CNR process and National Farm to School Network's top issues here, and see information about key legislative proposals ("marker bills") here. While no package of legislation has yet been released, there is an opportunity to build support among legislators for strengthening these programs through funding, access, farm to school activities, and an equity lens that can truly shift power for a racially just food system. Use this form to reach out to your legislator and let them know the Child Nutrition priorities that are important to you.
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Saving Heirloom Seeds Can Protect Crop Diversity
Beyond seed banks, saving seeds and cultivating local varieties may help feed us in our climate-changed future – and preserve them for future generations.
Black-led Urban Farms Are Thriving - Until They Have to Fight For Their Land
Urban farms play a vital role in feeding communities but are hampered by precarious leases and gentrification.
Farming While Black, Sowing the Seeds of Racial Discrimination in Farming
For nearly half a century, "racial discrimination in agriculture, exclusion from federal relief programs, and laws that preyed upon the economically disadvantaged" squandered the number of Black farmers from nearly one million in the 1920s to less than 50,000 today.
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