August 25, 2022

This Week in Farm to School 

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

Get Schools Cooking Informational Webinar

September 7, 2022 // 11 am ET

Join the Chef Ann Foundation for a 45-minute informational session about Get Schools Cooking, an assessment and strategic planning program currently accepting applications. Discussion will include the current application, as well as a brief overview of what participating in the Get Schools Program would look like. Included in the discussion, a previous cohort participant will discuss their experience being a part of the Get Schools Cooking program and what it was like working with the Chef Ann Foundation.

Register here.

Change For Good 2022: Addressing the Student Mental Health Crisis

September 14, 2022 // 12 pm - 1 pm ET

The Healthy Schools Campaign is hosting their annual Change for Good forum, a virtual event highlighting important efforts to address the national crisis in student mental health. This timely event will provide a forum for national leaders from the US Surgeon General’s office and the US Department of Education to hear first-hand about successful state and local efforts and for them to respond and share what their agencies are doing to address student mental health. 

Register here.

Farm to Fork Charlotte

September 25, 2022 // 4 pm - 7 pm ET

The Farm to Fork Picnic in the Garden is back in Charlotte! The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) and partners will be returning to the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden with a stellar lineup of over 30 chef and farmer pairings, plus many of the finest Carolina distillers, vintners, and brewers. Chefs will be teamed up with a farmer or an artisan to create small bites at action stations throughout the beautiful grounds of the garden. Sip and nibble while enjoying the band or while strolling through the garden.

Purchase tickets here.

Recording: 2022 CEFS Climate Change Symposium

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems’ Symposium on Agriculture, Food Systems, and Climate Change brought together interdisciplinary researchers, policymakers, farmers, and community leaders for interactive discussions to highlight novel ideas and priorities for agriculture and food systems to address climate change.

View Symposium here.

Compost Your Way

Composting food waste not only helps support the nutrient cycle by producing a valuable amendment for garden soil, it is also important for efforts to decrease materials going to landfills. In this lesson, crafted by KidsGardening, students will explore different ways to compost food scraps by researching and/or experimenting with different types of compost systems.

Read more here.

Results of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service-Administered School Food Authority Survey on Supply Chain Disruptions 

The School Food Authority (SFA) Survey on Supply Chain Disruptions was administered by the US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) from November 8 to December 13, 2021 through a 20-minute online questionnaire. The survey was sent to all SFAs operating Child Nutrition Programs (CNPs) to gather information on the scope of the supply chain disruptions and school meal operations during school year (SY) 2021-2022. The response rate for the survey was 60 percent with SFAs from all States and territories responding. The results in the report were weighted to be nationally representative. 

Read the report here.

The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture and Grow with Google Foundation Fellowship

Deadline: September 8, 2022

The fellowship is an 8-month opportunity for select educators to help create place-based lessons that incorporate agriculture, technology, and key digital skills into an Applied Digital Skills lesson. Fellows will also serve as program ambassadors and provide training for other educators and external stakeholders in their communities. Lessons created by the Grow with Google Applied Digital Skills Fellows will be featured and promoted on the Applied Digital Skills and American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture websites. Fellows will also receive a $25,000 stipend, Chromebooks for their classroom and 1:1 engagement with teams at Google. 

Learn more and apply here.

2023 CHS Foundation and National Agriculture in the Classroom Grant Application

Deadline: September 15, 2022

The CHS Foundation provides $500 grants each year to pre-kindergarten-12th grade teachers who have classroom projects that use agricultural concepts to teach reading, writing, math, science, social studies and more. Eligible projects include classroom and schoolyard gardens, embryology projects, aquaculture projects and agricultural literacy reading programs to name a few. Teachers have until June 1 the following year to complete the project and submit a final report. Only state-certified classroom teachers employed by a school district or private school teachers are eligible to apply.

Learn more and apply here.

Indigenous Youth Nutrition Security Grants from Newman's Own Foundation

Deadline: September 15 (Application)

Newman's Own Foundation launches its first-ever request for proposals (RFP) for Nutrition Security for Indigenous Youth. This RFP has been developed in collaboration with their partners at Tahoma Peak Solutions, a Native woman-owned firm focused on empowering and building up communities in Indian Country. Through this RFP, Newman’s Own Foundation will support organizations that build on the strengths of Native communities to enhance nutrition security for Native youth. To accomplish this, they are seeking organizations that are focused on improving nutrition security for indigenous youth.

Learn more here.

Big Green Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) Grants

Big Green is a USA 501c3 non-profit that believes growing food changes lives. They’re launching a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) as an experiment in democratizing and decentralizing their grantmaking. Food or gardening nonprofits can receive funding from the Big Green DAO. Successful applicants will also receive a DAO governance token to drive future funding.

Take the eligibility quiz here.

2022 Questions for Candidates: A Voter’s Guide to Questions on Farm & Food Policy in the Carolinas

The Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) works with policymakers and communities across the Carolinas to educate people on sustainable, local, and organic food and farming issues. CFSA also works with advocates across the Carolinas to prepare them to make an impact when they talk about the importance of sustainable farming and community food systems to policymakers. The 2022 Questions for Candidates equips you with questions you can ask candidates for elected office. This guide was developed to give candidates enough information to support them in thinking about and engaging with food, farming, food security, community gardening, and the environment. 

Learn more here.

To Help Fight Racial Inequality Among Our Children, Look at Nutrition in School

Research shows that access to school meals can actually lead to better grades in math and reading and that hungry stomachs are a distraction from learning. 

Read the op-ed article here.

NC Crunch Countdown!

#NCCrunch will be celebrated on October 19th this year! The NC Crunch is an opportunity for kids and adults to taste and learn about North Carolina-grown produce and recognize all those involved in feeding our kids and communities. It’s also a fun way to connect food and agriculture to all kinds of classroom curricula – from science to art.

Once you register for the #NCCrunch, you'll receive a guide with tips and resources on how to celebrate! 

Register here.