Farm-to-School Month in October is the perfect time to introduce lessons on nutrition, sowing, germinating, harvesting, processing, shipping, buying and selling, cooking and economics. This year’s theme is "From Soil to Sea: Nourishing People and Planet."
Farm-to-school (and farm-to-childcare/early child education) efforts ensure the freshest foods in school meals. Most of us think of crop agriculture when we hear farm-to-school, yet it can also encompass the likes of dairy operations, local beef ranchers, and hog and chicken farms.
This October, CKC Good Food will celebrate farm-to-school by participating in the Great Apple Crunch along with our client partners on Thursday, October 10, and posts on our blog and social media highlighting local producers whose products are featured on our menus. We encourage you to share these posts with your followers as well.
Join us for the Great Apple Crunch - Thursday, October 10
Join the 2024 Great Apple Crunch to celebrate Minnesota farmers, healthy kids and strong communities! Participating in the Crunch is simple. We'll supply the apples on Thursday, October 10! When you crunch, you are joining with MILLIONS of crunchers all across the state and region! REGISTER your participation to receive resources and crunch stickers. No event is too small to register!
The National Farm to School Network and many state and local agencies offer nutrition education resources to connect students to the origins of their food. Find activities, single lessons or entire curriculum to use with students during October.
If your wellness committee wants to develop a more holistic approach to farm-to-school, the above sources are good starting points. The Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom Educator Center has curriculum and lesson plans for every month of the year for grades K-12. They even match MN state standards to make them easy to integrate into everyday lessons at school!
Farm Camp Minnesota
You may also want to partner with Farm Camp Minnesota, which connects students in grades 5-12 to an on-farm experience through classroom lessons, a field trip and discussions about careers supporting Minnesota's agriculture economy. Farm Camp is planned on an individual classroom/school basis to whatever fits your needs and local interests. The program director plans the experience and the lessons for free thanks to incredible investors. Educators are asked to do one of the lessons provided before the Farm Camp and have students take two short surveys! The school/educator needs to line up busing but there are grants for up to $1,000 per school to help cover transportation costs to the farms!
Farm-to-School Grant Opportunities
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has three grant programs to help schools or early care centers start or expand farm-to-school efforts. Applications are due (Apply by 4 p.m. CT, Thursday, November 24!)
Farm to School First Bite Mini Grant
Farm to School Full Tray Grant
Equipment grant to support First Bite or Full Tray Grant applicants
The Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom Ag Literacy Grant(Apply by September 17!) provides cash awards up to $1,000 to K-12 educators to encourage them to bring agriculture and food systems education "to life" by effectively integrating related content into their classroom or school. Grants are available for new ideas as well as enhancements to current events/activities.
