Grants available to help schools grow food

New York Ag in the Classroom (NYAITC) has a new grant program called Grow with Us, and we are providing a variety of indoor grow systems and high tunnels to schools encouraging them to grow food all school year long. 

You will see on our website, we are offering a variety of grow systems including Tower Gardens, 2445 Grow Racks, Grow Cubes, and High Tunnels.

Applications close on December 8^th

https://www.agclassroom.org/ny/grants/grow_us.cfm

Farm to School making a difference in Hermon Dekalb!

Here's an update from farm-to-school coordinator Renee Smith on what's happening with the program at Hermon DeKalb Central School:

"Last year we started the Farm to School program with little energy.  Most people didn't think it would work with 62.7% of our students receiving free or reduce lunches.  We started with apples, maple syrup, beef and pork sausages.  The children loved it!!  Then in September we introduced the salad bar.  We have local artisan lettuce and local salad fixings.  The first week only a handful of students even tried it.  By the second week, teachers were buying their lunches and more and more students were enjoying the salad bar.  On  October 1st we reached 92 salads (students only) in one day. Hermon Dekalb only has 400 students K-12 and the salad bar is only for grades 6-12!  We are reaching our students and they are enjoying real food! We have 15 year old boys eating from the salad bar and their plates are full.  Its because of farmers like you who are making a difference, we can offer your amazing product to our kids!"

2017 Farmer/Producer Mini Grant

The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) is seeking proposals for grants ranging between $500-$2000 that will address gaps in the local food supply chain and infrastructure. Often schools have limited kitchen infrastructure and/or distribution needs related to sourcing local products that create hurdles when implementing Farm to School cafeteria procurement programs. We are offering grants to both local farmers and to any producer/entrepreneur interested in supplying a school participating in the Drive for 25 Farm to School Program.

Visit Adirondack.org/Drivefor25 for a map of participating schools. Applications for Competitive Grants should include:
- Contact: A primary contact, name, e-mail, job title, business name, and phone number
- Farm(s)/Business Description: Briefly describe your farm(s)/food business and the products produced. (approx. 200 words)
- School Buyer(s): The names of the school(s) you plan to supply and description of the existing relationship
- Current Farm to School and/or Food Processing Efforts: A short narrative summary of your current efforts and interest level in the Farm to School market. This should include the kinds of products and forms (whole, peeled, frozen, etc) you supply. (approx. 200 words)
- Plan: A short narrative summary of what you plan to do and why it’s important to this market. Describe how the funding will be used to address minimal processing, delivery, and seasonality of local food. Explain the anticipated increase in local food sales to schools. (approx.. 20-100 words)
- Costs: A list of material/project costs noting mini-grant funds and any matching funds or inkind investments
- Goals: A short explanation of how this funding will help you jump start supplying schools in the Drive for 25, and how you plan to continue those efforts after this funding is used. (200- 500 words).
- Reporting: A commitment to sending ANCA a brief report of how funds were spent and any observed impacts on your Farm to School supply goals.

Applications are due no later than November 6, 2017. Applicants will be informed of our decisions no later than November 30th, 2017. Please submit your application to Josh Bakelaar, jbakelaar@adirondack.org.

Proposed federal budget not all cuts to nutrition programs

While the President’s proposed budget calls for reducing SNAP by $192 billion over the next decade, it does not cut all nutrition programs as drastically. It provides for:

• $13.1 billion for the National School Lunch Program (an increase of $659 million from FY 2017);

• $4.8 billion for the School Breakfast Program (up $287 million);

• $3.9 billion for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (up $261 million);

• $640 million for the Summer Food Service Program (up $50 million);

• $23 million for Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Demonstration Projects (same as FY 2017);

• $297 million for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (up $168 million);

• $8.4 million for Farm to School, with $5 million for grants (mandatory funding), and $3.4 million for USDA’s Farm to School Team (down $4.16 million for USDA’s Farm to School Team);

• $17 million for Team Nutrition and Healthier USDA School Challenge (down $20 million);

• $6.2 billion for WIC, to support an anticipated caseload of 7.2 million women, infants, and children (slightly higher than the recent caseload); and

• No funding for school meal equipment grants, which were funded at $35 million in FY 2017

Source: Food Research & Action Center, 5/25/17, Trump Budget

NORTHEASTERN SCHOOL KIDS GET MORE LOCAL FOOD

Farm-to-school programs serve locally or regionally produced foods (two common definitions being foods produced within 50 miles or within the State) in school meals in many school districts. According to the USDA’S Farm to School Census, 35% of U.S. school districts reported serving local food in school meals during the 2011-12 school year. About 19% of school districts, containing 30% of American school children, served at least one locally sourced food item daily. Milk, fruit, and vegetables were the most frequently served locally produced foods. USDA’s analysis revealed that districts in the Northeast were 28 percentage points more likely to serve local foods daily than those in the Southwest; districts in cities were 11 percentage points more likely than those in rural areas to do so; and districts with 5,000 or more students were 9 percentage points more likely to do so compared to districts with under 5,000 students.  Serving local foods daily in school cafeterias was also more common in states with more legislated policies supporting farm-to-school programs.

Source: USDA, 5/1/17, Farm-to-School

October is Farm to School Month

Guest blogger, student intern Julia Callahan shares some information on Farm to School Month.

Welcome, October! A time of reflection on the beauty of nature in the changing of seasons, a time of unpacking the sweaters out of the dark void of your closet, a time for pumpkins, pumpkin spice, root vegetables, and most importantly Farm to school Month. Farm to School is a nation-wide focused effort to connect children to local food through interactive, edible learning.

Farm to school month, created by The National Farm to School Network, was approved by Congress in 2010 and is recognized as month to highlight the importance of child nutrition, local economies, and learning the origin of food. Activities include taste testing in school cafeterias, farm visits, harvest parties, connecting all 50 states and D.C to the power of local food and its positive impacts on communities.

New York State contains within its state line, a diversity of landscapes, populations, and agricultural productivity. Urban gardens in NYC, rich productivity in the Hudson Valley, and mountainous lands in the ADKs produce diverse growing systems. It is the goal through Farm to School month to promote these regional food systems through interactive efforts that allow students to handle their food through all stages of growing. Many school districts in New York State are implementing school garden programs, adding agricultural focused classes into the curriculum, and supporting local food economies. Public groups such as the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, The NYS Department of Health and the Governor’s Ant-Hunger Task Force have collaborated with private groups such as Farm to Institution, Grow NYC, and Cornell Cooperative Extension in order to enhance the local impact.

                 So far, the Far to School Network has engaged 23.6 Million students, 42% of US schools, spent 789 Milliot on local food economies, and engaged 40 states with supportive policies. If you are interested in join the interconnected Network, Check out farmtoschool.org for more information. Join the Movement!

National Farm to School Month

October is National Farm to School Month, a time to celebrate the connections happening all over the country between children and local food. From taste tests in the cafeteria and nutrition education activities in the classroom, to farm visits and school garden harvest parties, schools, early care and education sites, farms, communities and organizations in all 50 states and D.C. join in the celebrations. Start planning your Farm to School Month celebrations with resources available from the National Farm to School Network. Find celebrations happening in your community by visiting the Farm to School Month Events Calendar. If your organization would like to help celebrate National Farm to School Month on its communications channels (social media, newsletter, blog), sign up to be an Outreach Partner here. 

STRENGTHENING FARM-TO-SCHOOL PROGRAMS

USDA is making up to $5 million in grant funds available to help schools create or strengthen farm to school programs this school year. Farm to School Grants fund school districts, state and local agencies, agricultural producers, and nonprofit organizations that seek to increase local foods served through child nutrition programs, teach children about food and agriculture through garden and classroom education, and develop schools’ and farmers’ capacities to participate in farm to school. They can use the funds for training, supporting operations, planning, purchasing equipment, developing school gardens, developing partnerships, and implementing farm to school programs. This year, awards ranging from $20,000 to $100,000 will be distributed in four different grant categories: Planning, Implementation, Support Service, and Training.  Applications are due on grants.gov by December 8, 2016.

Source: USDA, 9/13/16, Farm-to-School

USDA Farm to School Grant RFA Open

USDA has announced the release of the FY 2017 Farm to School Grant Program Request for Applications. Up to $5 million in grant funds is available to help schools create or strengthen farm to school programs this school year. Awards ranging from $20,000 to $100,000 will be distributed in four different grant categories: Planning, Implementation, Support Service, and Training.  Applications are due by December 8, 2016.  OnThursday, September 29, at 1pm EST, USDA will host a webinar to review the RFA and assist eligible entities in preparing proposals.

Learn more here. 

Schools get FRESH with local food

According to the USDA, an investment in the health of America's students through farm to school programming is also an investment in the health of local economies . In school year 2013-2014, school districts purchased nearly $800 MILLION in local food from farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food processors and manufacturers. That's a 105 percent increase over the $386 million of local food purchased in the 2011-2012 school year. Forty-six percent of school districts report that they will buy even more local foods in future school years.

In the North Country:

• With the help of a NYS grant, the Adirondack Farm to School Initiative has just hired a Regional Coordinator who will continue to build momentum in Tri-Lakes schools as well as expand the effort to include more schools.
   
• Assemblywoman Addie Russell (D-116) has developed a pilot project in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties that will increase the amount of locally produced food available in school cafeterias.

For more information on what ANCA is doing to increase regional access to local foods, go here.

Economic impact of local food in school lunches

Research findings from Cornell University's Community and Regional Development Institute indicate that a 50% increase in demand for fresh, local fruits and vegetables one day/week in school meals could generate up to $9.2 million for vegetable producers and $5.3 million for fruit producers. These findings contribute to the idea of creating incentives for school districts to purchase more local produce for school meals. Click here to view the policy brief.

Survey Results: Farm to School in Early Care and Education Builds Healthy Kids with Bright Futures

In 2015, the National Farm to School Network surveyed early care and education providers across the country. Nearly 1,500 providers serving 183,369 young children in 49 states and Washington, D.C., responded and shared fascinating insight into the important work that they are doing to connect young children to healthy, local foods and food related educational opportunities. The results show that farm to school in early care and education is on the rise across the country. 54% of respondents are already doing farm to school activities and another 28% plan to start in the near future. A new infographic and factsheet are available with more survey results. To see the results and learn how the National Farm to School Network is working to expand farm to school in early care and education, visit farmtoschool.org/earlychildhood. 

Fruit and Veggie Grants for Schools

Get Ready for Nutrition Education in Lunchrooms!
Over $250,000 available to schools for lunchroom learning programs

 

If you’re a parent, guardian, teacher or lunch lady, you know that it’s not always easy convincing kids to eat their vegetables and fruits. USDA school food standards require a serving of fruit or vegetables on every school lunch tray. But what happens when students won’t eat it?

Nutrition education that includes samplings of fresh fruits and vegetables helps kids accept and enjoy the foods that are key for good health. That's why we've created Project Produce: Fruit and Veggie Grants for Schools, to help schools increase kids' access to fresh fruits and vegetables and provide nutrition education through fun lunchroom learning activities.

"Grants like this really help support doing something different, and forced us to think outside the box. Project Produce gave us the opportunity to have meaningful food experiences with kids and allowed food service to become an extension to education," reports Shelly Allen, Food Service Director from St. Vrain Valley School District in Longmont, Colorado. Read about the incredible impact the program had at St. Vrain Valley Schools here.

About the Program
Project Produce is a grant program designed to help create experiential nutrition education when and where students make their food choices: in the cafeteria. The $2,500 one-year grants support food costs to incorporate school-wide fruit and vegetable tastings into the school's nutrition program.

• Any district or independent school participating in the National School Lunch Program is eligible to apply
• Districts may apply for grants for up to 10 schools
• There is no deadline and grants will be administered on a rolling basis
• Read this article for helpful application tips

For more information and to submit your application, please visit: http://www.chefannfoundation.org/programs-and-grants/project-produce/

New Institutional Procurement Guide

Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future has released a new report, Instituting Change: An Overview of Institutional Food Procurement and Recommendations for Improvement. This report reviews the literature and key information resources regarding institutional food service procurement systems, presents the potential benefits of a largescale shift among institutional procurement policies, discusses some of the existing barriers to the adoption of policies that favor regionally and/or sustainably produced food, and provides recommendations and tools for influencing institutional food procurement practices. This report is intended to serve as a resource for those seeking a better understanding of institutional food service procurement policies and provide a rationale for working toward reform. Learn more here. 

Support state legislation making it easier for schools to buy locally

One of the challenges for local farmers trying to sell directly to schools has been in the way certain state regulations are written.

State Assemblywoman Addie Russell has introduced Assembly bill A6182.  Its companion bill in the  N.Y. Senate is bill S6731.  These bills would lift a waiver requirement for school districts to purchase food from small cooperatives of more than 10 members.  The bill is well on it's way through various State Government committees.  

Having this bill become law would make it easier for school districts to buy local food and would have obvious benefits for growers and students statewide.

If you are in touch with your local Assembly member or State Senator, via Facebook, phone, or e-mail, please urge them to support these bills.

Webinar: Healthy Schools Campaign

The ABCs of School Gardens Webinar

Wed., March 9, 9-10am CST

Interested in starting a school garden or need help gathering excitement for an existing one? Join this webinar to learn: how garden-based learning positively impacts student learning and to explore ways school gardens offer hands-on, experiential learning opportunities in a wide array of disciplines and promote student health. This seminar is part of Healthy Schools Campaign’s highly-regarded Fit to Learn professional development for principals and educators. Register here. 

Scholarships available for National Farm to Cafeteria Conference

Scholarships are now available for the 8th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference, a biennial event hosted by the National Farm to School Network that will convene more than 1,500 diverse stakeholders working to source local food for institutional cafeterias and foster a culture of food and agricultural literacy across America. Scholarship awards will cover short course and/or registration fees for the conference, pending available funds. Costs associated with travel, lodging and field trips are not covered by the scholarship award. In order to ensure the conference reflects the full diversity of farm to cafeteria constituents, scholarships are prioritized for farmers, farmer support organizations, youth (through age 22), persons of color, food service professionals, among others. Additional preference will be given to first-time conference attendees and presenters. Representation from all regions of the country will also be taken into consideration when evaluating scholarship applicants. The application is available online at farmtocafeteriaconference.org. Applications must be received or postmarked by 5pm (EST) on February 29, 2016.  

Farm to Institution webinar on February 9

How can we get more local and regional food into schools, colleges and hospitals in the Northeast? The process often involves many different parties and steps to navigate. This webinar will provide an orientation to “Setting the Table for Success: Increasing Local Food Purchasing by Institutional Food Service Management,” a brand new toolkit designed to help you understand the process of working with food service management companies to maximize opportunities to incorporate local and regional food into your menus. The toolkit is also applicable to self-operated facilities for use in setting internal goals and contracting with group purchasing organizations or directly with suppliers.Here’s the link:http://www.farmtoinstitution.org/event/setting-table-success-increasing-local-food-purchasing-institutions

Canton middle school students promote farm-to-school programs

Students from Canton's McKenney Middle School took part in the 2015 North Country Food Day Youth Summit and are working on a project to bring locally grown food into their school cafeteria.  The students took part in a roundtable with Assemblywoman Addie Russell on farm-to-school programs and here is student Noelle Black's statement to the meeting and the Assemblywoman:

I stand before you today advocating for the availability of locally grown food for my school, and schools across St. Lawrence County.  In terms of cost, nutrition and health, it just makes good sense.

First, in terms of savings, it should be less expensive to deliver and access food that is closer.    It doesn’t seem reasonable that it would be cost-effective to have food shipped (usually driven) across several states or even the country. 

Secondly, in terms of health, the facts speak for themselves. The fresher the food, the higher the quality and nutrition.  A University of California study showed that vegetables lose 15 to 55 percent of vitamin C within a week.  Some spinaches can lose 90 percent of vitamin C within the first 24 hours after harvest.  The longer the food stays in transit, the more nutrients we lose.   It is simple math.  Common sense asks “Would you put crude oil in your sports car?”   “Would you feed your thoroughbred race horse candy corn?” Aren’t people even more important? 

If you put good things in, you will have better performance.  Healthy nutrient rich food goes in students, and better Common Core and Regents scores come out. 

Another advantage to “growing local, eating local” is supporting our community.  The North Country is an economically challenged region, with more and more industries and employers moving companies overseas, or closing their doors.  Alcoa is the most recent company that was threatening our already struggling area.  Thankfully, New York government worked together to reverse their decision and save hundreds of jobs.  

Thank YOU. 

Supporting our local farmers helps their families and their farms.  Let’s keep money in the local economy and in the hands of the people who produced the food instead of those that market, label and distribute it.

Thank you for your time.  

Students compare notes and prepare to speak at the roundtable

Canton middle school students meet with Addie Russell

Students from Canton's McKenney Middle School took part in the 2015 North Country Food Day Youth Summit and are working on a project to bring locally grown food into their school cafeteria.  The students took part in a roundtable with Assemblywoman Addie Russell on farm-to-school programs and here is a compilation of the students' statements to the meeting and the Assemblywoman:

Farm-to-School Program

          I think that all people here will agree that nutrition is an important part of a person’s life, especially for our youth who are still growing. While our school does offer food with the required nutritional components, it would be great to see more farm fresh, local food in our schools.  If we get more locally grown foods, not only will the food be more appetizing, but it will be healthier.  This will give the students the vitamins and nutrients they need to make them happier and more active.  It will also allow kids to concentrate better, be more active participants in class and earn better grades. 

 We believe serving New York grown foods would help our families and our schools. Let’s use carrots as an example.  We would like to eat carrots grown in our own county and are processed locally.  This would help our local farmers and create jobs in our area, benefitting our local economy.  Our county’s poverty rate is growing and many students in our school come from families that have trouble paying the bills and putting enough good food on the table.  New economic opportunities are desperately needed in our area.  More jobs and healthier food options sound great to us! 

We want locally grown, fresh foods because they taste better and are more nutritious. Carrots grown by our local farmers would look and taste better than the canned carrots we are served now. We believe more students would buy school lunches if there were more colorful, fresh foods on the tray. 

Additionally, we care about the environment!  Our school recently started a Green Team, an environmental club, in which most of us are actively involved.  Carrots grown in our area would have a much smaller carbon footprint than those that are grown in California, for instance, and have to be trucked across the country.  We know that our earth’s atmosphere is falling apart because there is so much carbon dioxide in the environment, and climate change frightens us.  The less our food has to travel, the better for the health of our bodies, our  environment and our economy.

We know there are barriers that are presenting challenges for our school meal programs as well as for local farmers.  The students you see here today are dedicated to improving the quality and nutritional value of the food offered in our school.  We recently participated in the Food Day Youth Summit at SUNY Potsdam with students from across the North Country.  We learned about the impacts of corporate farming,  food insecurity, nutrition and about farm-to-school efforts in our area.  We have been working with the faculty at our school and with our food service director, Bluejay Fenlong, to find ways to encourage healthier food options and choices. 

In talking with Mrs. Fenlong, we understand that there are a number reasons why it’s difficult to get farm fresh food in our school.  For the past few years, she has been able to offer locally grown apples through the first half of the year, but hasn’t been successful in getting local farms to supply the food we need.  She noted the following as challenges that would need to be overcome to make farm-to-school a reality in our district:

●    Location-  there is a short growing season and a limited time when foods would be available.

●    Farmer interest- she didn’t find that many local farms were interested in producing for the schools

●    Cost -  she would have to pay more for locally grown foods

●    Communication - there’s not a well developed communication network between the farms and schools

We know there are challenges for farmers too.  Lots of strict and expensive health and safety regulations make it a challenge for the farmers to participate. 

We want to help.  We have thought of some things we, as students, could do to support the Farm-to-School Program.

●    Fundraising - Our student organizations such as Student Council and Green Team would love to raise money for special supplies, like food  processing equipment, so fresh local produce could be processed and stored for later use. 

●    Education - We plan to encourage healthy choices through taste tests and promotional posters and announcements.

●    Getting Involved  - We would advocate for field trips to the farms that produce our food and encourage students to work and volunteer at those farms.  We are much more likely to eat the food when we feel a connection to it.

In closing, by increasing the amount of local foods, we can make lunches healthier and make the environment healthier.  We support the Farm-to-School Program because it can be a very successful program for everyone!  Thank you, Assemblywoman Russell, for inviting us to speak today and  thanks to all of you for taking the time to listen.