Farm to School
Can you imagine a school cafeteria where healthy, fit 4th graders come back for seconds of fresh carrots and tomatoes but leave the chips untouched? We can.
Ecotrust, in close collaboration with a diverse coalition of project partners, is working on a wide range of initiatives to promote "farm to school" programs, as they are termed, that increase the variety and availability of healthy, regionally sourced foods served at school, stabilize markets for regional food producers, and help give children a sense of where their food comes from. Our work focuses on projects at regional, state, and local levels that are upstream, innovative, and likely to have far-reaching and long-lasting impacts.
Regional Farm to School Work
Connecting Schools with Local Farms via FoodHub
FoodHub is a first of its kind, online marketplace designed to connect wholesale buyers and sellers of Pacific Northwest regionally grown food. While the tool is designed for food buyers of every type, including retail grocery stores, hospitals, restaurants, and others, it holds enormous potential to transform the pre-K and K-12 school food environment by removing barriers to the procurement of healthy, regionally-produced food for the school cafeteria.
In group and one-on-one settings, we teach school food service directors how to use FoodHub to streamline their work to source and procure more regional foods, including specific training to increase the incorporation of fruits and vegetables and help finding specific foods and farms nearby. Our outreach efforts also allow us to provide technical assistance to school food service directors on other farm to school issues, including answers to questions about seasonality, competitive bid pricing, and negotiating with farmers, as well as connections to resources such as school garden guides.
A comprehensive farm to school resource section for FoodHub is coming soon with links to materials for instant download and to other useful websites. Current FoodHub members include urban districts such as Portland Public Schools, Seattle Public Schools, and Eugene 4J, rural districts such as Bend LaPine Schools, Gervais School District, and Wahluke School Districts, and pre-K and childcare centers such as Marion-Polk Community Action Head Start and several Oregon Child Development Coalition centers.
To learn more about how FoodHub can help your school or district to source and serve regional foods contact , FoodHub School Food Services Coordinator.
Western Lead Agency for the National Farm to School Network
Ecotrust serves as the Western Regional Lead Agency for the National Farm to School Network. There are a total of eight Regional Lead Agencies across the country working to strengthen and expand existing farm to school programs, assist others that do not yet have programs, avoid duplication of efforts, learn from each others’ experiences, and document the movement in their regions.
As the Western Regional Lead Agency, Ecotrust serves farm to school advocates and practitioners in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. We field inquiries from our region that range from very general questions about farm to school programming to specific requests for information on relevant policy, research, or resources, and develop informational pieces on an as-needed basis to respond to specific requests for assistance. We also provide networking opportunities and resource sharing through an online social network for farm to school and school garden professionals in the West, Good Grub and Gardens, and help to plan an Annual Farm to Cafeteria Conference that brings together hundreds of international leaders in the field. You can view and print a document summarizing our region here.
For more information on the national network, as well as the latest national farm to school related media and many invaluable resources such as case studies, evaluation tools, and curricula, please visit www.farmtoschool.org. You can also register on the site to become a member of the Network and upload information about your program.
Farm to School in Oregon
Oregon is fortunate to be the only state in the nation with Farm to School positions in both its Departments of Education and Agriculture. Ecotrust’s Farm to School program works with both state departments to help nurture and expand farm to school and school garden programming in the state of Oregon. You can visit the Oregon Department of Education Child Nutrition Program’s Farm to School and School Garden Program webpage here.
Legislation
Ecotrust, along with its partners, advocated in the 2009 legislative session for public policies in the state of Oregon that would impact school food. As referenced above, thanks to previous policy wins in 2007 and 2008, Oregon became the first state in the nation with positions in both the Oregon Departments of Agriculture and Education focused on school food and food-, agriculture-, and garden-based education. Read more about the history of farm to school legislation in Oregon here.
The 2009 legislative agenda (324kb PDF) was designed to increase the amount of money spent on school food and to increase opportunities for experiential learning that advances students’ literacy related to health, agriculture, and nutrition. While House Bill 2800 was very much in play until the last week of the session, ultimately, the bill hit a budget wall: In response to a deep recession, the Legislature was tasked with decreasing government spending while still protecting essential services, and legislators had to make the tough decision not to fund any new bills. The fact that HB2800 was a contender (and a powerful one at that) in such tough times is truly a testament to the value of the bill and the breadth of support it garnered.
Over 80 organizations representing tens of thousands of Oregonians formally endorsed HB2800. Although HB2800 did not pass, we did succeed in building tremendous momentum and statewide support for the bill. We also managed to save the Oregon Department of Education’s Farm to School Coordinator position from the chopping block – no small task with the Department facing severe budget cuts this year. Thank you to everyone who helped to promote the farm to school and school garden bill.
Along with its partners, Ecotrust will continue to champion policy changes that make it easier to bring Oregon school children the very best this region has to offer. The Oregon Farm to School Policy Workgroup meets the first Thursday of each month. To participate in this workgroup and help advocate for better school food in Oregon, please contact .
Statewide Leadership Network
Ecotrust is a founding member of the Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Network, a collective founded in 2007, comprised of more than 100 governmental, community-based, and for-profit organizations, and individuals working together with the following mission:
"We convene statewide leadership to promote the health and well-being of children, families, farms and the environment by increasing access to locally grown and processed food in schools and by supporting food and garden-based education in Oregon."
Participating organizations and individuals have identified an interest in farm to school and food- and garden-based education programs for reasons that include:
Parents can support the changes taking place in Portland Public Schools' cafeterias in three easy ways:
- Promoting children’s health and academic achievement;
- Combating obesity, hunger, and global climate change;
- Supporting Oregon farmers and food processors; and
- Enhancing economic development and community food security.
The Network believes that while these benefits might be achieved through other tactics, farm to school programs have the extraordinary ability to simultaneously address interrelated issues of health, economic development, education, and the environment. For this reason, agricultural interests, community food security advocates, educators, environmentalists, and the public health community all find fertile common ground.
Reasons for working collaboratively as part of a formal network include:
- Developing and distributing leadership and expertise across the state;
- Increasing the likelihood that methods will be developed and deployed with local knowledge in mind;
- Increasing the likelihood that a diversity of perspectives and interest groups are represented at the table; and
- Reducing duplication of efforts and unnecessary redundancies.
If you would like to learn more about the Statewide Network, please contact .
Farm to Childcare
In 2008-2009, in partnership with the Oregon Child Development Coalition (OCDC), Ecotrust piloted one of the first farm to preschool programs in the country. Established in 1971, OCDC is one of the largest early childhood care and education networks in Oregon, administering Head Start and Early Head Start and is also a state grantee of the federal Migrant Seasonal Head Start program. Each year the OCDC serves over 3,000 children and families in need throughout 12 Oregon counties. We worked with OCDC to establish pilot farm to school programs at three of their sites in Cornelius (Washington County), Odell (Hood River County), and Silverton (Marion County).
Activities included facilitating farm to school program design, helping childcare facilities to make connections with local food producers and processors to begin purchasing more local products, and promoting complementary food and garden-based education by identifying existing resources and curricular activities to support the inclusion of garden-based education into Head Start program areas. OCDC selected the curriculum Early Sprouts: Gardening and Nutrition Experiences for the Young Child as the best fit for their educational requirements. It addresses young children’s inherent fear of new foods through multiple exposures to target fruits and vegetables in activities such as sensory exploration, tasting sessions, cooking activities, and family recipe kits.
Spurred on by their success implementing simple garden-based activities in the classroom, OCDC forged ahead constructing raised beds at each pilot site to support garden-based education and increase the ability of its students, teachers, and parents to make the connection between the food they eat and the land it comes from. OCDC continues to move forward with its work, most recently installing even more gardens and working to establish a full-fledged farm to school program. You can read about their progress on their terrific blog: ocdcgardens.blogspot.com.
If you would like to learn more about Farm to Preschool, you can start by checking out these presentations and documents created by Ecotrust:
- Farm to Preschool 101 (ppt presentation), includes an introduction and information on procurement, farm field trips, and establishing gardens
- Farm to Preschool Curriculum (ppt presentation)
- Farm to School Tips for Family Childcare Providers in Portland (pdf brochure)
Ecotrust is currently working to grow farm to school programs at childcare centers in our region via the online tool FoodHub. We also facilitate networking by professionals who are involved in or wish to become involved with this work, and continue to consult and advise with childcare providers about how to incorporate farm to school concepts into their programs.
Local Farm to School
Portland Public Schools
Did you know that over 30% of Portland Public Schools’ (PPS) purchases now benefit local farms and food producers? PPS is also recognized as a leader in farm to school programming as a partner in School Food FOCUS, a national initiative that helps large urban school districts (those with 40,000 or more students) procure more healthful, sustainably produced and regionally sourced food, so that children may perform better in school and be healthier in life. Ecotrust is proud to assist Portland Public Schools (PPS) as a community partner in its efforts to serve as much regionally grown and processed food in school cafeterias as possible. Here is a great article from FOCUS about PPS’ move to serving 100% locally sourced whole grain bread products at all 85 of its schools.
For the last five years, PPS has focused on increasing its purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers as well as preserved, canned, and frozen foods produced in the Northwest, to benefit its students and support the community. During the 2010-11 school year, PPS Nutrition Services will continue to feature two great programs: Harvest of the Month and Local Flavors.
Harvest of the Month is a campaign in which all school cafeterias feature a locally grown seasonal fruit or vegetable each month. Whether fresh, frozen, or canned, these fruits and vegetables are grown and processed in Oregon; thus their procurement benefits our immediate agricultural community, and their inclusion informs young city eaters of our state’s bounty. Local Flavors is the sister program to Harvest of the Month and includes kid-tested, locally grown and produced food products that have been integrated into the normal menu on a regular basis. The Local Flavors program is a natural extension of PPS’s efforts to serve healthy, local foods as often as possible.
Both the Harvest of the Month and Local Flavors programs are enhanced by dedicated educators who integrate garden-based educational activities for PPS students. Passionate teachers, parents, and community agencies like Growing Gardens and groups like the Portland Farm and Garden Educators Network have helped create and maintain school/community gardens to give students hands-on exploration and learning experiences. (For more information, please contact .) These educational opportunities strengthen and compliment efforts being coordinated as part of the school meal program.
Parents Make a Difference!
Here are three easy ways that parents can support the changes taking place in Portland Public Schools’ cafeterias:
- Talk about the upcoming Harvest of the Month fruits or veggies at home. Look up fun facts about each Harvest of the Month at www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org.
- Serve Harvest of the Month items at home. Watch for special promotions of these foods in grocery stores and get your children involved in shopping, selecting a recipe and preparing the foods at home. Kid-tested recipes are available at http://healthyrecipes.oregonstate.edu.
- Buy lunch on Harvest of the Month and Local Flavor days. Sending your kids to school with lunch money on days when Harvest of the Month and Local Flavor items are served sends a message that you support bringing more Oregon grown and processed foods into our schools. Find Harvest of the Month dates for the 2010-11 school year here and school menu calendar links here.
