Farm to School Webinars
Other relevant resources located here.
Wild Foods And More
Mushrooms, wild rice, maple syrup, and more! This webinar covers the ins and outs of how to safely source wild grown foods and specific cultivated items, such as microgreens. It also links to resources and recipes to use these foods in your school meal program.
Download the slides from the webinar.
Local Proteins
This webinar provides information for schools on how to safely and legally buy locally raised or grown animal and plant proteins, as well as how to credit these proteins for federal meal programs.
Download the slides from the webinar.
Reduced OxyGen Packaging
Reduced oxygen packaging (commonly known as vacuum sealing) is a great way to enjoy local, seasonal foods all year long! This webinar explains the types of reduced oxygen packaging (ROP), and how school foodservice operations can plan to use ROP methods to extend the shelf life of local foods and increase the quantity and types of local foods they purchase.
Download the slides from the webinar.
Local Foods Around the Tray
It doesn’t stop at apples, or even at chicken – local foods can be integrated into all aspects of lunch trays in Minnesota. Come learn more about how you may be able to integrate local foods throughout your school meals, and tips about how to be successful.
Local Proteins
Purchasing local meat has been a large part of AGRI Farm to School grants – nearly half of purchases in the 2021 school year were for local proteins! Learn all about considerations for purchasing local meat on this webinar. Panelists/Presenters: Sara George, farmer and Renewing the Countryside staffer; Jane Jewett, farmer and director of the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA); Kate Seybold, Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA); Jill Duitsman, Lunchtime Solutions; and Erin McKee, IATP.
Selling to Schools
This webinar, oriented to growers, producers, and food hubs interested in selling to schools, covers considerations and recommendations for selling to schools:
Purchasing Local Produce
Webinar highlighting tips for purchasing local produce for your school program, featuring:
Kate Seybold, MDA
Annalisa Hultberg, University of Minnesota Extension
Rae Rusnak, L&R Poultry and Produce
Erica Olson, Wayzata Public schools.
Tips & Tricks for Planning Local School Menus
Part of a Farm to School 101 Webinar Series from the MN Farm to School Leadership Team
Webinar Description
Bring local foods to life on your school menus! Learn a variety of ways to incorporate local products into your school recipes, salad bars and cycle menus so they become staple items in your kitchen inventory.
Hear from members of the Farm to School Leadership Team and Minnesota school food service professionals sharing strategies for incorporating more local foods into their school lunch menus.
Presenters:
Angela Richey, MPH, RD, SNS, Nutrition Services Supervisor, Roseville and St. Anthony Schools
Felicia Kittok, RDN, Food Service Director, Becker Public Schools
Kate Seybold, Regional Marketing Specialist, Agricultural Marketing & Development, MN Dept. of Agriculture
Sami Burington, Registered Dietitian, Nutrition Program Consultant at Minnesota Department of Education
Jackie Billhymer, MPH, RD, Farm to Institution Coordinator, University of Minnesota Extension Center for Family Development
Erin McKee, Community Food Systems Program Director, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
A collaboration between the MN Department of Agriculture, the MN Department of Education, U of MN Extension, and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Buying local foods for your school meals!
Part of a Farm to School 101 Webinar Series from the MN Farm to School Leadership Team
Webinar Description
In this webinar, we will get into the details of where and how to purchase local foods to serve in your school meals, sharing resources, best practices and on-the-ground case studies to help you succeed. Learn a variety of strategies for finding farmers, planning for procurement needs and purchasing safe local food for your school meals.
Presenters
Rachel Doherty, Farm to School Coordinator at Mesabi East School District
Jane Jewett, Associate Director, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture
Annalisa Hultberg, Food Safety Extension Educator, University of Minnesota
Hear from members of the Farm to School Leadership Team and Minnesota school food service professionals sharing tips and tricks to find and purchase local foods!
A collaboration between the MN Department of Agriculture, the MN Department of Education, U of MN Extension, and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Farmers: Bringing the Farm to School
Find a series of 10 short farmer-focused videos (5-6 minutes) covering Farm to School topics:
Four Part Webinar Series: Farm to Early Care
In this four-part webinar series, IATP’s Community Food Systems team provides technical support and implementation strategies for those working in early care settings to begin (or scale up) a Farm to Early Care initiative. With webinars specifically tailored to both educators and nutrition/foodservice staff, as well as USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) compliance and local food purchasing, these webinars are designed to address the needs of practitioners in any ECE setting. Though designed to address the ECE audience, much of the content is relevant to K12 Farm to School initiatives as well.
