What is Farm to School?
Farm to School connects Minnesota farmers and kids by serving local food in students’ meals and teaching them about local agriculture in educational activities.
Farm to School projects are very diverse and can look different depending on the communities doing them. They include at least one of these three core strategies:
Local purchasing:
Local foods are purchased, promoted and served in the cafeteria or at mealtimes, as a snack or in classroom taste-tests.
Education:
Students participate in educational activities related to agriculture, food, health and nutrition.
School gardens:
Students engage in hands-on, experiential learning through gardening.
BENEFITS OF FARM TO SCHOOL
Classmates taste testing farm to school salads in St. Paul.
Janssen Hang, executive director of the Hmong American Farmers Association, speaks with USDA members.
Members of the community joining the Land Stewardship Project and Clean Rivers Partners touring farms in MN.
Farm to School is good for kids
kids participating in Farm to School programs are more willing to try new foods, eat more fruits and vegetables per day and eat a wider variety of fruits and vegetables in general.
Giving kids the chance to try delicious local foods when they are young reaches them when they are developing taste preferences and eating habits that will carry forward for the rest of their lives, setting the stage for long-term health benefits and lowering the chances of diet-related disease.
Kids in Farm to School programs develop a deeper understanding of where food comes from and a sense of connection to their communities.
Reaching kids can also indirectly influence the food and nutrition behaviors of their school staff, family and community members.
Farm to School is good for farmers
Farm to School programs open up an additional market for farmers to sell into, giving them another income stream in a diversified business model.
Selling to schools can be a steppingstone to sell to additional wholesale markets, creating transferable skills that can grow farmers’ businesses.
Sales to schools potentially offer farmers the opportunity to make larger, more predictable sales than at a farmers’ market, as well as the potential to plan ahead.
Farm to School programs build farmer relationships with community members, strengthening support for buying local and highlighting farmers’ vital role in the community.
Farm to School is good for communities
Farm to School programs build authentic relationships and strengthen community ties.
For every $1 spent on Farm to School, $2.16 of local economic activity is generated. This money is invested into the local economy, supporting local jobs and businesses and helping communities thrive.
Schools with Farm to School programs see increased participation in their school lunch programs, which generates additional income for their food service to support their programs.