Farm to School: nourishing kids and community.

Farm to School brings healthy food from local farms to school children nationwide. The program teaches students about the path from farm to fork, and instills healthy eating habits that can last a lifetime. At the same time, use of local produce in school meals and educational activities provides a new direct market for farmers in the area and mitigates environmental impacts of transporting food long distances.

More than 30 million children eat a school lunch five days a week, 180 days a year. If school lunch can taste great, and support the local community, it is a win-win for everyone.

The National Farm to School Network sprouted from this desire to support community-based food systems, strengthen family farms, and improve student health by reducing childhood obesity. Eight regional lead agencies and national staff provide free training and technical assistance, information services, networking, and support for policy, media and marketing activities. Farm to School is a comprehensive program that extends beyond farm fresh salad bars and local foods in the cafeteria to include waste management programs like composting, and experiential education opportunities such as planting school gardens, cooking demonstrations and farm tours. The Farm to School approach helps children understand where their food comes from and how their food choices impact their bodies, the environment and their communities at large.

National Farm to School Network

In order to sustain and build on the momentum created through the National Farm to School Program, over 30 organizations across the nation gathered to explore the opportunities for a collaborative national farm to school structure that strengthens and expands activities in states with existing programs and assist others that do not yet have programs. Out of this planning process supported by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the National Farm to School Network was born. Eight regional lead agencies and national staff provide free training and technical assistance, information services, networking, and support for policy, media and marketing activities. Click here for a summary of our first year's accomplishments. The National Farm to School Network is supported in part by a $2.4 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The Kellogg Foundation grant enables the Network to establish a viable and sustainable mechanism to coordinate, promote, and expand the farm to school movement at the state, regional, and national levels. Contact Anupama Joshi for more information and join our network here.

The National Farm to School Program

The National Farm to School Program is a collaborative program of Center for Food & Justice (CFJ), a division of the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College and the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC). Initiated in 2000, the National Program has spearheaded the development of the farm to school movement across the country, successfully assisting organizations in starting up and sustaining farm to school efforts, fundraising, and providing informational resources, education and training for farm to school stakeholders. When did farm to school programs start? What were the major milestones? This brief factsheet lays out the history of farm to school.

The program is jointly managed by staff from the two organizations:

Center for Food & Justice
Urban & Environmental Policy Institute
Occidental College
1600 Campus Road | Mail Stop M1
Los Angeles, CA 90041
www.foodandjustice.org · www.uepi.oxy.edu

Anupama Joshi - Program Director
Tel: 323-341-5095
Fax: 323-258-2917
Debra Eschmeyer - Program Media & Marketing Manager
Tel: 419-753-3412
Cell: 202-557-6942


Community Food Security Coalition
www.foodsecurity.org

Marion Kalb - Program Director
3900 Paseo del Sol
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Tel: 505-474-5782
Fax: 505-473-3421
Program Policy Manager 
110 Maryland Ave NE #307
Washington DC 20002
Tel: 202-543-8602
Fax: 202-543-0978

Origins of the National Farm to School Program date back to a collaborative project led by the Center for Food & Justice. The four-year project funded by USDA Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems (IFAFS 2000-2004) jumpstarted the development of farm to school projects in several states. The lessons, models and evaluation results from this project have been shared nationwide and are providing solutions to issues emerging in other states.

Thank You

This website came together with the help of many people who shared with us their information, photos, time, and resources. Thank you to all those who contributed their energy to this project.