Vermont's Farm to School Newsletter

Resources to support your farm to school needs, brought to you by members of the Vermont Farm to School Network.
October is Farm to School Month!
As a result of COVID-19 and waivers granted at the federal level, for the first time ever, all Vermont schools are currently providing Universal School Meals to their students and will through the end of the 2020/21 school year. October is National Farm to School month, and here in Vermont the commitment is stronger than ever to move the state to a permanent Universal School Meals platform incorporating the Farm to School model of healthy meals made with locally sourced ingredients.
The Lunch Monitor: It Pays to Buy Local
A brief look at the local purchasing incentive currently being considered in the Vermont legislature. 
Vermont Farm to School Stories:
an Update from Rick Scharf at Milton High School
In 2016, we asked Rick Scharf, biology teacher at Milton High School, how Farm to School programming was changing his teaching and his students' learning. We met up with him again this fall to learn how he's adapting to this new school year.
Resources & Tools We're Using
COVID-related suggestions to continue cooking with your students while remaining safe created by Food Connects in partnership with the Vermont Farm to School Network.
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Tips for addressing common worries from the Vermont Community Garden Network.
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A guide to help Northeast farmers and gardeners adapt important crops of world cultures into the local food system to be grown successfully for market, food and/or medicine. 
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Outreach materials and updates to keep Vermonters in the loop with any important changes to school meal programs, 3SquaresVT, and other nutrition programs. 
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A new report from University of Vermont Extension covering education activities currently being offered throughout Vermont as well as curriculum and resources available nationally.
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An educational project by New Hampshire Farm to School in collaboration with the New Hampshire Indigenous Collaborative Collective and the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People.
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Part of a webinar series hosted by the Vermont Education and Environment Network. Read the panelists' responses here.
Who Feeds Our Kids: Jessica Boucher
Strengthening Farm to School with Community Partnerships & Youth Voice
The High School for Environmental Studies and 1Freedom have created incredible programming to elevate and engage students as partners in real world Farm to School projects. We asked them how.
Who Grows Our Food: A Conversation with Police
11.3% of farmwork in Vermont is accomplished by seasonal H-2A Temporary Visa farmworkers, a majority of whom are Jamaican—an estimated 400 individuals. Established in 1986 as part of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, the H-2A Visa Program allows agricultural businesses in the U.S. to hire temporary foreign workers for seasonal positions that they would have otherwise been unable to fill with domestic workers.
Events & Professional Learning
Grant Opportunities

This grant program is open to school and early childhood programs and is reimbursement based: it can only cover costs for equipment and supplies that have been purchased prior to an application being submitted so long as they were made after March 1st, 2020. First come, first served. Eligible expenses include improvements for outdoor learning and/or dining spaces and equipment for processing, packaging, storing, and serving meals safely.
The Vermont Farm to School Network is a statewide network engaging students and school communities in a local food and farm culture that nurtures children's health, cultivates viable farms, and builds vibrant communities.

Please contact Betsy Rosenbluth at [email protected] with questions, comments, or additions.