This Week in Farm to School
January 20, 2022

Farm to school connects local agriculture, schools, and partners to benefit students, educators, farmers, families, and communities.
A Regional Imperative: Making the Case for Regional Food Systems
January 26, 2022 // 1 - 2:30 pm EST
Join the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG) as they take a comprehensive look at regional food systems and make a compelling case for their importance in food systems change work. In this session, they will be presenting key concepts from their report, “A Regional Imperative: Making the Case for Regional Food Systems”. Ruhf and Clancy, authors of the report, will distill the material into digestible “take-aways” for food system practitioners, educators, policymakers, funders, researchers, and advocates. 

2022 CEFS’ Committee on Racial Equity (CORE) Two-Day Training – Focus on the Food System
February 8 - 9, 2022 // 9:30 am - 3:30 pm EST
Join CORE for a multi-day virtual racial equity training that will offer a shared language, a shared framework, and a shared history for understanding how racism and systemic barriers inhibit equity in the food system. The goal of the training is to assist with setting meaningful goals and strategies to ensure racial equity in farm and food programs and policy. Limited space is available! Registration will be accepted based on space availability. 

2022 North Carolina Child Hunger Leaders Conference
February 17, 2022 // 9:30 am - 4 pm 
This year's conference is once again hosted by the Carolina Hunger Initiative, a part of the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. The conference was started by No Kid Hungry NC, which is a partnership between UNC and Share Our Strength supported by the same team as the Carolina Hunger Initiative. This conference will be a chance for North Carolinians to celebrate each other, share stories of their success and innovations, and look to what the future might be for Child Nutrition in our state.
Durham Public Schools (DPS) Outdoor Learning Webpage
Visit the DPS Outdoor Learning page dedicated to curriculum, events, and other resources to help get you started or continue on your outdoor learning journey.
Poe and Grow Online Garden
The Poe Center for Health Education designed an interactive garden to help you along with your school and community garden journey. As you roll over the elements of their online garden, you will learn helpful facts and be guided to valuable resources. As the tree changes with the seasons, many components of the garden will also change to reflect what to expect in the garden during each season.
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future FoodSpan Lesson Plans
FoodSpan is a free, downloadable curriculum that provides high school students with a deep understanding of critical food system issues, empowers them to make healthy and responsible food choices, and encourages them to become advocates for food system change. 
School Nutrition Association (SNA) Awards
Recognize a School Nutrition colleague by nominating them for an SNA Award. Nominations are due by March 1, 2022! Review eligibility requirements, along with nomination criteria, via the link below. 
The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) 2022 Specialty Crops Block Grant Program
Draft Deadline: January 26, 2022
Application Deadline: March 4, 2022
The NCDA&CS is accepting applications for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. Non-profits and government agencies wishing to apply can submit a draft application for staff review by January 26, 2022. A pdf of the draft application should be sent to jenni.keith@ncagr.gov. 

The Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program
Deadline: January 31, 2022
Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program (FASLP) is a farm-to-school program that supports projects that bring together school cafeterias and classrooms and fosters community engagement between local farms and schools. The goal of these efforts is to not only increase access to school meals for underserved children but also improve their quality. FASLP is focused on the development of leadership skills, knowledge, and qualities necessary to prepare students for food, agricultural, and related careers.

GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant
Deadline: February 4, 2022
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation and KidsGardening are excited to announce the launch of the 2022 GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant! This grant will award a total of 150 programs $500 in funding to start or expand their youth gardens or greenspaces. The Grassroots Grants are part of Scotts Miracle-Gro’s larger GroMoreGood initiative, which aims to bring the life-enhancing benefits of gardens and greenspaces to 10 million children by 2023.

School Nutrition Foundation Equipment Grants
Deadline: March 31, 2022
The School Nutrition Foundation is teaming up with industry partners to provide new kitchen equipment to deserving districts. Apply now for the 2022 SNF Equipment Grant Program, featuring applications for not one but FIVE grants! Eligible applicants have the opportunity to win equipment grants, each worth between $20,000 to $100,000 of equipment. Applications and photos must be submitted by a School Nutrition director. The recipients will be notified in late March. This year, only finalists will be asked to submit a 2-3-minute video.

WNC Farm to School Jumpstart Grant
Deadline: August 2022
The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s Growing Minds Jumpstart Grant is now open! Eligible schools and organizations can apply for funding in the amount of $500 to $1,000 to support their farm to school project. Funding can be used to start new projects or to expand upon existing activities. Pre-k through 12 schools, homeschool groups, teacher and nutrition education programs, and community-based organizations serving children and families are eligible to apply (see below for more details). Schools/organizations must be located within the 23 westernmost counties of North Carolina (Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, Yancey) or the Qualla Boundary. Applications are due on the 15th of each month through August 2022, starting on January 15, 2022.  
Farm to School Census Comment Opportunity
Deadline: January 31, 2022
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service, which administers the Farm to School Census, is asking for stakeholders to weigh in on the burden of information collection for the Farm to School Census before administering the next round in 2023. The Farm to School Census is a rich source of information from School Food Authorities (SFAs) across the country. You can see the information gathered in 2019 that was released earlier this year here. USDA welcomes your first-hand experiences on the burden on school food authorities to collect information for the Farm to School Census. 

Increased Funding to Support School Meals and to Help Continue Serving Healthy Meals to Students
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced an adjustment in school meal reimbursements to help schools continue to serve children healthy and nutritious meals. This move will put more funds into school meal programs across the nation this year, making sure federal reimbursements keep pace with food and operational costs while ensuring children continue to receive healthy meals at school.
Listening is the First Step in Serving Native Communities
A new food program provides a new perspective for hunger-relief organizations on how to serve Indigenous populations in Wisconsin. (Food Bank News)
Farm to School Coalition of NC | www.farmtoschoolcoalitionnc.org