This Week in Farm to School | |
Farm to school connects local agriculture, schools, and partners to benefit students, educators, farmers, families, and communities. | |
Expanded Geographic Preference in the Final Rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent with 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
June 20, 2024 // 2 pm ET
USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Patrick Leahy Farm to School Team (USDA Farm to School Team) will host a webinar for farm to school partners, including Child Nutrition Program (CNP) operators, on the expanded geographic preference option in the final rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The final rule includes a small yet significant expansion of the geographic preference provision. Beginning July 1, 2024, the provision will permit CNP operators to use local as a specification when procuring unprocessed agricultural products. The USDA Farm to School Team will provide an overview to help farm to school partners share and learn about the expanded geographic preference option.
Learn more and register.
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Youth Internship Programs
June 26, 2024 // 2 pm ET
Internships are a great way to involve youth more deeply in garden programming while giving them important job skills. Join educators from Durham, NC, and Victoria, BC to discuss the benefits of vocational programs for high school and college students and examples of different internship models to support youth in exploring outdoor careers. The School Garden Support Organization Network hosts this webinar.
Learn more and register.
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The Power of Neurodivergence
June 27, 2024 // 3 pm ET
Join Anti-Racism Daily for their upcoming training about exploring neurodiversity. In an ever-evolving world, neurodiversity is a framework we can use to explore our less visible differences. Doing this can help us design better ways of working with ourselves and each other. This two-hour workshop hosted by Anti-Racism Daily and led by multidisciplinary artist and author, Jezz Chung, offers an introduction to the language of neurodiversity weaved in with personal examples, frameworks, and interactive prompts to challenge ableism and embrace the power of neurodiversity in the ways we work. This workshop does have a fee of $129.
Learn more and enroll.
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CEFS Small Farm Unit Field Day
July 11 - 12, 2024 // 1 pm ET // Goldsboro, NC
Join the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) for a Field Day at the Small Farm Unit to learn about their work with specialty vegetables, cover crops and soil-building practices, biodegradable mulch, beekeeping, and more.
Learn more register.
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Farm to School Local Food Purchasing Incentives: An Introduction to Incentives
Local Food Purchasing Incentives (LFPIs) are programs that provide additional funding to Child Nutrition Program (CNP) operators to directly offset or incentivize local food purchases. This document is part of a resource series on Local Food Purchasing Incentives (LFPIs), produced through collaboration between the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) and the National Farm to School Network. This project aims to contribute to the growing body of knowledge on LFPIs and provide more information for farm to school advocates and practitioners nationwide.
Learn more.
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Many Hands Makes Light Work: Relationship Building
Running a successful school garden program takes a village... and even more so when expanding it! Dive into our Relationship Building Promising Practice and learn about ways to energize existing relationships and identify opportunities where new ones can be created. Resources you will find include: (1) Sample Logic Model, (2) Sample contracts and MOUs, and (3) Potential partnership for school garden development guide. This guide was created by the School Garden Support Organization Network.
Learn more.
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USDA, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Dashboard
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service is pleased to announce the launch of a new interactive dashboard that features state, territory, and national level data for FNS programs. This tool provides new, in-depth insight into publicly available data, specifically, program participation and meals served across ten FNS nutrition programs. Site visitors will have greater insight into critical programs that touch the lives of millions daily.
Learn more.
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Learning for Justice Classroom Resources
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Learning for Justice has FREE classroom resources. From film kits and lesson plans to the building block of a customized Learning Plan, their resources will help you bring relevance, rigor, and social-emotional learning into your classroom.
Learn more.
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Juneteenth Student Resources
Juneteenth is a time for celebration and reflection with the whole family. For young children, the abstract concept of freedom and the hard history of slavery can be challenging to grasp. The National Museum of African American History and Culture’s early childhood education team offers the following resources to support young children’s understanding and celebration of Juneteenth: a guide on how to talk about slavery and freedom in age-appropriate ways, an activity to inspire hope and activism, and a children’s book and online resource list.
Learn more.
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SARE Food Loss and Waste Training and Technical Assistance Grants
Deadline: June 28, 2024
The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program has opened a grant opportunity to implement outreach, training, and technical assistance efforts to build capacity for food loss and waste initiatives. The program supports projects that align with USDA activities aimed at reducing food loss and food waste, getting surplus wholesome food to individuals, and developing linkages between food producers, providers, and food recovery organizations. Funding Range: Expected grant size is $500,000, capped at $1 million per project.
Learn more and apply.
Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation Announces Grant Opportunities Supporting Nutrition Education and Healthy Lifestyles in Schools and the Community
Deadline: June 30, 2024
The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation has announced three grants that support nutrition education in schools.
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Sprouting School Gardens Grant - The Sprouting School Gardens Grant is designed to help schools create or expand their garden programs on school campuses with an emphasis on nutrition education. Grants range in size from $5,000 to $10,000 and may be used to support program operations, program supplies, learning tools, and educator stipends.
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Growing Healthy Kids Grant – Help kids grow healthy with programs at home or in the community that support nutrition, health, and wellness. Nonprofits in the communities that Sprouts serves are eligible to apply for this grant. Grants range in size from $5,000 to $10,000.
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Wellness Across the Lifespan Grant – Wellness Across the Lifespan Grants support programs that help young adults and vulnerable populations achieve and maintain healthy lifestyle behaviors and nutritious eating. Nonprofits in the communities that Sprouts serves are eligible to apply. Grants range in size from $5,000 to $10,000.
Learn more and apply.
Lots of Compassion Grant
Deadline: June 30, 2024
Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day and KidsGardening share a belief that the garden has the power to do more than grow flowers and herbs. It can grow people, communities, and even kindness, too. Together, they designed the Lots of Compassion Grant program to support local leaders looking to transform vacant lots into gardens to help grow compassion in their community. Through the Lots of Compassion initiative, Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day is pledging to provide up to $1 million from Compassion Flower product sales to support community garden transformations over the next five years. Now in its second year, ten grantees will receive $20,000 each to transform a vacant lot into a garden. A total of $200,000 will be awarded in 2024.
Learn more and apply.
Morgan Stanley Children’s Mental Health Innovation Awards
Deadline: July 8, 2024
Morgan Stanley’s program aims to seed fund transformative mental health care solutions for children across the U.S. It helps address the lack of investment in youth mental health, connect innovative ideas with capital, and build capacity for nonprofits. This annual initiative invites 11 of 21 U.S.-based 501(c)(3) public charities to submit innovative ideas for advancing children’s mental health. Five winners are selected, and a broader group of applicants are invited to join a Leadership Learning Series. Each winner receives $100,000 in seed funding.
Learn more and apply.
Behind the Tray- Food Science for School Meals
Deadline: July 12, 2024
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is committed to providing safe school meals and supporting those who prepare and serve them every day. FNS seeks to award a 2-year $600,000 cooperative agreement to develop, implement, and evaluate a new week-long in-person science-based food safety education training program for School Nutrition professionals. Behind the Tray will enhance the food science and food processing literacy of School Nutrition professionals with special emphasis on food safety and food microbiology. Public, state, and private universities and colleges are eligible to apply.
Learn more and apply.
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New Research Brief: School Meals for All in California
California implemented a School Meals for All program (also called universal meals) after federal waivers allowing free school meals during COVID-19 ended. A survey of 430 food service directors revealed that layered government investments are associated with better meal operations, labor practices, and local food sourcing. This research brief was created by the Nutrition Policy Institute.
Learn more.
USDA Invests More than $2.3 Million to Support Indigenous Foods in School and Summer Meals
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the USDA will award a total of more than $2.3 million in grants to five organizations to support Child Nutrition Programs serving more Indigenous foods to Tribal communities. The organizations awarded are led and primarily staffed by members of the Federally Recognized Tribes and/or Native Hawaiians. The funds will support culturally relevant nutrition education and the use of traditional Indigenous foods in school and summer meals and snacks.
Learn more.
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