This Week in Farm to School 

Farm to school connects local agriculture, schools, and partners to benefit students, educators, farmers, families, and communities.

June Harvest of the Month

Here to spice things up this month... the impecca-bell pepper! Sweet or spicy, peppers come in a variety of colors and contain loads of vitamins A and C. 

Let us know how you highlight peppers in your classroom, cafeteria, and community on social media (@F2SCoalitionNC on Facebook and Instagram).

Meet the Author: Charlotte’s Crossing

June 12, 2024 // 7 pm ET

Join Greensboro Public Library for a Zoom discussion with Marty Thompson Arnold, author of Charlotte’s Crossing. The novel is a blend of captivating fiction and native plant connections. Arnold is a Master Naturalist and an active member in Michigan in her local chapter of Wild Ones, a national organization dedicated to habitat restoration. To receive a Zoom link, please e-mail melanie.buckingham@greensboro-nc.gov.

Incorporating Agroforestry and Food Forests into your Landscape or Farm

June 18, 2024 // 12 pm 

Join Melissa Bell from the Center for Environmental Farming Systems and John Lyttle, Agriculture Agent (Small Farms and Local Foods) for Durham County’s NC Cooperative for the next installment of their Lunch and Learn webinar series.

Learn more and register.

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.

we are 2024 Educator Summer Institute 

June 25 - 27, 2024 // 8:30 am - 4 pm // W.G. Pearson Center Durham, NC

Join we are for their 2024 Educator Summer Institute at the W.G. Pearson Center in Durham, NC. Attendees will walk away with a plan to address a systemic racial equity issue within their own school, district, or organization. Participating K-12 teachers will earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs). 

Learn more and register.

National Pollinator Week

Pollinator Week 2024 will take place June 17 through 23. This annual celebration, managed by the Pollinator Partnership, raises awareness for pollinators and educates on how the public can protect these essential creatures. Download the 2024 Pollinator Week Toolkit for activity ideas, education lessons, and social media content.

Learn more.

Teens Talk School Culture Podcast Episode

For this episode, our Teen anchors share how outdoor education can impact their studies and mental health. During their interview with Dr. Scott Morrison, Associate Professor of Education at Elon University and co-founder of the North Carolina School Garden Network, and Danielle Toma-Harrold, a student researcher at Elon and advisory board member with the North Carolina School Garden Network, the students hear how teachers can implement outdoor education to promote learning and healing for their students and themselves. You can listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Pandora, and Soundcloud.

Learn more and listen.

North Carolina’s Farm to Summer Toolkit

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Summer Nutrition Programs has a Farm to Summer Toolkit that helps break down how summer nutrition sponsors can utilize local foods and implement nutrition education activities in summer meal programs. This toolkit shares the many benefits of farm to summer, how to incorporate local foods into menus, ideas for nutrition education activities, and ways to support and implement gardens at feeding sites.

Learn more.

10 Tips for Reading Picture Books with Children through a Race-Conscious Lens

EmbraceRace shares their guide on how caregivers and educators can best guide children to and through picture books with positive racial representation. These tips draw on the Whole Book Approach and other resources to highlight how picture books can provoke meaningful, transformative conversations between children and adults that “embrace race.” 

Learn more.

Who Gets to Enjoy the Great Outdoors?

Anti-Racism Daily shares the accessibility and inclusivity struggles in many outdoor spaces, including National Parks. They break down the origin of the movement to preserve nature, which still influences conservation advocacy today. 

Learn more.

Food Justice for Kids Prize by Newman’s Own Foundation

Deadline: June 11, 2024

Is your organization working towards food justice for kids in the United States? If so, this is your chance to receive up to $100,000 in grant funding over the next 2 years and deepen your impact! Apply by June 11, 2024, at one of the links below. They welcome applications from all eligible organizations, and in particular seek to be inclusive of organizations led by and/or representing historically marginalized and under-represented groups, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). The Newman’s Own Foundation is seeking applications from organizations working in two priority program areas: 

(1) Indigenous Food Justice (Apply here) and

(2) Nutrition Education and School Food (Apply here)

Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Grant

Deadline: Jun 15, 2024

Using the RFSI funding, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) will fund projects that expand on-farm cold storage and packaging capacity, implement post-harvest handling, provide refrigerated trucks, and expand aggregator facilities." There is $6.2 million in funding available, and there are two application categories: equipment only ($10,000 - $100,000) and infrastructure ($100,000 - $2,000,000).

Learn more.

Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) 2024 Planning Grant Program

Deadline: June 17, 2024

The Reinvestment Fund is inviting applications for grant awards through the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) Planning Grant Program. $6 million is available through this program for grant awards between $10,000 - $150,000. The HFFI Planning Grant Program supports innovative fresh food retail and food retail supply chain projects that seek to improve access to healthy food in underserved areas. Grants will be awarded to support early-stage planning and predevelopment activities of new or expanded food retail or food supply chain projects that seek to process, distribute, aggregate, market, and sell healthy, fresh, and affordable foods to underserved communities and markets. Eligible applicants include for-profit, nonprofit, and cooperatively owned businesses, institutions of higher education, state and local governments, and tribal governments. All applicants must be working towards improving food access for underserved communities through food retail.

Learn more and apply.

USDA Indigenous Animals Harvesting and Meat Processing Grants

USDA is awarding $42.5 million in grants to eight Tribal Nations through Indigenous Animals Harvesting and Meat Processing Grants. Funding will help expand processing opportunities using modern and traditional harvesting methods for animals that are native to North America like bison, reindeer, and salmon. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) in Cherokee, North Carolina is receiving a $6.5 million grant to build a center to process animals its members raise and hunt, including cattle, hog, goat, sheep, deer, bear, elk, beaver, boar, rabbit and groundhog. The new facility will allow the EBCI to create a Tribally owned brand of fish and meat that include rainbow trout and bison. Portions of the meat will be donated and distributed to community members in need, as well as schools, hospitals and other organizations.

Learn more.

SUN Programs: USDA’s Summer Nutrition Programs for Kids

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the launch of “SUN Programs: USDA’s Summer Nutrition Programs for Kids,” to help improve nutrition security during the summer months. Through the suite of SUN Programs, families now have more choices and convenient ways to get summer nutrition support for their children and teens with new SUN Bucks, SUN Meals, and previously launched SUN Meals To-Go. Collectively, these programs continue the work of the Biden-Harris Administration in promoting food and nutrition security.

Learn more.