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.
Join us to Urge Policy Makers to Address Food Insecurity Crisis in COVID-19 Relief Efforts
The Vermont Foodbank,  Hunger Free VT , and  Vermont FEED (a project of Shelburne Farms and NOFA-VT)  have joined to ask Vermont policy makers to commit funds to address this crisis now, including financial support for school and summer meal programs for children, a stimulus for schools to purchase local food, and support for the charitable food system.​
Fletcher Students Grow Hope
Fletcher Elementary School students are growing both hope and vegetables thanks to a collaboration with the Northwest Healthy Roots Collaborative and RiseVT.
Resources & Tools We're Using
A database of Vermont schools' plans and schedules to distribute meals. It is continually updated as needed.
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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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Find meal by entering your town or ZIP code to see sites within 5-15 miles.
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A series of videos to continuing farm to school learning outside of school.
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A resource to share when handing out seeds for growing at home.
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The values-based tiered buying resources in this toolkit includes a step-by-step guide and fillable templates for K-12 and early childhood meal programs.
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Watch the recording to engage in Farm to School activities that come alive both in an online environment and in the classroom. Learn about what other teachers are doing to keep food systems learning moving forward.
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Vermont has around 900 dairy farms milking cows, sheep, and/or goats. Find recipes, posters, and a reading list to celebrate.
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Garden care strategies, virtual gatherings, and a sortable spreadsheet of lessons, videos, and recorded storytelling organized by age group, topic, and format (click on "Garden-Based Learning Distance Teaching Resources").
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A document compiled by Farm to School Coordinators around the state this past spring. Add your own resources to the list!
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Follow along with farmers Scout Proft and Maria Reade of Someday Farm and Misse Axelrod of Drift Farmstead. Every other week, you’ll learn what's happening on the farm, meet animals and plants through videos and photos, cook a seasonal recipe, and try out a hands-on farm to school activity.
Dairy Education Survey
The Agency of Agriculture and Vermont 4-H are researching dairy-related education. Please share your thoughts and resources! If you work with middle/high school age students and have ever done dairy-related activities, please take 5–30 minutes to complete our survey. Contact Liz Kenton, UVM Extension 4-H, at [email protected] or 802-257-7967 x308 with questions.
A collective epiphany swept the country as the importance of school meals came into focus. Despite looking a bit different, our work supporting and championing school meals continues. Food Connects visited Bellows Falls Union High School to lend a hand and gain a better perspective of what it takes to put out school meals in the era of COVID-19. 
Feeding Kids During a Pandemic: Lamoille North School Food Director Karyl Kent
Vermont FEED is honored to share some voices from the frontline school nutrition programs that so many families depend on. Hear firsthand how the team at Lamoille North Supervisory Union are adapting, keeping kids nourished, and dreaming big.
The Food Team: a Community Collaboration to Address Hunger
A collaboration between Food Connects, Foodworks of Groundworks Collaborative , the Vermont Foodbank , the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union is working hard to feed families in their community.
Events & Professional Learning
Grant Opportunities
GENYOUth is providing grants of up to $3,000 per school for meal distribution and delivery resources to get food to students during COVID-19.
New England Grassroots Environmental Fund is accepting applications for grants ($250-$1,000) for new or evolving community-based projects focused on making our environment better, healthier, or more sustainable.
RiseVT's 2020 Amplify Grants are awarded to community partners whose projects make the healthy choice the easy choice where we live, work, learn, and play. Amplify Grants range $250-$1,500.
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.