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Welcome to the NEW Farm to School Initiative and Local Food Info Source. We are a grass roots organization assisting institutions and growers to connect and form purchasing partnerships.
Our mission... To promote tools and methods (by example) which bring local foods into Wisconsin schools, hospitals, and universities. Transform WI Grants online now!
Transform WI grants; Investing in Communities, Investing in Health are available now. The Community Transformation Grant, awarded in the fall of 2011 by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seeks to build community capacity to prevent chronic disease. Funds will be used to support communities as they pursue evidence-based strategies to prevent obesity, reduce tobacco use, and improve screening for high blood pressure and cholesterol. Wisconsin's initiative focuses in particular on changing systems and policies that create opportunities for all Wisconsinites to make healthy choices easier. Farm to School is just one of three categories for these fantastic grants. Vote for your favorite project at the link below. Do I have a fav? Well yes, Vernon County Farm to School! Go Vernon! Diane http://www.transformwi.com/app/czp5g Free and Reduced School Lunch may be back on the chopping block again come November.
Eliminating the reduced category and opening the free category to families who really need our help seems less and less relevant to anyone's political agenda. How bad does it have to get before common sense in spending takes root? Check out the latest plan to reduce the budget: http://cdn.front.moveon.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/waronchildren500.jpg Schools can "opt out" of Pink Slime! photo: Huffington Post
Should beef really look like this??? Especially if it is feed to our children? According to the USDA schools can now "opt out" and choose which commodity beef source they order. Will the USDA remove the low quality beef from the program altogether? Could this finally be their wake up call? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/15/pink-slime-school-lunch-opt-out_n_1347784.html?1331837820&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009 Lunch Money: serving healthy food in a sick economy. Lunch Money, by Kate Adamick
"Lunch Money: Serving Healthy School Food in a Sick Economy" is the new book from author Kate Adamick. The authors intent is to dispel “the myth that school food reform is cost prohibitive.” Read the review at The Lunch Tray website.
http://www.thelunchtray.com/a-new-book-from-school-food-expert-kate-adamick-lunch-money/ The Culinary Trust has grants for culinary professionals volunteering at schools. Photo: The Culinary Trust
The Chefs Move to Schools Grant provides funds for culinary professionals to help our children eat right by teaching them about food, nutrition and cooking. Funds can be used from garden to table and culinary professionals may seek funding for any program that promotes health and wellness in schools. Download the application at:
http://www.theculinarytrust.org/news-and-events/cmts-grant/ Great websites available for a better school lunch.
Investigate Better Options "Smarter Lunchrooms" Subtle Solutions to Mindless Eating in Schools" on the web. This site has solid and practical ideas for the lunchroom and school menus.
http://www.smarterlunchrooms.org/index.html The LunchBox Website highlights inspirational heros working in school lunch. Click on the link below to read about people making a difference for students eveyday. http://www.thelunchbox.org/community/lunch-box-heroes-blog What's New....Local Food Business Source
Check out the IFM website. Institutional Food Market Coalition has information on local sourcing for large volume buyers and Wisconsin producers. There are great worksheets and links for institutions considering local purchasing on the Buy Local page. http://ifmwi.org/default.aspx |
6 Ingredients You May Not Want In Your Food. Huffington Post Photo by Flickr, user Yoppy
Garden burgers. Power bars. Protein brownies. Bottled water that makes you thin, young and smart. And we used to wonder what they put in Pop Rocks... read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/food-republic/6-ingredients-food_b_1400970.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009#s852350&title=TBHQ_AKA_Butane School Garden Wizard Website gallery photo: School Garden Wizard website
This unique website gives the visitor all the tools needed to garner support, plan, and educate in a school garden.
"A School Garden requires a child's intellectual, emotional and social engagement with things that must be measured, counted, weighed, arranged, planned and cared for." Look for this new website at: http://www.schoolgardenwizard.org/ Schools Showcase Healthy Foods
Tray Talk; Communities for Healthy School Meals is a new website hosted by the School Nutrition Association which has a wide variety of ideas to support healthy food in schools. The site showcases school success stories and provides helpful information. You can find them at:
http://www.traytalk.org/ Hey Locavores, are you creating jobs?
In response to a Senate request for an update on the USDA program Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food, a new website lending assistance to local food initiatives and food hubs across the U.S. opened on March 1st. Even so, local food advocates are concerned the program could be cut out of the farm bill, set to expire this year. Read about it on NPR's The Salt
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/02/29/147647643/hey-locavores-are-you-creating-jobs#commentBlock Lenders learn how to bank on small farms, local foods, by Patty Cantrell Picture: National sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Nic Welty's Nine Bean Rows farm near Traverse City, MI, is one of many smaller, diversified, often first-generation farms in the country that defy expectations, particularly among bankers and others with money needed to finance the new food enterprises. Most find it difficult to pencil out the possibility that such a niche farm business could reliably make enough money to grow. Yet as Welty explains, “This business is good enough to take a cash advance on a credit card and run with it.”
Read the Article at: http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/local-food-lending/ Who Needs a Training Course to Feed the Homeless? Take Part (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The city of Houston Texas proposes changes to an ordinance, and have their sites aimed on feeding the homeless in city parks. Not a good day to be hungry and homeless in Houston. Read the article at Take Part.com http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/03/07/who-needs-training-course-feed-homeless |
News and Views...Green Stories and Farm to School News
National Good Food Network compiles webinar tools for local food partners.
The National Good Food Network has archived a goodly amount of informative webinars with information from marketing and financing to school food focus and creating regional networks. Tried and true methods from industry leaders and experts are available on a variety of topics concerning local foods. "Our monthly NGFN interactive webinars give you the opportunity to learn and connect with on-the-ground practitioners and experts." To view the current list of topics check out the link below.
http://ngfn.org/resources/ngfn-cluster-calls/ngfn-cluster-calls New Publication: A Grower's Manual for Success; Improving handling practices and meeting food safety standards. Photo: Leopold Center for Sustainable Ag
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture has just released a 24 page manual adapted from GROWN Locally, an Iowa based Producer Cooperative, to help local food cooperatives improve their handling practices and meet food safety standards. "The Grower's Manual describes requirements for personnel procedures, general handling, cleaning, sanitizing, packaging, labeling and transporting, and offers information for planning a mock recall. It also includes detailed tables that describe how to prepare and package a variety of crops." To read the press release and download the manual click on the link below.
http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/10-20-2011/leopold-center-publishes-new-grower-s-manual Local food demand growing faster than infrastructure...USDAThe USDA report "Direct and Inter-mediated Marketing Of Local Foods in the US" which examines local foods data from 2008 is now available for download. Read the report at:http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR128/ERR128.pdf Urban Farming In Detroit gets the documentary it deserves
Watch the trailer of Urban Roots the story of urban farming in the Detroit area.
http://grist.org/list/urban-farming-in-detroit-gets-the-documentary-it-deserves/ Whole Kids Foundation...a great resource for school lunch.
GREAT RESOURCE!!!!
Whole Kids Foundation, a division of Whole Foods, has a website chocked full of great resources including School Garden Grants and Salad Bars in Schools. You can find the website at:http://www.wholekidsfoundation.org/ USDA Farm to School website...layers of information. MN f2s photo
The USDA website for farm to school is currently overflowing with publications which analyze the national farm to school program in a multitude of ways. From the USDA's own "Eat Smart-Farm Fresh!” a regulation dense and lengthy guide for school food service professionals to the Occidental College's "Buying and Selling Local Foods" report, the facts, numbers, and rules are all there.
Alongside the heavy tomes and statistics there are several wonderful tools and sources of information which give guidance and show examples of methods currently being utilized for farm to school programs across the nation. The National Food Service Management Institute at http://www.nfsmi.org/ResourceOverview.aspx?ID=324 has produced a series of videos, "Cooks for Kids", which shows us the process as fresh foods are served at school; "from seed to table and back to dirt through composting". These videos are seasonally based as they demonstrate the process behind monthly harvests on the farm and in the school garden, and processing in the school kitchens. |
The Top 25 American Food Entrepreneurs Picture: Gourmet Live
Who are the 25 premier epicurean entrepreneurs of the past quarter century? What men and women are shaping the American food experience? Take a look. I recognize many, buy the products of several, and know one who's close to home. http://www.gourmet.com/food/gourmetlive/2012/020112/the-top-25-american-food-entrepreneurs?currentPage=1 Life on the Farm! The GREEN VALLEY FARM BLOG Picture: Green Valley Farm Blog
The Mismatch Between Today’s Food Industry and the Local Food System A lesson in local meat...if buyers don't utilize the whole animal, processors and farmers are "stuck" in the middle. To access local food, you must "utilize" local food. This isn't the fast track to local goodness; animals come with all their parts attached and pigs aren't made of 100% local bacon. http://www.linkedin.com/news?iewArticle=&articleID=5576590680517521491&gid=1691777&&item=95873806&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egreenvalleyfarmct%2Ecom%2Fgreen-valley-farm-blog%2Fbid%2F125174%2FThe-Mismatch-Between-Today-s-Food-Industry-and-the-Local-Food-System&urlhash=L52P&goback=%2Egde_1691777_member_95873806 Rethinking School Lunch Guide
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Minnesota Farm to School Moves ForwardMinnesota Governor Mark Dayton declared September as Farm to School Month "in recognition of the many benefits that Farm to School brings to K-12 students and the local agricultural economy in Minnesota". Schools encouraged by organizations including the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a long-running advocate for Farm to School in Minnesota, have moved forward to create farm to school programs across the state. Farm to School programs in Minnesota have grown from 10 districts in 2006 to 123 districts last year. Read the full article at:
http://www.thecountrytoday.com/front_page/article_747623d2-e9da-11e0-b37e-001cc4c03286.html. What's on your kid's tray? PSD lunches get once-over for nutrition, student appeal. Picture: Coloradoan.com
"We want healthy options kids will eat," he said. "If the kids like it, that's great. If they don't, it doesn't do us any good no matter how healthy it is or how much it costs." said Craig Schneider, director of PSD Child Nutrition. http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20120222/NEWS01/202220367/What-s-your-kid-s-tray-PSD-lunches-get-once-over-nutrition-student-appeal?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE New Guidelines Planned on School Vending Machines Photo: Kirsten Luce for The New York Times
Health advocates and snack food and soft drink industry representatives hunker down as the White House works on setting nutritional standards for foods that children can buy outside the cafeteria. Read the article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/us/politics/new-rules-planned-on-school-vending-machines.html?_r=1&src=tp&smid=fb-share Minnesota Farm to School Moving Forward Photo: Star Tribune
Great article on Minnesota Farm to School...they're headed in the right direction and making it work. Article by: Kelly Smith, Photo by: Richard TsongTaataril http://www.startribune.com/local/west/130002208.html?page=1&c=y |
A vending machine with attitude!You have to check out this article! It's the perfect vending machine for schools everywhere.
http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=5569745781885243402&gid=2612649&&item=92372414&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eboston%2Ecom%2Flifestyle%2Fhealth%2Fblog%2Fnutrition%2F2012%2F01%2Fa_vending_machine_with_an_atti%2Ehtml&urlhash=KTLa&goback=%2Egde_2612649_member_92372414 House Votes to Curtail Local and Regional Farm and Food Systems
A few weeks ago, the House Appropriations Committee released its FY 2012 bill for agriculture spending. The report language included attacks on USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative as well as the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative...http://sustainableagriculture.net/
Chalkboard: Chocolate milk not for breakfast anymore in Madison schools
 Photo: The Cap Times
New food services director Steve Youngbauer of the Madison School District has begun instituting changes in how and what students of Madison, WI eat. One such change is eliminating sugary cereals and chocolate milk for breakfast. Read the article on The Cap Times website:
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/education/blog/article_361a2e36-f357-11e0-a6be-001cc4c03286.html Something's Fishy in Baltimore Picture Credit: Lloyd Fox, Baltimore Sun
Urban agriculture is all wet...at least it is in Baltimore. Savvy city dwellers are finding new ways to be sustainable and feed their families. Read about it in the Baltimore Sun article by Timothy Wheeler. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fish-farming-20120129,0,5847757.story Farm to School Tool Kits Available Now!
Feel like you can't seem to balance your farm to school wants with school food service methods? Need more help with procuring local foods? Are you looking for tools to help facilitate farm to school in your district? Help is available throughout the U.S. in the form of tool kits specifically designed for growers and institutions. Just click on the links below to discover tool kits from nearly twenty states across the union. These resources are geared toward k-12 schools and beyond.
Check out the links below and find the help you need. *http://www.farmaid.org/site/c.qlI5IhNVJsE/b.5283545/k.57C3/Farm_to_School_101_Toolkit/apps/ka/ct/contactus.asp? c=qlI5IhNVJsE&b=5283545&en=cjLSJ2OEKdITI2MLIlLMJ5MPJlJYJ2MNKqJ3KfOWJtJ9G * http://www.cias.wisc.edu/toolkits/#foodservice * http://dpi.wi.gov/fns/f2s.html * http://www.farmtoschool.org/publications.php |
