Changing the way kids eat and think about food
Farm-to-School provides hands-on programming, resources, and networking opportunities to 17 schools in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, supporting efforts to build and maintain school gardens, source local food, and provide nutrition and agriculture education. Through this work, students gain the knowledge and skills they need to make healthy food choices and regularly eat local foods in the cafeteria.
We believe that if we can change the way that kids eat and think about food we can have a positive impact on their future and the health of our farms.
We work with schools to develop a sustainable program that builds staff capacity to embed Farm-to-School activities across the classroom, cafeteria, and community. As every school is different, with distinct priorities and diverse community resources, we provide different levels of service depending on a school’s readiness for Farm-to-School with the goal of bringing all schools to a thriving program level.
Farm-to-School programs focus on four different areas:
Nutrition & Agricultural Education
Teaching students about food systems and healthy eating choices
Growing & Preparing Food
Facilitating hands-on workshops in school gardens and classrooms
Local Foods in School Meals
Increasing access to nutritious, locally-sourced foods in school cafeterias
Connection to Local Food Systems
Connecting students to their local food system through farm field trips