Farm to school is for all ages! This is proven through a project by First 5 Shasta and University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) in Shasta County funded through the CDFA Farm to School Incubator Grant Program.
Beginning in 2025, this project provided six weeks of hands-on education and California-grown produce to 12 childcares across Shasta County. Education was provided by Shasta College students via the USDA Grow It, Try It, Like It and Harvest of the Month resources. It was so successful that it won first place in the western region and third place nationally for the 2026 Early Childhood Child Care Training Award from the National Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.
“This project showed us that farm to school can start well before children enter school,” UCCE Community Nutrition and Health Advisor Janessa Hartmann said. “We were able to increase young children’s acceptance of fruits and vegetables, build the skills and confidence of childcare providers, engage families and invest in our local food system. Most importantly, we saw the ripple effect at home where a child explores a new food at childcare, gets excited and talks about it at home and now that food becomes a part of the family’s routine.”
Over two years, the project purchased and distributed more than 8,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables from 11 farms. Providers not only incorporated the produce into meals and snacks but also made fruit leather, jam, cobblers, pickles, salsa, zucchini bread, spaghetti sauce and even peach ice cream. Many families were able to take home many of the fruits and vegetables.
This project engaged with 170 children that tasted 24 fruits and vegetables. Taste testing results were positive – 88% of children tried the featured item and 71% said they would eat them again. Among the 82 families that completed the final survey, 88% reported their child tried new fruits and vegetables and 96% said their child asked for fruits and vegetables at home. One parent shared, “She now says, ‘Try it ‘cause you might like it’ at the table.”
For more information about this project, contact Jackie Scott at jscott@first5shasta.org or Janessa Hartmann at jlhartmann@ucanr.edu.
October is National Farm to School Month! Join us and thousands of schools, early care and education sites, farms, communities and organizations across the country as we celebrate food education, school gardens and lunch trays filled with healthy, local ingredients.
Click here to view this original CDFA Planting Seeds blog post.