As the host of the California Farm to School Network, the California Department of Food and Agriculture Office of Farm to Fork (CDFA-F2F) helps raise the next generation of California agriculture leaders. This year, through Specialty Crop Block Grant funding, CDFA-F2F hosted a series of four student field trips, providing opportunities for culinary students to harvest their own produce from the field, speak directly with farmers and practice culinary skills with the highest quality ingredients. For many students, these experiences will be the spark that starts a lifelong relationship with California produce and the people who grow it.
As the final field trip in the specialty crop farm tour series, high school culinary students from the San Diego area had the opportunity to visit Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center, where they toured, tasted and taught their way through a Summer Chef’s Camp. Students participating in camp experienced many new foods, like tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots, all of which they harvested from the premises themselves.
While many students experienced these products for the first time, others flexed their culinary muscles and helped teach other students through peer-to-peer coaching.
Stay tuned for more updates on the California Farm to School movement in the future.
– CDFA Farm to Fork Staff
This article is part of a series chronicling the CDFA Office of Farm to Fork’s student farm tours. Made possible by Specialty Crop Block Grant funding, these farm tours aim to increase students’ knowledge of and appreciation for California specialty crops through direct interaction with local specialty crop farmers.
“We are encouraging curiosity about food in students and building their confidence to take the “risk” of trying fruits and veggies that are foreign to them.” — Erin Derden-Little, Farm to School Coordinator for Humboldt County Office of Education
The Humboldt
County Office of Education (HCOE) provides collaboration, management
and support to the 32 school districts within Humboldt County, one of the
largest and most rural counties in the state of California. There are
approximately 18,500 students enrolled in Humboldt County schools, over 55% of whom
qualify for free and reduced-price meals. HCOE Nutrition
Programs & Services
works to provide teachers, school food service staff, students, parents and
community members with the tools and resources to support Humboldt County students
in making lifelong healthy choices. One of the most successful ways HCOE is
working to support students’ healthy lifestyles is through its robust farm to
school program.
HCOE has a long track record of supporting farm to school.
When Farm to School Coordinator Erin Derden-Little joined HCOE in 2016, a team
of women had already been carrying out Harvest of the Month and other nutrition
education activities for nearly 20 years. The program’s longest standing activity,
Harvest of the Month, offers a powerful framework that reaches students in
every part of the school day. Each month, HCOE delivers a ready-to-go curriculum
and materials to over 200 K-5th grade classrooms, 26 after school programs and
18 pre-schools and playgroups – making it possible for over 4,800 children to
try a featured produce item each month. Derden-Little said the program makes an
effort to source 70% of produce from local farmers and has featured a wide
variety of specialty crops including hakurei salad turnips, leeks, persimmons
and kohlrabi. For each local produce item featured, HCOE creates a short video
about the farm and produce item; these videos are shown in the classroom and have
become a favorite of students and teachers.
By connecting school food service with Humboldt County
farmers, HCOE is also helping schools source local produce for their meal
programs and has assisted districts with following local procurement guidelines
and developing bid documentation. Derden-Little explained that local sourcing
is a challenge for HCOE’s smaller, spread-out districts because it’s not feasible
for farmers to deliver small volumes over a wide geographic area and there are
no other distribution options for schools to source local produce. To overcome
this barrier, Derden-Little said HCOE has begun ordering extra quantities of
local produce for interested school districts as part of their regular Harvest
of the Month program. HCOE pays the farmer for the entire order, then uses an
inter-district transfer process to collect payment; the produce is then
distributed to districts with their regular Harvest of the Month deliveries.
In addition to the classroom and the cafeteria,
Derden-Little said after-school programs have also been an area of focus for
HCOE. Currently, 26 participating after-school programs receive a Harvest of
the Month snack recipe at the beginning of the month and a more extensive
recipe near the end of the month. After-school leaders work with the kids to
create the recipe, then parents get to sample the finished product at pick-up
time. To further support healthy eating at home, each month six to seven after-school
programs also distribute bags of ingredients and recipe cards to 20 families as
part of HCOE’s Family Meal Market program. That means between 120 and 140
families are receiving fresh produce and recipes from HCOE each month. Derden-Little
explained the Family Meal Market program is a way for HCOE to help low-income
and vulnerable families as they reach the end of their paychecks late in the
month. The program has been a success, and Derden-Little said participating
families have reported purchasing ingredients on their own to make the recipes
again.
Derden-Little said one of the greatest impacts of HCOE’s
efforts is that students are becoming less afraid of trying new foods,
especially healthy foods. HCOE regularly collects feedback from Harvest of the
Month teachers; one teacher noted, “Every time we try a new food at least one
student who didn’t think they were going to like it finds they do. Families
have shared with me that their kids come home asking them to buy certain
produce, so they are helping their families make healthy choices!” By serving
flavorful and nutrient-dense produce and building the connection to farmers,
Derden-Little said HCOE is creating a positive and fun experience for students
and changing the culture around healthy eating.
Check out HCOE’s Harvest of the Month videos on their Vimeo
channel.
– CDFA Farm to Fork Staff
This article is part
of a series highlighting organizations that are successfully promoting
specialty crops in schools. Made possible by Specialty Crop Block Grant
funding, these success stories aim to inspire similar efforts, ultimately
increasing student access to, knowledge of, and demand for California specialty
crops.
As part of their Harvest of the Month program, Sierra Harvest provides tastings of fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables for students at participating schools in Nevada County
Sierra Harvest’s farm
to school program has become one of the key ways Nevada County’s students are
learning about and eating more specialty crops. Celebrating its 10th
anniversary this year, Sierra Harvest’s farm to school program currently reaches
96% of K-8 students in western Nevada County. Sierra Harvest offers participating
schools a variety of activities as part of its farm to school program,
including harvest of the month, cooking lessons with guest chefs, field trips
to local farms, farm-fresh produce on school garden carts, farmer visits to
classrooms, spring plant sales and support for school garden initiatives. Because
each school is unique, Sierra Harvest’s Farm to School Director Marisha Finkler
encourages schools to implement the program differently depending on their
needs and priorities; this flexibility ensures there’s a combination of
activities that works for every school. In addition, Sierra Harvest works to
keep the program affordable at $2 per student and assists schools with fundraising
opportunities.
The core activity
that is consistent across all farm to school participants is the harvest of the month program. Over the past 10 years, this program has introduced Nevada County
students to 50 varieties of fruits and vegetables and provided over 50,000
pounds of local produce through monthly tastings. According to Finkler, Sierra
Harvest has found that even picky eaters will try vegetables at school if they
see other kids trying them. Finkler reports that over the past year, 72% of
students tried something new through harvest of the month and, on average,
Sierra Harvest has seen a 43% increase in students liking the items sampled
through harvest of the month. Generously sponsored by BriarPatch
Food Co-op, Sierra Harvest is
currently providing monthly tastings of seasonal, fresh produce to 33 schools
and other institutions such as Dignity Health and Cascade Senior Living.
In addition to farm to school activities, Sierra Harvest works
to promote specialty crops in schools by supporting local procurement efforts. Sierra
Harvest partnered with Nevada Joint Union High School and Nevada City School District
to help launch Foothills Fresh, a scratch cooked school meal program featuring
local organic foods. This new program served over 53,000 scratch cooked lunches
in the 2017/2018 school year, more than doubling the number of students participating
in school lunch.
According to Finkler, Sierra Harvest’s farm to school
efforts have grown more than just produce in Nevada County – they have also
helped grow meaningful relationships between students, schools, farmers, guest
chefs and the community. From harvesting produce in the field to preparing it
in the classroom, these hands-on farm to school activities help students
develop an understanding of where their food comes from and may even have
impacts outside the classroom. Finkler notes Sierra Harvest has found that on
average, 57% of participating students’ families are buying farmer direct,
including farmers markets, community supported agriculture memberships, farm
stands, etc.
For more information about Sierra Harvest, including their
harvest of the month newsletters and guest chef recipes, please visit their website. To
hear what students are saying about the program, check out their YouTube channel
or follow them on Instagram.
Stay tuned for more specialty crop school success stories in
the coming weeks.
– CDFA Farm to Fork Staff
This article is part
of a series highlighting organizations that are successfully promoting
specialty crops in schools. Made possible by Specialty Crop Block Grant
funding, these success stories aim to inspire similar efforts, ultimately increasing
student access to, knowledge of, and demand for California specialty crops.
Third graders from Pacific Elementary School head out to the field to harvest fava greens
Teaching
kids about the benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetables when they’re
young can help form healthy habits that last a lifetime. Research
shows that farm to school efforts can have positive impacts on kids’
food choices and attitudes towards fresh fruits and vegetables, including
increasing their knowledge of nutrition, their willingness to try new fruits
and vegetables, and can even lead to requesting more fruits and vegetables at
home. Because today’s students will become tomorrow’s adults, efforts to build student
knowledge of and appreciation for fruits and vegetables has the potential to
drive long-term specialty crop sales and lifelong healthy eating habits.
Thanks
to a Specialty Crop Block Grant, the California Department of Food and
Agriculture Office of Farm to Fork (CDFA-F2F) helped fund a series of farm tour
field trips for third graders from two Sacramento elementary schools. Over the
course of three rainy winter days, Soil Born Farms Urban Agriculture and Education
Project welcomed students from Pacific Elementary School and
Camellia Waldorf School to visit the American River Ranch, a historic 55-acre
organic farm located within the American River Parkway in Rancho Cordova. A
team of Soil Born staff members, interns and volunteers helped guide each group
of students on an exciting morning of exploring the farm.
Before
venturing into the elements, students received a lesson on farm safety and
geared up in protective shoe covers. It was then off to the field, where they
harvested fava greens and learned about how cover crops help build the health
of the soil and replenish nutrients like nitrogen. After leaving the field,
students stopped by the greenhouse to look at seedlings before making their way
over to the youth garden to harvest parsley. Students next headed into the
schoolhouse, where they received a lesson in knife safety before chopping up
vegetables to make soup. While waiting for the soup to cook, students
participated in a variety of activities, including learning about the different
parts of a plant, drawing seed packets and journaling about their experiences
on the farm. The students wrapped up their farm tour field trip with a warm
bowl of delicious and nutritious vegetable soup featuring the ingredients they
harvested and prepared – with nearly all students asking for seconds!
A
special thank you to Soil Born staff members Shannon Hardwicke, Youth Education
Manager; Alyssa Kassner, Youth Education Assistant Manager; Jenn MacLeod, Youth
Educator; and Michelle Sikora, Cooking and Nutrition Coordinator; as well as
the interns, volunteers, teachers and parents that made these field trips
possible.
Third graders from Pacific Elementary School prep the fava greens they harvested from the field moments earlier.
Stay
tuned for more specialty crop student farm tours in the coming weeks.
– CDFA
Farm to Fork Staff
This article is part of a series
chronicling the CDFA Office of Farm to Fork’s student farm tours. Made possible
by Specialty Crop Block Grant funding, these farm tours aim to increase students’
knowledge of and appreciation for California specialty crops through direct
interaction with local specialty crop farmers.
“Yes, we serve food, but we’re also an educational setting. We take time to teach kids about food,” – Vince Caguin, Director of Nutrition Services and Warehousing for the Natomas Unified School District
Natomas Unified School District
(NUSD) is a mid-size school district located north of downtown Sacramento. Named
as the second most diverse school district in the nation in a 2016 New York
Times study, NUSD serves 15,000 students across 20 school sites, of whom
approximately 51% qualify for free and reduced-price meals. Declared “America’s
Farm to Fork Capital” by former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, the Sacramento
region has a rich agricultural heritage and an abundance of locally grown specialty
crops. Vince Caguin, Director of Nutrition Services and Warehousing for NUSD,
embraces the region’s farm to fork identity and is working to bring this
abundance of local fruits and vegetables to NUSD students through farm to
school efforts.
Caguin and his staff in the NUSD Nutrition Services
Department have worked diligently to bring local specialty crops into their
cafeterias. By cultivating relationships with local farmers including Fiery Ginger Farm,
Vierra Farms,
Cloverleaf
Farm and Wild River, just to name a few,
NUSD is now able to source 35% of its procurement locally. These farmer
relationships enable NUSD to feature seasonal produce like peaches, blackberries,
citrus and kiwi at the peak of freshness. Jennifer Orosco, Supervisor of
Nutrition Services and Warehousing, said NUSD has expanded to include salad
bars at all school sites and, as a result, has seen an increase in the amount
of fruits and vegetables that are being consumed by the students. Orosco said
this year marks the first time NUSD has been able to source 100% of the lettuce
for its salad bars from a local grower.
In addition to supporting local procurement and specialty
crops in school meals, Caguin and his staff are working to support experiential
learning and nutrition education for NUSD students. NUSD partners with local
farmers to participate in assemblies at schools, as well as to take students on
farm tour field trips so they can see firsthand how specialty crops are grown.
In addition, two NUSD sites have school gardens, one of which is incorporating the
garden into the classroom curriculum and hosting monthly cooking demonstrations
for families. To celebrate National
Farm to School Month in October, NUSD hosts free farmers markets for
students and parents, with the help of donated produce and a USDA farm to
school implementation grant. NUSD also participates in programs like California
Thursdays in partnership with the Center for Ecoliteracy, and the California
Crunch in partnership with the Community Alliance with Family Farmers.
By supporting local procurement, nutrition education and
experiential learning, NUSD is seeing positive impacts for both students and
the district as a whole. Caguin has observed student willingness to try new
things increase over the seven years he’s been with the district. Although it
takes a few tries, the students become accustomed to and begin to enjoy trying
new things. Caguin said NUSD’s meal participation increased from 1.1 million
meals in the 2012-13 school year to 1.8 million meals in 2017-18, outpacing
district growth. Seven years ago, NUSD was in a deficit; its operating budget has
since increased from around $2.5 million to $5.5 million, which Caguin said is
due in large part to increased meal participation.
When asked what advice he has for other districts, Caguin said
he believes the quality of meal programs has a direct relationship with participation
and revenue. Caguin also notes that an important part of NUSD’s success has
been ensuring support for his staff, including farm tours and other professional
development activities. This staff support has helped reinforce Caguin’s
mission to establish a culture of serving good food. The additional time spent
building relationships with local farmers, serving 17 items on salad bars,
roasting carrots and broccoli, and countless other activities has been well
worth it, Caguin said, because of the benefits for students.
To see more of what NUSD is serving up, follow them on
Instagram at @nusdfood.
Stay tuned for more specialty crop school success stories in
the coming weeks.
“We need to feed kids the highest quality food at school because it’s tied to so many different things — mental cognition, behavioral issues, academic performance, athletic performance, just everything.” — Brandy Dreibelbis, Director of Nutrition Services for Napa Valley Unified School District
The most recent USDA
Farm to School Census found that 54% of California schools want to purchase
more local food in the future. With the great agricultural bounty of our state,
fresh fruits and vegetables are an ideal way for California schools to increase
their local purchases. With the help of the USDA Pilot Project for the
Procurement of Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables, many participating California
school districts have been able to do just that. (Read more about the Pilot
Project in our earlier post here)
One of these Pilot Project success stories is Napa Valley Unified
School District (NVUSD). Brandy Dreibelbis joined the NVUSD team as Director
of Nutrition Services just over a year and a half ago and, in that brief time, has
managed to dramatically improve the quality of food served to the district’s
students. Participating in the Pilot Project has empowered Dreibelbis to shift
away from the processed foods offered under the previous food service
management contract in favor of freshly prepared foods and California-grown
fruits and vegetables.
Serving the California Bay Area communities of American
Canyon, Napa City and Yountville, NVUSD has over 17,000 K-12 students in 28
schools. NVUSD’s food service program, branded Napa’s Operative for School Food
Health or NOSH,
is currently serving an average of 8,000 meals per day. Although NVUSD has been
experiencing declining enrollment, the number of students who qualify for free
and reduced price meals continues to grow and is currently over 50%. Because
many NVUSD students come from food insecure households, Dreibelbis believes it
is particularly important for her program to offer students the best foods
possible while they are at school.
One of the ways NVUSD has accomplished this is by installing
a salad bar stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables in each school. Students
are required to take at least one item from the salad bar to meet reimbursable
meal requirements. Offerings change seasonally, and the majority are California
grown and sourced through the Pilot Project. According to Dreibelbis, school salad
bars may be the only exposure students from food insecure households get to
fresh fruits and vegetables. By ensuring students have access to fresh fruits
and vegetables at school, Dreibelbis hopes to build healthy eating habits that
students will carry with them into adulthood.
Dreibelbis said participating in the Pilot Project has been
beneficial for her district. NVUSD continues to spend more of its USDA
entitlement through the Pilot Project each year, allocating $125,000 for
2018/2019 – an increase of $10,000 over the current school year. By using the
Pilot Project as a way to purchase locally, Dreibelbis feels she is benefiting
her community while providing the highest quality food for NVUSD students.
Brandy Drebelbis, Director of Nutrition Services for NVUSD, poses with students for the #RealSchoolFood social media campaign
All NVUSD campuses have salad bars featuring fresh, CA grown produce sourced through the Pilot Project.
Watermelon, NVUSD’s Harvest of the Month Selection for August was a hit with the students. “It’s unbelievable the amount of fresh fruit we’re going through,” said Director of Nutrition Services Brandy Dreibelbis.
For more information about the Pilot Project, please visit
the California Department of Education’s Pilot Project
website. Farmers and distributors interested in selling to schools
as part of the Pilot Project can click here
to learn how to become a USDA-approved vendor.
Stay tuned for more Pilot Project success stories in the
coming weeks.
“I always have eaten fresh produce, but seeing the farm in person is always a nice reminder of how much better it is,” — Arcata High School Culinary Student
The
California Department of Food and Agriculture Office of Farm to Fork (CDFA-F2F)
hopes to build meaningful connections between youth and where their food comes
from through organizing a series of farm tour field trips for students
throughout the state. Efforts to bring the farm into classrooms have seen
success in recent years, with initiatives such as school gardens and local
produce in school meals gaining popularity. Now, thanks to Specialty
Crop Block Grant funding, CDFA-F2F is working to bring classrooms to the
farm. Farm tours are valuable experiences that get students out of their
classrooms and into the field to encounter firsthand the work that goes into
growing and harvesting fruits and vegetables.
CDFA-F2F
kicked off its series of specialty crop farm tours on California’s North Coast
with the help of Erin Derden-Little, Farm to School Coordinator for the
Humboldt County Office of Education and Regional Lead for the California Farm
to School Network. On a cloudy February day, a group of culinary students from
Arcata High School visited DeepSeeded Farm to learn how a
specialty crop farm operates and what kinds of crops were in season. Located within
the city of Arcata and only a mile away from Arcata High School, DeepSeeded is a
diverse and productive farm offering community supported agriculture (CSA)
memberships to Humboldt Bay area households. By using high tunnels and other
strategies for season extension, DeepSeeded provides its CSA members with a
weekly supply of fresh, seasonal produce well into the winter months.
Farmer
Eddie Tanner welcomed the culinary students to his farm and took them on a tour
of the field. Tanner showed the students which specialty crops were still
growing during the winter season and discussed options for using the seasonal
crops in the kitchen. The students then helped harvest cabbage, Brussels
sprouts, kale and lettuce to use in their culinary activities at school.
“I
really enjoyed getting to pick vegetables and learning about all of them
individually,” said one student. When asked what they learned on the farm, one
student responded that they were surprised by the amount and variety of produce
that’s available during winter. Another student said they could immediately
taste the difference of fresh food.
Stay
tuned for more specialty crop student farm tours in the coming weeks.
– CDFA
Farm to Fork Staff
This article is part of a series
chronicling the CDFA Office of Farm to Fork’s student farm tours. Made possible
by Specialty Crop Block Grant funding, these farm tours aim to increase
students’ knowledge of and appreciation for California specialty crops through
direct interaction with local specialty crop farmers.
“The Pilot Project gives us a greater opportunity to get items that the kids enjoy that we can’t necessarily affort to buy a lot of, like stone fruit — and it’s all local” — Karen Luna, Director of Nutrition Services for the Santa Clara Unified School District
Since its inception in 2014, the USDA Pilot Project for the
Procurement of Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables has been a valuable way for
participating California school districts to stretch their budgets while
maximizing their purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables. Participating in the
Pilot Project benefits school districts by allowing them to use a portion of
their USDA Foods commodity allocation to purchase fresh and minimally processed
fruits and vegetables directly from USDA-approved vendors. (Read more about the
Pilot Project in our earlier post here)
Santa Clara Unified School District
(SCUSD) is one example of a California district that has been using the Pilot
Project to increase its ability to purchase fresh and minimally processed
fruits and vegetables. A 56-square-mile area encompassing neighborhoods in the cities
of Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, San Jose and Cupertino, SCUSD has over 15,000 K-12 students
across 27 school sites. The district serves about 2,400 breakfasts and 7,500
lunches each day, and approximately 38% of SCUSD’s students qualify for free
and reduced-price meals.
Karen Luna, Director of Nutrition Services for SCUSD, said 2019/2020
will be the district’s third year participating in the Pilot Project. SCUSD
allocated $50,000 in 2017/2018 and 2018/2019, and chose to increase their
allocation to $75,000 for 2019/2020. The district utilizes its Pilot Project
funds to purchase minimally processed fruits and vegetables, such as sliced
apples, as well as stone fruit, pears, persimmons, plums and many types of
citrus. Luna uses the Pilot Project to supplement the fruits and vegetables grown
on SCUSD’s 11-acre farm.
Luna believes the Pilot Program is a valuable opportunity
that enables school districts to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables that they
might not be able to afford otherwise because they can use their USDA commodity
dollars. Using USDA commodity dollars toward fresh fruits and vegetables is not
only beneficial for the students, Luna said, but also for her district because it
helps offset additional expenses resulting from changes to federal meal requirements.
Luna also appreciates that the USDA-approved vendor SCUSD works with sources
much of its produce from local family farms. By increasing the amount of
produce served by using the Pilot Project in combination with the district’s
farm to school activities, Luna has seen an increase in students’ willingness
to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.
For more information about the Pilot Project, please visit
the California Department of Education’s Pilot Project
website. Farmers and distributors interested in selling to schools as
part of the Pilot Project can click here
to learn how to become a USDA-approved vendor.
A salad bar featuring persimmons and kiwis SCUSD was able to source through the Pilot Project. “The kids love persimmons!” said Karen Luna, Director of Nutrition Services.
The Pilot Project enables school districts like SCUSD to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables that they might not otherwise be able to, like these strawberries, kiwis, and blood oranges.
Stay tuned for more Pilot Project success stories in the
coming weeks.
– CDFA Farm to Fork
Staff
This article is part of a series highlighting school districts that are participating in the USDA Pilot Project for Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables. Made possible by Specialty Crop Block Grant funding, these success stories aim to create awareness of the Pilot Project as a way to increase the amount of California specialty crops served in schools.
Last summer, many of you helped us as we conducted a needs assessment and developed a transition plan for the California Farm to School Network. The results are out!
The California Farm to School Network Needs Assessment is available online and dives into the history of the Network, discusses opportunities and challenges facing the Network, and makes recommendations for the Network moving forward.
Thank you to all who participated in the process – by answering survey questions, sitting down for an interview, and all your ongoing work to support California farm to school programs.
USDA’s Office of Community Food Systems announced today that 73 communities in 43 states, the District of Columbia and Guam have been awarded farm to school grants to explore, expand, or scale up their farm to school activities. The 2018 awards total $5.2 million, and will impact 2.8 million students.
Congratulations to our California Grantees:
Bakersfield City School District, Bakersfield
Through partnership, collaboration, and engagement, Bakersfield City School District will create a comprehensive network that incorporates food production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste recovery.
Colusa County Office of Education,Colusa
Colusa County Office of Education (CCOE) will actively partner with the Colusa Indian Community Hand In Hand Learning Center, Williams Unified School District, Colusa County Resource Conservation District, and the Center for Healthy Communities to develop a comprehensive plan to incorporate locally grown foods on student meal trays and at home. The CCOE garden site will include a greenhouse for seedlings, leafy greens and vegetables in raised beds, and a small orchard of nut and fruit trees. The garden sites will also include a laboratory pathway of native grasses, shrubs, and trees that may be used as a “science classroom” for programs working to implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Future Farmers of America members from around the county will also be able to use the “science classroom” as a training site.
Humboldt County Office of Education, Eureka
Humboldt County Office of Education (HCOE) will develop a comprehensive farm to school program in after-school settings to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables and improve food and agricultural literacy for low-income students. Currently, their after-school students participate in HCOE’s Harvest of the Month (HOTM) culinary activities that feature local fruits and vegetables. This project will build on the HOTM framework by integrating hands-on gardening, experiential field trip opportunities, and local procurement for supper meals.
Los Molinos Unified School District, Los Molinos
Los Molinos Unified School District will develop relationships with industry partners and programs to build a new greenhouse and utilize the Horticulture Pathway. The district will develop cross-curricular lessons in various career pathways while Los Molinos High School will plan which fruits and vegetables will be grown in the new greenhouse. Students will be involved in a work-based learning environment that consists of preparing the soil, growing seedlings, supporting vegetation, crop management, crop production, and food preparation. A soil center, shade house, and a grape orchard will be developed and include crops such as carrots, lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, celery, and grapes. The future intent is to provide these vegetables and fruits to all three schools within the Los Molinos Unified School District.
As 2018 draws near, CDFA’s Office of Farm to Fork (the Office) can look back on all that happened in 2017 and know that there will be an even-stronger commitment to improving all Californians’ access to California-grown foods by working to reduce food insecurity and advancing farm-to-school relationships. We are pleased to share the details of this work through the release of the 2016 – 2017 Annual Report, a Redesigned Website, and a new Strategic Plan.
In 2017 the Office assumed leadership of the California Farm to School Network, an organization dedicated to increasing student access to food grown within our state and educating them about the production of that food. The network connects 4,300 stakeholders, including farmers and school districts, across the state with the collective goal of improving the quality of student meals and inspiring lifelong healthy eating habits.
The Office is also operating the California Nutrition Incentive Program (CNIP), which encourages the purchase and consumption of healthy, California-grown fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts by nutrition benefit clients at certified farmers’ markets. The program is a win-win for farmers and low-income Californians. Since launching this past summer, CNIP has provided over $500,000 in fresh fruit and vegetables to low-income shoppers. More details can be found here.
Throughout 2017 the Office also continued its commitment to provide stakeholders and the public with reports, program profiles, and best practices. Materials are available on the newly redesigned www.CAFarmtoFork.com and are arranged by topic.
There is still a long road ahead but we are pleased with the roadmap created and invite you to explore our 2016 -2017 Annual Report, Strategic Plan, and redesigned website to learn more about the work and direction of the CDFA Office of Farm to Fork.
The 30th anniversary of the California Small Farm Conference, a gathering for small-scale farmers, ranchers, and farmers’ market managers, will be held Sunday, October 29 – Monday, October 30 at the Robert Cabral Agricultural Center in Stockton. The conference aims to promote the success and viability of small farming and ranching operations and certified farmers’ markets through short courses, tours, workshops and networking opportunities.