Regional Lead Agencies - Great Lakes Region

Regional Lead Agencies in eight regions of the country have been established to lead farm to school efforts in the states that comprise the regions. See below for a list of regions, and contact information for the Regional Lead Agencies.

Great Lakes
Vanessa Herald
Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems
University of Wisconsin, Madison
1535 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706-1215
(608)263-6064

Participating states:

My state isn't highlighted!

The National Farm to School Program has established Regional Lead Agencies to represent eight major regions in their farm to school efforts. So if your state doesn't have an active program yet, contact your Regional Lead.

Click below to learn what is happening in different regions of the country!

(see all regions)

Map of Farm to School Lead Agencies by Region

Farm to School Programs - Great Lakes Region

State: Michigan

State: Wisconsin

Riverway Charter School, Minnesota City
Riverway Learning Community is committed to the foundation of a more hopeful and enlightened future by the development of an environment that nurtures the growth of mind, body and spirit, both as indi...
State: Minnesota

Adventures Learning Centers
"Encouraging Children's Sense of Adventure" We provide children ages 6 weeks to 12 years with a safe and nurturing learning environment. One of our goals is to support children’s desire to be life-lon...
State: Michigan

Alexandria Public Schools
Alexandria Public Schools have taken the link between apples and education to new heights. In early September, Alexandria's Food and Nutrition staff planted 15 apple trees at two school locations to p...
State: Minnesota

Ann Arbor
State: Michigan

Battle Creek
State: Michigan

Bemidji Area Schools
Students planted a school garden at Solway Elementary School last spring. We have utilized the fresh produce from the garden in our summer food service program served at the Bemidji Middle School. W...
State: Minnesota

Birth Run
State: Michigan

Bureau Valley Community Unit School District #340
One Bureau Valley community has stepped up to the rural revitalization challenge and developed the first localized Farm to School Program of its kind in Illinois. The steps we took are outlined below ...
State: Illinois

Burr Oak
State: Michigan

Burton
State: Michigan

Caledonia
State: Michigan

Carrollton Exempted Village School District
Carrollton Exempted Village High School in Carrollton, Ohio purchased a salad bar that features Ohio produce from local farmers. In addition, the school’s student wellness club will assist the cafete...
State: Ohio

Cass City
State: Michigan

Central Lake
State: Michigan

Concord
State: Michigan

Decatur
State: Michigan

DeWitt
State: Michigan

Dexter
State: Michigan

Dover-Eyota Public Schools
Rich farmland surrounds the two Dover-Eyota schools in rural southeastern Minnesota, yet Food and Nutrition Director Carrie Frank struggled to find a produce supplier to deliver locally grown fruits a...
State: Minnesota

East China
State: Michigan

Elk Rapids Schools
Elk Rapids Schools have purchased fresh fruits and vegetables directly from local farmers since 2005. The product is served in all the four schools of the district. ...
State: Michigan

Farm To School
EHOVE started Farm to School in August of 2007. Schmidt Farms rent and farm the 100 acres around the school. Schmidt Farms is owned by David and Melissa Schmidt in Sandusky Ohio. We use several items ...
State: Ohio

Farm to School Gardens
State: Wisconsin

Fenton
State: Michigan

Fife Lake
State: Michigan

Flint
State: Michigan

Fresh from the Farm Program
Conceived and implemented by Seven Generations Ahead, the Fresh from the Farm program is operational in select schools in Oak Park District 97 and in Chicago Public schools.Read more at http://www.sev...
State: Illinois

Fruitport
State: Michigan

Garaway Local School District
At Garaway Local School District in Sugarcreek, Ohio, the fourth, fifth, and sixth-graders will plant a school garden this fall. The science curriculum will be linked to the garden, and the yearbook ...
State: Ohio

Get Active Wood County Farm to School Program
The Get Active Wood County Farm to School program began as an initiative housed within a Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant received by Wood County in 2010. The program now serves all six Wo...
State: Wisconsin

Gladstone
State: Michigan

Gladwin
State: Michigan

Gladwin County - Healthy Farms, Healthy Schools, Healthy Kids
Gladwin Community Schools will be collaborating with local producers to introduce and incorporate local, fresh food into the existing school food service program. Not only will farm fresh local foods...
State: Michigan

Golden Hill Garden Program
Golden Hill Area Learning Center is developing an after school and summer school program exploring academic and hands-on aspects of basic organic vegetable production, which includes seasonal cro...
State: Minnesota

Grand Blanc
State: Michigan

Grand Marais
State: Michigan

Grand Rapids
State: Michigan

Grand Rapids Public Schools
The Michigan Integrated Food & Farming Systems Food Secure Futures Project has co-sponsored a summer garden and school project with Grand Rapids Public Schools and will be pursuing an expanded far...
State: Michigan

Greenville
State: Michigan

Growing Power Garden Projects
In Chicago Avenue Garden, Grant Park, Garfield Park, Humboldt ParkSee http://www.growingpower.org/new_page_3.htm for more information on these projects....
State: Illinois

Growing Together
Springport Public Schools is working to create a comprehensive Farm to School program. We manage a 30' X 128' greenhouse, in which we grow salad greens for our lunch program, and other vegetables for...
State: Michigan

Gwinn
State: Michigan

Healthy School Meals
The Taskforce seeks to improve student performance and foster lifelong health through providing healthy, locally grown food to all Muskegon County school children. ...
State: Michigan

Hershey Montessori School
Since 1998 Hershey Montessori's 7th, 8th, and 9th graders have been gaining academic and practical skills while putting food on the school table. When the program moved to the Huntsburg Campus in 2000...
State: Ohio

Hopkins Public Schools
February 2011 A trip through the lunch line at Hopkins Public Schools is sure to stir up a kid’s imagination with healthy foods like Wacky Watermelon,Circus Ready Pepper Rings, and Popeye Spinach S...
State: Minnesota

Howell
State: Michigan

Jackson
State: Michigan

Jackson
State: Michigan

La Crosse County Farm to School
The La Crosse County Farm2School program is a collaboration between public school districts in La Crosse County and the La Crosse County Health Department. By coordinating purchases of locally grown p...
State: Wisconsin

Linden
State: Michigan

Little Falls Farm to School Program
What started as a special project in 2008 has become standard practice for the Little Falls Area School District in 2009. Food service director Tina Wheeler's year one goal was to feature one local fo...
State: Minnesota

Local Food to School
This 28 week food education program currently connects over 950 children to local farms and the roots of healthy, nutritious food; positively influences their eating habits at an early age; and provid...
State: Ohio

Manton
State: Michigan

Margaret Mary Community Hospital Farm To School Program
Local partners joined forces in 2010 to start a Farm to School program in Batesville, Indiana. The program is coordinated by Margaret Mary Community Hospital and has now grown to include St. Louis Ca...
State: Indiana

Mason
State: Michigan

Mendota Mental Health
Mendota Mental Health...
State: Wisconsin

Michigan Land Use Institute
Coordinates the Taste the Local Difference farm-to-school project in northwest Michigan, which links schools to local farms for cafeteria meals, school snacks, fundraisers, curriculum enrichment, and ...
State: Michigan

Minneapolis Public Schools.
From its colorful salads, trendy sandwiches and new menu of fresh entrees, Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) is making big strides with Farm to School. Minneapolis staff work with a Twin Cities-based p...
State: Minnesota

Minnesota Internship Center Charter High School
The Minnesota Internship Center Charter School(MNIC)serves a diverse population of low income students within four sites around the Minneapolis area. The School Nutrition Program offers a variety of m...
State: Minnesota

Montague
State: Michigan

Montessori/Wausau School District - Farm 2 School Pilot Program
The Wausau School District/Montessori Farm 2 School program will provide an education in agriculture, environment, nutrition, and sustainability. By teaching and providing information through interest...
State: Wisconsin

Montevideo Public Schools
At the end of the day, red tomatoes won out over yellow. The real winners, however, were the students, some of whom bit into juicy Minnesota grown tomatoes for the first time. Sanford Elementary ho...
State: Minnesota

Morris and Benson Public Schools
What do you do if your Farm to School program yields more cabbage, squash, peppers and zucchini than you know what to do with? Well, if you are Jeanine Bowman, Foodservice Director of the Benson and M...
State: Minnesota

Mt. Morris
State: Michigan

Napoleon
State: Michigan

Northeast Wisconsin Farm To School Initiative
We have seen more and more schools across Wisconsin serve foods from local farms at lunchtime. Benefits from the movement to provide locally grown foods to school lunch programs are staggering, creati...
State: Wisconsin

NRHEG Ag Ed Department
The ag ed department is a traditional modern program with a wide range of classes and opportunities for students. Part of this is our school garden which was started in the summer of 2011. The garden...
State: Minnesota

Ohio State-Wide Farm to School Program
State: Ohio

Ohio ~ The Heart of Our Lunch
The Child Nutrition program in Huron, along with fourteen other local school nutrition specialists, held an "All Ohio" lunch day on October 13, 3010. This event was planned and held during National Sc...
State: Ohio

Olivet
State: Michigan

Orono School District Farm to School Program
For Kris Diller, the impetus for the Orono Public Schools’ Farm to School program started one day when they served herbed roasted chicken legs in a school serving third to fifth graders. “A young b...
State: Minnesota

Other Farm to school related projects in the Chicago area
Green Youth Farm - a Chicago Botanic Gardens project with sites in Waukegan and Chicago (North Lawndale). School garden sponsored by Slow Food at Dawes Elementary school in Evanston. Visit their webs...
State: Illinois

Otisville
State: Michigan

Pine Point Farm to School Program
Since 1989 the White Earth Land Recovery Project has worked to achieve food sovereignty on the original land base of the reservation. This year (07-08), WELRP has moved toward that goal by adding a Fa...
State: Minnesota

Prairie Crossing Charter School, Grayslake
Farm to Table Lunch Program at the Prairie Crossing Charter School, Grayslake, IllinoisIn fall of 2005, parent volunteers, Susan Barg and Melissa Ritter, conceived and developed the Farm to Table Lunc...
State: Illinois

REAP Farm to School
Born from the Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch Program, REAP Farm to School has been working since 2002 to ensure that all children in the Madison Metropolitan School District have access to healthy food at ...
State: Wisconsin

Reed City
State: Michigan

Rio School District Farm to School
Our program provides students with local apples from September through December. We also turn 800lb of fresh, local tomatoes into spaghetti sauce, and our school garden is a great resource for our kid...
State: Wisconsin

River View Local High School
FFA students at River View High School in Warsaw, Ohio planted a 2 acre garden that included green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, bell peppers, Hungarian wax peppers, and 1,750 tomato plants. The food se...
State: Ohio

Rogers City
State: Michigan

Rosemount, Eagan and Apple Valley School District Farm to School
The Rosemount/ Eagan/ Apple Valley School District serves a collection of suburbs located just south of Minneapolis. The district is comprised of 28,000 students who are served at 31 school sites. We ...
State: Minnesota

Saginaw
State: Michigan

Saline
State: Michigan

Sandusky City Schools
The Sandusky City Schools in Sandusky, Ohio serves 4000 students. They will be serving fresh produce from Mulvin Farms in Sandusky, Ohio starting in the 2007-2008 school year. The most common produce ...
State: Ohio

School District of Holmen
We purchase local items from farms and dairies, and we also collaborate with a local chef on cooking classes and recipe development. Every month we feature an item that is locally sourced. Many “Harve...
State: Wisconsin

School Nutrition Coordinator
The Minnesota Internship Center Charter School(MNIC)serves a diverse population of low income students within four sites around the Minneapolis area. The School Nutrition Program offers a variety of m...
State: Minnesota

Sibley East School District
December 2010 Sibley East: School District's Unique Approach to Farm to School Unifies Students, Staff and the Community Students, teachers and food service workers have taken Farm to School to...
State: Minnesota

South Euclid Lyndhurst Farm to School Program
The South Euclid Lyndhurst School District partnered with Red Basket Farm in 2010 and began serving produce from 59 miles away as opposed to the 2600 miles it was previously traveling. The district cu...
State: Ohio

South Haven
State: Michigan

Springport
State: Michigan

St. Paul Public School District Farm to School Program
With 38,500 students, the St. Paul Public School district is the second largest district in Minnesota and a leader in Farm to School innovation. During the first six weeks of the 2009-2010 school yea...
State: Minnesota

Stewartville brings the School to the Farm
The concept of "Farm to School" is almost a way of life for many Stewartville students. Stewartville is nestled in the heart of farm country just south of Rochester in South East Minnesota. With t...
State: Minnesota

Suttons Bay
State: Michigan

Switzerland of Ohio School District
Switzerland of Ohio School District in Woodsfield, Ohio held an outdoor farm lunch during their Summer Feeding Program using only foods purchased from local Amish producers, and 170 children and paren...
State: Ohio

The Food System Economic Partnership
The Food System Economic Partnership (FSEP) is a non-profit collaboration of urban and rural community and business leaders that exists to catalyze change in the food system of a five county region of...
State: Michigan

The Mount Horeb Area School District
The district has been purchasing local fruits and vegetables directly from farmers since 2005. Future plans include increasing the amount of locally grown fruits and vegetables on the menu and identif...
State: Wisconsin

The Seven Hills School Farm to School Program
The Seven Hills School is an independent, nonsectarian, nonprofit, coeducational school serving students in grades PK-12 from 65 Greater Cincinnati zip codes. Jimmy Gherardi is the chef at The Seven H...
State: Ohio

Township High School District 211
Ruth Jonen, food service director from Township High School District 211 in Northwestern Cook County, has been buying produce for its food service programs from the Schaumburg Farmer’s Market fo...
State: Illinois

Traverse City
State: Michigan

Traverse City
State: Michigan

Traverse City
State: Michigan

Traverse City Public Schools
The Broccoli, Books, and Bread Project is a partnership between the Michigan Land Use Institute and the Traverse City Area Public Schools. The project goals are to improve child nutrition and eating h...
State: Michigan

Trenton
State: Michigan

Wayzata Public Schools Farm to School Program
Wayzata is a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis, known for its gorgeous vistas of Lake Minnetonka and its commitment to high quality education. Wayzata's Culinary Express department serves over 6,000 lu...
State: Minnesota

Whitehall
State: Michigan

Willmar Public Schools
Tracking the birthplace of Minnesota?s farm to school movement is not easy, but the path most definitely includes Willmar Public Schools. In 2004, school nutrition pioneers from this rural community ...
State: Minnesota

Winona Area Public Schools Farm to School Program
Tucked between stunning limestone bluffs and the mighty Mississippi River, Winona Public Schools serve 3,700 students in the southeast corner of the state. Winona's Farm to School experience is just b...
State: Minnesota

Wisconsin AmeriCorps Farm to School Program
In September of 2008, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) launched a regional, multisite, AmeriCorps Farm to School Program. The goal of the AmeriCorps Farm ...
State: Wisconsin

Wyoming
State: Michigan

Ypsilanti
State: Michigan