By Jillian Muñoz, Communications Intern

February is Black History Month, a dedicated time to pay attention to the power and resilience of the Black community and to celebrate the many Black leaders on whose shoulders we stand. At National Farm to School Network, we envision a food system centered on justice, which we know we cannot achieve without racial justice. We recognize that racism, including anti-Black racism, persists in the farm to school movement. At NFSN, we have a responsibility and a commitment to correct this and to be an anti-racist organization. 

This month, we urge you to join us in learning about Black history and celebrating Black leaders, practitioners, and community members who drive forward the farm to school movement. Check out the following resources to learn more: 

Articles to Read

• Farming While Black in America (Anti-Racism Daily) Black ranchers in Colorado have been the target of racial harassment after purchasing land in a predominately white region. As legislation to protect Black farmers remains stalled in the courts, it's especially disheartening to hear how discrimination further alienates them from the land they deserve. Read the full article to learn how you can support their story.
• Black-led Food Co-ops Restore Justice, Hope, and Power (FoodTank) The United States has seen the opening of more than 167 food cooperatives since 2006, according to the Food Co-op Initiative (FCI). Within this movement, Black-led co-ops are tackling food access and racial justice, which can help to fulfill a community’s needs while addressing systemic inequalities to restore power to the people.
• There Were Nearly a Million Black Farmers in 1920. Why Have They Disappeared? (Guardian). Today there are just 45,000 African American farmers. Learn more about how one man is fighting to save them.
• Black US Farmers Dismayed as White Farmers’ Lawsuit Halts Relief Payments (Guardian) Funds were intended to address discriminatory policies – but ‘promises to Black farmers are always put on hold.'
• These Chicago Urban Farmers are Growing Local Food in the Wake of Steel Industry Pollution (Civil Eats) Surrounded by the pollution resulting from decades of steel production, a community garden is providing relief to Chicagoland communities.

Media to Watch and Listen To

• High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America. In this 4-episode docuseries, Chef and writer Stephen Satterfield traces the delicious, moving throughlines from Africa to Texas. It examines the influence of racial disparity, classism, and labor relations on African American food culture and gives viewers a deeper understanding of “America's deep-rooted history of slavery, and the impact on American food as we know it today.” Watch this series on Netflix.
• Leah Penniman Keynote at Moses Organic Farming Conference 2020. Leah Pennimman, author of “Farming While Black” and co-founder of Soul Fire Farm, gave an information-packed keynote speech at the 2020 Moses (renamed Marbleseed) Organic Farming Conference. Her talk covers the history of Black agriculture in the US and the importance of community and leadership in the fight for racial equity in labor, land ownership, agriculture, and society in general. Watch the entire keynote here.
• Just Food Podcast - Episode 2 - Black Slow Food: A Local Food Story. In the second episode of Victoria Ginzburg’s Just Food Podcast, she invites Chef Isaiah Martinez to talk about his experience being an Afro-Caribbean man embracing slow food values while cooking up multicultural meals in the Pacific Northwest. He talks about not only his background, but also his business practices in his effort to be more sustainable and mindful. Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or SoundCloud.
• A Guerilla Gardener in South Central LA - TEDTalk. Ron Finley plants vegetable gardens in South Central LA — in abandoned lots, traffic medians, along the curbs. Why? For fun, for defiance, for beauty and to offer some alternative to fast food in a community where "the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys." Watch the TEDTalk here.
• The Next Big Thing is Coming from the Bronx, Again - TEDTalk "The hood is good," says Jon Gray of the Bronx, New York-based creative collective Ghetto Gastro. Working at the intersection of food, design and art, Gray and his team honor the soul and history of their community while applying their unbridled creativity and expansive imagination to unexpected, otherworldly collaborations. Learn more about how they're creating and investing in their home borough — bringing the Bronx to the world and vice versa. Watch the TEDTalk here.

Books to Dive Into

We recommend purchasing books from Black-owned bookstores, such as the Reparations Book Club in Los Angeles—purchase from them online here or find a local Black-owned bookstore by state here.  

• Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown. Inspired by Octavia Butler's explorations of our human relationship to change, Emergent Strategy is radical self-help, society-help, and planet-help designed to shape the futures we want to live. ‍
• Black Food Matters: Racial Justice in the Wake of Food Justice by Editors Ashanté M. Reese and Hanna Garth. For Black Americans, the food system is broken. When it comes to nutrition, Black consumers experience an unjust and inequitable distribution of resources. Black Food Matters examines these issues through in-depth essays that analyze how Blackness is contested through food, differing ideas of what makes our sustenance "healthy," and Black individuals' own beliefs about what their cuisine should be.
• A Black Women's History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry & Kali Nicole Gross. A vibrant and empowering history that emphasizes the perspectives and stories of African American women to show how they are—and have always been—instrumental in shaping our country.
• Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness byDa’Shaun L. Harrison. Da’Shaun Harrison–a fat, Black, disabled, and nonbinary trans writer–offers an incisive, fresh, and precise exploration of anti-fatness as anti-Blackness.

While there are just a few days left of Black History Month 2023, our commitment to listening to and lifting up Black voices and leadership in farm to school doesn't stop at the end of February. Every day is the right day for learning more, being honest about and addressing the racism and inequities in our work. You can read more about National Farm to School Network's commitment to centering our work in equity here, and read more about our Call to Action here.

By Roberto Meza, CEO of East Denver Food Hub

As a small farmer in Colorado, I'm so thrilled the voters supported the Healthy School Meals for All bill. It means schools will be able to source local ingredients from local farmers like us. It will also help strengthen Colorado's economy and our students' health.  

This bill was personal for me. As a farmer, it hits at the heart of one of the biggest issues I'm trying to solve. How can small scale farmers provide food in an accessible way? How can we do it in a way that people can afford without jeopardizing our own viability?

It is difficult for small farmers to compete with some of the larger agriculture corporations. Yet we know that we're providing the values we need to transform our food systems. We want to provide food that has a net benefit to people, to the planet, to animals. We also want to uplift equity and economic justice in our food system. It means  thinking about food in a different way beyond price. And It means a lot that voters supported that.

The bill was the brainchild of Denver-based nonprofit, Hunger Free Colorado. Earlier, they worked on a bill to fund food pantries to buy Colorado-grown products in the Food Pantry Assistance Grant. Regional food coordinators like me were contracted to connect farmers to those food pantries. We created a value chain that orients the food supply chain around values such as equity, dignity, and food justice. It addresses the viability of local farmers and food insecurity at the same time. Throughout the COVID pandemic, that bill helped many farmers keep operating. Then this year, I played a key role informing the language on the Healthy School Meals for All ballot initiative.

Students deserve Internet access and books and water. It's about time we put healthy food in the same category. We also know that the public food dollar can circulate more times in local Colorado economies. It shouldn't disappear into corporate coffers.

We're talking about a radical paradigm shift in our food and farming ecosystem. Access to fresh healthy food is a basic human right. Now, we can look at farmers as stewards offering a public service. We're not just a farm enterprise operation. It's what we need if we're ever going to solve bigger issues. I mean things like climate change, inflation, and the spike in food insecurity, not to mention supply issues. This bill is an innovative solution that helps us mitigate hunger within a highly precarious US economy.

Aside from being a farmer, I also connect farms to community markets as cofounder of the East Denver Food Hub, an organization that addresses food resilience by offering the services of aggregation and distribution of local food. We began by focusing on building procurement contracts with community organizations such as food pantries and with anchor institutions such as hospitals and schools. A big moment was when we contracted with 29 schools to supply microgreens. For the schools, it was a small contract, almost an afterthought. For us, it made a huge difference in our bottom line. We realized the possible impact we could have on local farmers if school districts could do more. For all 29 schools, it came to about $1,800 a week. But a contract worth close to $100,000 a year can transform the life of local farmers as well as feed our students.

The bottom line is that as farmers, we see the impact of a food system that doesn't value land, people, or animals. We see the impact of a food system that doesn't value community. We see it expressed in climate change. Our orchards are dying off because of erratic temperature shifts. We're seeing the disappearance of arable land. Droughts and fires pose huge risks to agricultural producers here. These are the unintended consequences of an industrialized food system. Now we're coming to terms with those consequences.

We don't have a lot of time. We need to shift how the food system works. Future generations are going to inherit the impact of our decisions right now. And I definitely don't want to wake up one day and have those generations hold me accountable.

Let's do our work now to shift power. Let's shift the trends and the decisions and the food system. We need to create innovative solutions that can have a huge benefit now and in the long run. Initiatives such as Healthy Meals for All are one step forward in the right direction.

The measure in Colorado leads the way for the rest of the country. Networks of other groups in the National Farm to School Network are working on it. And I'd encourage others across the country to follow suit.

—Roberto Meza is a first-generation farmer, artist, and local food advocate. Originally from Mexico, Roberto is the Cofounder of Emerald Gardens, a year-round greenhouse farm in Bennett, CO addressing land access and climate resilience in agriculture, and CEO of East Denver Food Hub, a local food distributor based in Denver. His work lies at the intersection of policy, regenerative food systems, and environmental stewardship. He is President of the Board of the National Young Farmers Coalition, and a board member of Zero Food Print. He is a recent Governor-appointed member of the Colorado Agricultural Commission, and served on the White House Food Task Force.

We’ve gathered all of the farm to ECE resources developed in 2022 by the National Farm to School Network in one place. If you’ve developed farm to ECE resources this year and would like to share them with the farm to ECE community, please send them to Sophia@farmtoschool.org. 

Enhancing Children’s Access to Local Foods and Farm to ECE: Federal Funding Opportunities (Guide)  

This guide provides functional descriptions of actionable and timely funding streams, including an overview of the funding eligibility requirements, allowed uses, timeline, flow of funds, and strategies for action. The guide also highlights case examples of how entities across the country are creatively leveraging funding streams for farm to ECE. The purpose of this guide is to prepare and position farm to ECE partners to effectively apply for funding.

Farm to Early Care and Education Shared Metrics: Outcomes, Indicators, and Measures for Farm to ECE Evaluation (Toolkit & Guide) 

National Farm to School Network (NFSN) and The Policy Equity Group's (PEG) Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) Shared Metrics resource is intended for farm to ECE practitioners and evaluators to guide planning, implementation, research, evaluation, and reporting efforts. The resource consists of a resource guide, a library of metrics specific to farm to ECE, and an orientation video. With a focus on metrics related to equity, this resource can move our collective farm to ECE work forward under shared priorities and language. This alignment of priorities can also guide and improve decision-making for policymakers and funders who will be able to make better-informed decisions on the growth and direction of the farm to ECE movement.

‍Aligning Farm to Early Care and Education with Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (Fact Sheet) 

Integrating farm to early care and education (ECE) into Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) standards can help expand the reach of and reduce barriers to farm to ECE programming. Farm to ECE strategies align with a variety of QRIS domains, such as professional development, family engagement and community partnerships, and learning environment. This fact sheet explores strategies states can take to integrate farm to ECE into their QRIS, including case studies and sample language. 

2021 National Farm to Early Care and Education Survey (Research Briefs & Fact sheet) 

In 2021, the National Farm to School Network and Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems surveyed early care and education (ECE) providers across the country to better understand current initiatives, motivations and challenges in applying farm to ECE activities in early care and education settings. More than 2,900 providers in 26 states and Washington, D.C. responded and shared the benefits and challenges of connecting young children to healthy, local foods, gardening, and food and agriculture education through farm to ECE.

Blog Post: How Hawai‘i is Improving Its Farm to Early Care and Education Landscape with Its First Farm to ECE Coordinator (Blog Post) 

Learn about how Hawai’i advocated for their first Farm to ECE Coordinator and his goals for Hawai’i’s farm to ECE movement. 

Farm to Early Care and Education State Resource Directory

We have compiled farm to ECE resources developed by state partners across the country. We hope this directory will help the larger farm to ECE community and celebrate the amazing resources available to us. 

By Kristie To

Kristie To is a high school student in Orange County. She serves in Student Government, her local Youth Advisory Council, and is on the Board of Directors and Executive Branch of the California Association of Student Councils.

"This school year, California’s new “School Meals for All” program began. As a student leader serving my school, the city of Irvine, and the California Association of Student Councils, I applaud California for being the first state to provide every K–12 student in our public schools with free breakfast and lunch.

My peers and I rely on school breakfast and lunch every day. Many of my closest friends do not have the time and are not in the financial situation to provide themselves with meals to fuel their school day and concentrate in class. My parents and older sister have full-time jobs, and I struggle to prepare meals for myself with my busy schedule. This new program has alleviated the stress of buying and preparing meals that previously strained students and families."

View the full op-ed here.

Media contact:

David Hutabarat, Communications Director, NFSN

david@farmtoschool.org

(Washington, D.C., November 14, 2022)—The National Farm to School Network (NFSN) and allied and partner organizations across the United States are launching a “Who’s at The Table” campaign to raise public awareness about the importance of values-aligned universal meals.

The campaign follows important, innovative bills on the issue in states like California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Colorado, to ensure all students benefit from free school meals over the coming years.

NFSN was invited to attend the White House’s recent Hunger, Nutrition and Health Conference, the first of its kind in 50 years. In the wake of this historic event, the campaign aims to encourage broader engagement in such policies from policy makers, school principals, cafeteria managers, students, parents, produce suppliers, farmers, and farm workers.

“We must continue to build on the momentum to make free school meals for all a permanent reality so that millions of children across the country have access to the healthy food they need to keep hunger at bay and to thrive in and out of the classroom,” said Luis Guardia, President of Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), an advisor in the development of the campaign.

A new website and social media influencing campaign will offer tools to understand and communicate the benefits of healthy, equitably produced school meals. Parents, farmers, educators can all ensure this issue is at the top of the policy agenda. NFSN also held listening sessions in the runup to the White House summit to communicate this perspective.

Experts agree that with universal school meals, kids learn better, stay in school longer, and pay closer attention in class. Fresh, farm-to-school meals for all help level the playing field on child hunger. Many child nutrition providers, parents and students agree. Now it’s time to act.

Karen Spangler, Policy Director at NFSN said: “Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, school nutrition professionals have worked tirelessly to feed kids under emergency conditions with limited resources and breakdowns in the supply chain. Policies that allow school nutrition professionals to feed all kids are a necessity, one that lets them focus on nourishing kids instead of checking paperwork for each and every student for free or reduced-price meals. At the same time, shortages in key ingredients highlighted the weaknesses in a consolidated, inequitably produced food supply. We can address this and improve our food system for everyone through strategic investments like values-aligned healthy school meals for all kids.”

Maleeka Manurasada, National Organizer at the HEAL Food Alliance, an advisor in the development of the campaign, said: "Over 42 million people nationwide struggle every day to get a meal, let alone one that will truly nourish them. Values-Aligned Universal Meals is a powerful and critical program that will not only truly nourish our children, but also nourish our communities and our environment. Our food and farm system needs radical transformation to one that values health, workers, animals, and the planet, and school meals are a critical place to begin that shift."

About NFSN

National Farm to School Network has a vision of a strong and just food system for all, and we seek deep transformation toward this vision through farm to school – the way kids eat, grow, and learn about food in schools and early care and education settings.

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Schools, farmers, state and tribal governments, and other organizations that help produce or serve meals to kids through USDA’s child nutrition programs can apply now for a USDA Farm to School Grant (deadline: 01/06/2023). Administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Community Food Systems Division (CFSD), the USDA Farm to School Grant is an annual, competitive grant that supports the planning, development, and implementation of farm to school and farm to early care and education (ECE) programs. Since 2013, USDA's Farm to School grants have helped state, regional, and local organizations as they initiate, expand, and institutionalize their farm to school and farm to ECE efforts. This round will award $12 million in grants organized into Turnkey, Implementation, and State Agency tracks. USDA will again prioritize racial equity, providing bonus points to projects operated by and serving communities that are underserved, marginalized, or adversely affected by poverty and inequality. We applaud USDA’s continued support of racial equity, which aligns with our Call to Action and with the long-term changes that we would like to see through the Farm to School Act. See below for more information on the achievements of the grant since it began, the kinds of projects that Farm to School Grants can support, who is eligible, and resources to apply.

Farm to School Grant Achievements and Projects

• In 2010, the National Farm to School Network and National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition - along with our network of supporters from across the country - successfully advocated for the creation of the USDA Farm to School Grant Program as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, as well as subsequent funding increases through the Farm to School Act.  
• Nationally, the Farm to School Grant Program has awarded nearly $75 million in farm to school grants since 2013, funding more than 1,000 projects that have reached over 25 million students in nearly 60,000 schools. This program has grown over time, with more than $10 million to support 123 projects in 2022 alone. 
• Policymakers on both sides of the aisle, including farm to school champion and retiring Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), have sponsored multiple, bipartisan bills that promote farm to school, including the Farm to School Act to expand and improve the Farm to School Grant Program.
• Farm to School grant projects include local procurement, agricultural education, edible gardening, and farm to school action planning objectives that improve access to local foods. Check out these links to learn more about the specific projects awarded to past grantees: 

• 2013-2022 USDA F2S Grant awardees by state
• Farm to School Grant Funding in Native Communities
• Farm to ECE funding for F2S Grants

2023 Grant Details

Release Date: October 6, 2022 

Application Due Date: 11:59 PM, Eastern Standard Time (EST), January 6, 2023 

Anticipated Award Date: July 2023 

Anticipated number of awards: 150 

Estimated Total Program Funding: $12,000,000

Award Ceiling: $100,000/$500,000* 

Award Floor: $10,000

*The USDA notes in the Request for Applications (RFA) that in anticipation of authority to provide grants of up to $500,000 in the FY 2023 agriculture appropriations, USDA will consider proposals of up to $500,000 from State agencies or other eligible organizations proposing projects that are multi-state or national in scope. Other selected grantees are limited to $100,000.

Eligible Applicants:

• Eligible schools, including nonprofit private and charter schools, which operate the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and/or School Breakfast Program; 
• Eligible Child Care Institutions, including non-school based institutions that have an agreement with the State agency to operate the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP); 
• Eligible Summer Institutions, including non-school based institutions that have an agreement with the State agency to operate the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP); 
• State agencies; 
• Local agencies; 
• Indian Tribal organizations (ITOs) 
• Agricultural producer 

Resources and Next steps‍ 

To learn more about the USDA F2S grants, review the RFA, see Frequently Asked Questions, read about previous awardees, and more, please visit the below links. 

• FY 2023 USDA F2S Grant Applicants Resource Page
• FY2023 USDA F2S Grant.Gov RFA Page
• FY2023 USDA F2S Frequently Asked Questions
• FY2023 USDA F2S Grant Webinars‍
• Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 - 2:30 p.m. ET - "Getting Familiar with the FY2023 Farm to School Grant"‍
• Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022 - 2:30 p.m. ET - "Getting Your Grant Package Together" ‍
• Visit our School Meals: Who’s at the Table page to learn more about everyone involved in the farm to school journey. Learn how to take action to promote values-aligned universal school meals and comprehensive farm to school policy and programming.

For more information on USDA’s many farm to school initiatives, or to access resources associated with farm to school, please visit USDA’s Farm to School Program webpage.

Be sure to share these opportunities and resources with school, producers, community organizations, and institutions in your network!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS CONTACT:

David Hutabarat

National Farm to School Network

david@farmtoschool.org

This Year’s Theme is “Who’s at the Table?”

October 3, 2022 – Schools and early care and education (ECE) sites across the country are celebrating the twelfth annual National Farm to School Month this October, a 31-day campaign to recognize the benefits farm to school and farm to early care and education bring to youth, families, farmers and communities. National Farm to School Network advocated for the creation of National Farm to School Month in 2010, and it was officially recognized by Congress shortly after.

Farm to school is a movement for building just and equitable food systems through the ways kids eat, grow and learn about food in school and early care and education settings. Farm to school is a win for kids when they eat nourishing food in meals and snacks, participate in hands-on activities and learn about the importance of where our food comes from; a win for farmers when school market opportunities provide reliable and consistent sales and fair pay; and a win for communities when food is grown, distributed, prepared and consumed for the benefit of every community member. To ensure all communities see the benefit of these wins, farm to school activities must be firmly centered in equity.

This year’s National Farm to School Month theme is “Who’s at the Table?” Imagine an ideal school meal—nourishing, cooked from scratch, culturally relevant, purchased from local farmers. How did that meal get to the table? There are so many people who took part in bringing that food to the table—from the farmers and farmworkers who grew the food, to the people who processed and delivered the food, to the school food service staff who purchased and prepared the food.

As National Farm to School Network continues its work of shifting power to cultivate a racially just food system, we envision a food system in which no one is left out, in which everyone can access nourishing food. If we want to build this vision, we must lift up the perspectives of the people at each step of the food value chain, especially being intentional to center those who are not always recognized, despite their vital role in this ecosystem. This year's National Farm to School Month will highlight the valuable contributors across the different parts of the food system. Who are they? What would our food system look like if we valued their contributions, leadership and expertise? And how can the different players within farm to school work together so that individuals and communities can all win?

Throughout the month, National Farm to School Network will be spotlighting leaders from across the country through story sharing activities. This includes its annual Movement Meeting on October 27 from 3-5:00pm ET, Who’s at the Table?, featuring a panel of leaders of color who are working to transform their community by working to build power in their local food system. Additional story sharing will occur on National Farm to School Network’s blog and social media channels.

National Farm to School Network offers dozens of resources for celebrating National Farm to School Month on its website, http://www.farmtoschool.org/month. People can find resources such as a Celebration Toolkit, posters, bookmarks, suggested activities and more. Participants are encouraged to share their excitement through social media with the hashtags #F2SMonth and #farmtoschool. National Farm to School Network thanks its sponsors of this year’s National Farm to School Month campaign: CoBank, Farm Credit, National Co+Op Grocers, Vitamix and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

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About National Farm to School Network

National Farm to School Network is the leading voice for the U.S. farm to school and farm to early care and education movement, working as an information, advocacy and networking hub for communities to bring local food sourcing, gardens, and food and agriculture education into schools and early care and education settings. Learn more at: http://farmtoschool.org.

Written by CoBank

This National Farm to School Month, CoBank celebrates the frontline food industry workers—from farm fields to school cafeterias—and the tremendous hard work, collaboration and innovation that has been especially prominent throughout the Covid-19 pandemic to increase and sustain access to healthy foods in schools.

CoBank is proud to partner with the National Farm to School Network and its mission of growing farm to school to support farmers and vibrant rural communities. While the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a bright light on the inequities in our food system, CoBank remains committed to helping communities access the tools to address their unique needs for building and sustaining a healthy and prosperous community. 

In 2021, CoBank—in partnership with Farm Credit Services of America—was pleased to provide a grant to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to reach young people in the Lakota Nation’s efforts to build a stronger local food system. Currently, life expectancy on the reservation is 20 years lower than the national average and the Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates unemployment rates at greater than 80 percent. 

Leaders from the South Dakota State University Extension and Lakota Nation identified that building a local food system and investing in micro-farming opportunities could help improve quality of life on the reservation. The project began by investing in community gardens to address nutritional needs and soon began small-scale farming to unlock economic opportunities. While the pandemic delayed the program’s extension to youth, the tribe would not be deterred. 

The youth program has grown to a team of seven—six of whom are Lakota natives—and created part-time jobs for young people who are building hoop houses and raised garden beds, featuring disability ramps to ensure accessibility for all Tribal members. 

The program recently took its next step by introducing a farm to school program at Little Wound School, which serves 900 K-12 Lakota students. Together with Glorianna Under-Baggage, administrator of the school’s extension program, the team is establishing a pilot program with 18 students. A new hoop house is nearing completion and students will plant and maintain the garden. Eventually, additional gardens will feature traditional and medicinal plants.

CoBank is excited to see the ways the Pine Ridge community has invested in agriculture. This investment will increase access to healthy foods, create jobs and economic opportunities and teach the next generation of farmers, while still enabling the Tribal youth to connect with the land and tradition.  

As communities learn from the hardships of the pandemic and innovate for a more resilient future, a strong farm to school ecosystem can be an important tool for building economic strength. That’s why, in 2017, CoBank was one of the sponsors to the National Farm to School Network’s report, “Economic Impacts of Farm to School: Case studies and assessment tools.” Through surveys and case studies, this report evaluated the economic impacts of farm to school and the benefits of local procurement, including returning more dollars to the local economy.

CoBank looks forward to continuing these efforts of research and demonstration programs to increase access to local, healthy foods in schools, create new market opportunities for producers, and inform community and elected leaders on the economic and social benefits of a thriving local foods system for generations to come. 

National Farm to School Network’s Interim Co-Executive Director Jessica Gudmundson says, “Investing in community-driven solutions that value and benefit all members of a community is an essential component of building racially just food systems. We are grateful for CoBank's continued support of NFSN, which helps us elevate stories like Pine Ridge community and support farm to school programs across the county.”

CoBank is a cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 76,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country. CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities.  Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S.

For more information about CoBank, visit the bank's web site at www.cobank.com

Photo Credits: Marc Piscotty