By: Molly Schintler, Communications Intern

In 2017, farm to school and farm to early care and education activities took root in all 50 States, D.C., the U.S. Territories, and Native Communities. Some highlights from the year include: STEM lessons in school gardens, students cooking in kitchen classrooms, locally-sourced meals on school lunch trays, community partnerships such as those with master gardens and local non-profits, farm field trips, events during October’s National Farm to School Month, state-level policies supporting farm to school funding, and so much more. Check out this list of farm to school stories representing our entire network to see what farm to school looked liked in 2017!

  • Alabama: In July, Governor Kay Ivey signed a new Farm to School Amendment into law. This bill allows local farmers to sell produce directly to schools, allowing more locally grown produce in school cafeterias. (Yellow Hammer News)
  • Alaska: Fish to School showcases how strategic partnerships benefit the entire community. (Cordova Times)
  • Arizona: Evans Elementary in Tempe, AZ uses horticulture therapy a tool to help students better manage emotional and behavioral issues. (Wrangler News)
  • Arkansas: Students in the Westside High School Agriculture program raise pigs and goats at school to be sold in their community. (KAIT8)
  • California: This fall, the Farm-To-Student Collaborative Program in Marin County, CA supported local sourcing and procurement partnership that make it possible for schools to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables directly from local farmers and their very own school gardens. (Patch)
  • Colorado: Farm to Early Childhood and Education in Colorado means that preschoolers are learning hands on farming as tool for preventing childhood obesity. (PBS News Hour)
  • Connecticut: 20 Foodcorps Servicemembers in 15 school districts worked to support healthy school environments in Conneticut. (CT Post)
  • Delaware: “Schoolyard habitat programs like our sensory garden are part of our school’s efforts to go green,” said fourth grade teacher Leona Williams, who worked with Delaware Nature Society naturalists to help design the garden. (Delaware.gov)
  • District of Columbia: Students at the DC Bilingual School benefited from an 8,000-square-foot garden that supports science education, community engagement and outdoor exploration of all kinds. (Huffington Post)
  • Florida: Let the numbers speak. In spring 2017, Broward County Public Schools served over 40,000 pounds of Florida-grown strawberries to Florida students over a two-week period. (South Florida Times)
  • Georgia: Students in Tifton, GA celebrated the 14th annual Children’s Farm Day! Middle and high school students come up with the fundraisers for the event, put the exhibits together, staff the stations and teach third graders about the importance of agriculture. (Tifton Gazette)
  • Guam: From buying local food to planting school gardens to teaching kids where their food comes from, Guam is ‘bringing the farm to school.’ (USDA.gov)
  • Hawaii: Mālama Kauaí designed and implemented a farm-to-school pilot program that prioritize farm-to-school sourcing, reflects local traditions, and includes culturally relevant foods. (Civil Eats)
  • Idaho: There was a lot of buzz in Hailey, ID as Syringa Mountain School incorporated beekeeping into their school garden program. (KMVT)
  • Illinois: Illinois State Senator Pat McGuire visited Tibbott Elementary School in Bolingbrook to observe the school lunch program including the school’s garden and hydroponic veggie tower. (The Herald News)
  • Indiana: Johnson County master gardeners helped plant a new garden at a Greenwood elementary school with the goal of helping students learn about plants and the environment. (Daily Journal)
  • Iowa: This Iowa summer school program gave their students a special treat. They got to taste salsa, pesto, and lemonade made with ingredients they grew all summer, along with using honey from their beehive. (Voice of Muscatine)
  • Kansas: KC Healthy Kids’ Ultimate Eat Local Recipe Challenge gave young cooks a chance to shine. (kchealthykids)
  • Kentucky: Sales of lunches increased 38 percent at Sts Peter and Paul Regional Catholic School after launching a new, farm to table menu. (LexGo)
  • Louisiana: LSU AgCenter hosted a state wide conference dedicated to farm to school initiatives. (The Franklin Sun)
  • Maine: Ten Brunswick High School Students spend three mornings a week getting paid $9/hour to tend their school garden. “They’re learning a work ethic: Show up on time. Commit to the job. Give it your best effort. Take initiative.” (The Forecaster)
  • Maryland: The Carroll County Public School’s garden operates with these goals: teach students about where food comes from, promote healthy eating, and provide food for students and families that are in need. (Carrol County Times)
  • Massachusetts: Since flipping the switch on their new composter in October, Barnstable High School has processed anywhere from 100 to 200 pounds of food waste daily from the 1,100 8th, 9th,and 10th-graders participating in the program. (Cape Cod Times)
  • Michigan: Michigan legislators expanded the 10 Cents a Meal for School Kids & Farms program for the upcoming school year (GroundWorkCenter.org)
  • Minnesota: In Duluth, new language in the district’s policies and a position dedicated to coordinating the school gardens helped expand farm to school. (Duluth News Tribune)
  • Mississippi: Partnerships are powerful. The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce partnered with the Mississippi Department of Education to bring Mississippi Farm to School Week to the state. (MDAC)
  • Missouri: One St. Louis school has a kitchen classroom where all students -preschoolers included- slice, dice, whisk, and bake for an hour a week. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
  • Montana: Trout to tray means that Montana students are raising trout in their school’s aquaponics system to serve a dual purpose - providing nutrients to plants in the greenhouse and becoming a source of food on lunch trays. (Missoulian)
  • Native Communities: At Indian Township School in Maine, the school’s librarian led the school community in planting, harvesting, and finally eating their new three sister’s garden. (NFSN)
  • Nebraska: Students at Overton and Litchfield public schools were fed homegrown beef and pork as they launched Nebraska Thursdays as part of National Farm to School Month. (Kearney Hub)
  • Nevada: Farm to school programs can be seen as a tool to addressing food insecurity through a two-pronged approach that addresses the immediate need to feed people and systemic problems related to nutrition. (Las Vegas Sun)
  • New Hampshire: New Hampshire master gardeners and the University of New Hampshire Extension Services offered free seeds to school and youth gardens around the state. (Valley News)
  • New Jersey: September’s Back-to-school night at Kings Road School featured a special reception where parents could visit the school’s communal garden and enjoy homegrown treats before the evening’s events began. (TAPinto.net)
  • New Mexico: Stakeholder from throughout New Mexico celebrated their many local food successes at the second annual Farm to School Awards (Green Fire Times)
  • New York: Farm to school is a vehicle for change. In the poorest congressional district in America, these Bronx schools are growing a lot of food alongside healthy attitudes. (MBGplanet)
  • North Carolina: Teams in nine North Carolina counties joined the NC Farm to Early Care and Education (NC Farm to ECE) Initiative. This program connects local farms and early childhood and education centers throughout the state. (NC State Extension)
  • North Dakota: Bob Drees and his family farm hosted fourth-graders from Thompson and Grand Forks. It's the fourth year he's brought school kids to his farm to help them learn more about modern agriculture. (West Fargo Pioneer)
  • Ohio: This fall the National Farm to School Network announced that Ohio State University Extension will be the local host for the 9th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference April 25-27, 2018 in Cincinnati, OH. (NFSN)
  • Oklahoma: Three Norman schools held a Green Schools Summit, which included discussions on food waste reduction and school gardens. (Norman Transcript)
  • Oregon: Unanimous support from the Oregon House, Senate, and Governor passed House Bill 2038 allocating $4.5 million for schools to continue to buy Oregon-grown and processed foods and to support agriculture- and garden-based education. (KATU)
  • Pennsylvania: Once overrun with weeds, Pinehurst Elementary School’s PTA adopted the community garden in front of their school and transformed it into an outdoor classroom for several classes a day in all subjects. (The Pilot)
  • Puerto Rico: Los estudiantes de Puerto Rico cuentan con un nuevo recurso educativo que visita las escuelas, ofrece clases de cocina, los orientan sobre los alimentos sanos, los ayudan a la elaboración de un huerto escolar y también los llevan a fincas agrícolas para realizar recorridos guiados. (endi)
  • Rhode Island: School gardens align with Next Generation Science Standard. In Rhode Island, schools gardens used to promote an “authentic learning experience”. (South County Life Magazine)
  • South Carolina: For the third year in a row, kids throughout Greenville County, SC participated in the Healthy Lunchtime Throwdown, which challenges students to create their favorite healthy recipe for a chance to have it appear on menus throughout the school district. (Greenville News)
  • South Dakota: Yankton Boys & Girls Club started a kids garden club in June, and they plan to to grow potatoes in pots indoors this winter. (Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan)
  • Tennessee: Bolton High students are maintaining their own garden and harvesting fruits and vegetables to feed food insecure families in their community. (WREG)
  • Texas: STEM skills blossom in school gardens. Students can see season change, grow food to learn plant cycles, and observing pollinator habitat in the garden. (Community Impact)
  • U.S. Virgin Islands: The V.I. Department of Agriculture worked to establish a sustainable Grower’s Collaboration Program with the goal of operating in partnership with farm to school and Harvest of the Month programs. (St. John Source)
  • Utah: Third grade students at Canyon Elementary School in Spanish Fork ‘crunched’ into Utah-grown apples while participating in an event to highlight proper nutrition with the Utah County Health Department and Utah Farm Bureau Federation. (Daily Herald)
  • Vermont: Policy change alert! In June, Governor Phil Scott signed a new bill, which further enhances Vermont’s farm to school programming by expanding the program and setting new, ambitious goals for growth. (VT Digger)
  • Virginia: During National Farm to School Month, students at Virginia L. Murray Elementary School celebrated Virginia Farm to School Week by participating in the "Crunch Heard ‘Round the Commonwealth," a synchronous eating of Virginia apples. (Charlottesville Today)
  • Washington: Native plants were included in this Washington school garden. “The plants were chosen for their identification and educational opportunities, significance to Native American culture, and to most please the children, many of the plants will have edible fruit.” (Island Sounder)
  • West Virginia: Students at Marlowe Elementary School in Martinsburg rolled up their sleeves to create their own herb garden, whose harvest will be used in their own school cafeteria. (The Journal)
  • Wisconsin: Holmen School District served students at all six of its schools a lunch of student-raised chicken served alongside local fruits and vegetables. More than 3,000 portions of chicken were served for Winner Winner Chicken Dinner, a partnership of the Holmen High School FFA and the La Crosse County Farm2School program. (La Crosse Tribune)
  • Wyoming: Celebrations were held in Lander to introduce the community to this kid’s garden, which is the first of more to come in the Fremont County School District. (KCWY)

The National Farm to School Network wishes you a happy, healthy holiday season. We cannot wait to plant more seeds of change with you in 2018!