COVID-19 Information & Resources

Farm to School & Farm to ECE Responses to COVID-19

As a national organization partnering with communities across the country, National Farm to School Network has adapted internally as a staff and externally in the work we do day-in and day-out to keep supporting you, the farm to school and farm to early care and education (ECE) community, in this rapidly changing and challenging environment.

National Farm to School Network's response efforts have been grounded in a central goal of continuing to advance towards our vision of farm to school and farm to ECE programs supporting strong and just local and regional food systems that strengthen the health of all school children, farms, environment, economy and communities across the country. Below, find information about our COVID-19 Relief Fund, resources, policy advocacy opportunities, and stories about how the National Farm to School Network and the wider farm to school movement are adapting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

LOOKING FOR MORE?
National Farm to School Network has a weekly e-newsletter to share a roundup of COVID-19 resources and information with farm to school and farm to ECE stakeholders. Sign up here to have this information delivered in your inbox weekly.

Policy

Sign-On: Endorse our COVID-19 Federal Policy Platform

National Farm to School Network's response efforts to the COVID-19 pandemic are grounded in a central goal of continuing to advance towards strong, just local and regional food systems. There is a need for immediate relief to the people most impacted by this crisis, while building towards longer-term policies that strengthen a resilient, just food system. As Congress works to finalize its next COVID-19 response bill, NOW is that time to make our voices heard. Our federal policy platform calls on Congress to strengthen its support for school meal and child nutrition programs, farmers and those who feed us, Native communities, essential workers, children and families, and others who have been historically underserved and underrepresented. Please add your voice to endorse NFSN’s federal COVID-19 policy platform, and help us advocate key food systems priorities in the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800).

Sign-On: Endorse our COVID-19 Federal Policy Platform

This document outlines National Farm to School Network's current federal policy advocacy priorities, informed by the impacts of COVID-19. Read the document here. Have a policy question about these priorities? Contact Karen Spangler, NFSN Policy Director, at karen@farmtoschool.org.

see our advocacy priorities

Local Policy Ask Template in Response to COVID-19

National Farm to School Network is compiling local policy asks to create a COVID-19 Local Response Template for advocates. We have pulled together language from over 20 local organizations, and we are asking that more advocates and organizations continue to send us their ideas! This is a living document that focuses on more than farm to school because we understand that food justice is tied to the larger justice conversation. And it's important that we stand together on issues like workers' rights, access to healthcare, housing, and access to affordable healthy food.

see our template here

Storytelling

National Farm to School Network Blogs

Share Your Story

We want to hear from you about what food systems resilience looks like in your community. Do grab and go meals in your community feature local apples? Is your early care and education site sending food boxes home with the first responder families they serve? Is your Department of Agriculture helping producers find new markets? If you have a farm to school, farm to ECE or community food systems story to share, please send it to us using this brief form.

share your story
Scroll through the box above or click the button below to see stories of how farm to school and ECE programs are adapting.

NFSN COVID-19 Relief Fund

National Farm to School Network is adapting our work during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep supporting the farm to school and farm to early care and education (ECE) community in this rapidly changing and challenging environment. As part of those efforts, we created a COVID-19 Relief Fund to support the efforts of organizations that are helping kids and families continue eating, growing and learning about just and sustainable food – and farmers continuing to produce and supply it – during this global pandemic.

The following organizations have received a $5,000 grant from National Farm to School Network's COVID-19 Relief Fund:

Anishinaabe Agriculture Institute - White Earth Reservation (Minnesota)
Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation - New York
Can Wigmunke, the Rainbow Tree's Rebel Earth Incubator Farm - Oglala Lakota Nation, Pine Ridge Reservation (South Dakota)
CentroNía - Washington, DC
Charles W. Reid Help Center - Michigan
Dreaming Out Loud, Inc. - Washington D. C.
E. E. Rogers SDA School - Mississippi
Fairfax County Public Schools, Food and Nutrition Services - Virginia
Fond du Lac Ojibwe Schools - Nagaajiwanaang - Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Minnesota)
Fortunate Kids - Michigan
Georgia Organics - Georgia
Guåhan Sustainable Culture - Guam

HoChunk Community Development Corp. - Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska Reservation (Nebraska)
Keres Children's Learning Center - Cochiti Pueblo (New Mexico)
Little Ones Learning Center, Hand, Heart and Soul Project - Georgia
National Women In Agricultural, Texas Chapter - Texas
Our Core Inc. - Family and Farmer Relief - New York
Palette of Expressions - California
Picuris Pueblo - Picuris Pueblo (New Mexico)
Rothenberg Rooftop Garden - Ohio
Seedleaf, Inc. - Kentucky
Seeds in the Middle Inc. - New York
Sprout City Farms - Colorado
Steam Onward Inc - Maryland
Virgin Islands Good Food Coalition, Inc. - Virgin Islands
YouthWorks - New Mexico

Read the June 2020 and July 2020 award announcements.Questions about our COVID-19 Relief Fund application can be sent to RFA@farmtoschool.org.

Thanks to Our Supporters

Support Our Vision: We believe that resilient local food systems that support community health, family farms and local economies are more important than ever. Your financial support of organizations like ours that champion this vision is especially important at this time. National Farm to School Network greatly appreciates donations of all sizes, which help fuel our work and keep the farm to school and ECE movement growing strong.

National Farm to School Network thanks these partners for generously providing support for our COVID-19 response efforts: W.K. Kellogg Foundation, CoBank, Farm Credit, Johnson Ohana Foundation, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, Farm Aid, Life Time Foundation, McCune Charitable Foundation, Organic Valley, and Vitamix.