Northeast Iowa Farm to School Project

Connecting students to their food and agriculture

Latest News:
5th Season Workshop for Food Service, August 10
June 2010: Farm to School Newsletter
March 2010: Farm to School Newsletter
December 2009: Farm to School Email Bulletin
November 2009: Farm to School Newsletter

Background:
Six school districts in Northeast Iowa have been chosen to be Farm to School pilot schools for the first year of the Food & Fitness Initiative grant.  The schools have assembled teams with school, community and youth members to plan and implement Farm to School activities at their schools.

Participating schools are Postville, Decorah, Howard-Winneshiek, Turkey Valley, Oelwein and Starmont.

These six schools will receive technical, educational and financial support including training opportunities for teachers and food service staff. The schools will also receive $1,500 mini-grants for creating healthier school environments.

Americorp workers Flannery Cerbin and Rachel Wobeter are coordinating the Farm to School efforts in NE IA.  They can be reached at (563) 382-2949.

Five Components to Farm to School

Teacher Training
Hold region wide-training day(s), giving teachers exposure to Core standards and cross-disciplinary Farm to School curriculum.

Cross-Age Teaching
Engage high school students as Farm to School educators, creating lessons that focus on a local food item each month.

• Farm to School Cross-Age Teaching Manual (draft version).

Field Days/Producer visits
Provide students the chance for place-based education and involve producers in the classroom.

Food Service Training
Provide opportunities for food service personnel to met with local producers and to further culinary skills specific to local foods.

• Eat Smart--Farm Fresh! A Guide to serving locally grown produce in school meals (USDA)
• School Meal Program Updates for District Decision Makers (ISU)
• Standard Operating Procedure: Direct Purchase of Food Products from Grower by K-12 School Districts (ISU)
• Checklist for Retail Purchasing of Local Produce (ISU)
• USDA memo: Using food from school gardens
• USDA memo: Geographical Preference
• USDA Farm to School policies (May 2010)
  
• The Lunchbox: a toolkit to transform school lunchrooms
• Oklahoma School Food Produce Calculator
  

School Gardens
Create school gardens specific to each of the pilot schools involving students, teachers, staff and administration in the process.



Pilot schools have  agreed to the following expectations.

• Form a team to provide leadership to the program.
• Participate in Home Grown School Lunch Week
• Attend the FFI Fall Conference.
• Report local food purchases for the current school year and previous school year.
• Participate in month County Planning Team meetings
• Meet with local producers in planning meetings for the 2010 growing season
• Participate in food service education
• Develop a plan for policy change around food procurement.
• Develop a site and plan to support a school garden.