Michigan Farm to School Updates | | Stay informed on the latest news, resources, and events! | | Michigan Farm to School and Early Care Network Informational Meeting Registration Open! | | We invite all involved in Farm to School and Farm to Early Care and Education across Michigan to join a virtual information session on Thursday, November 20 from 1-2pm ET to discuss key findings and recommendations about the development of the Michigan Farm to School and Early Care Network. The goal of this educational event is to build the core foundation for the future Michigan Farm to School and Early Care Network with the voices of engaged participants and providers across the state. After a brief presentation with Q&A, we will ask Farm to School and Farm to ECE stakeholders to share their feedback which will be used to guide our collective next steps. Please, register for the meeting here! | If you can’t attend, share your ideas and perspective now by filling out the community survey linked here: | P.S. Save the date to attend the follow-up Listening & Feedback Follow-Up Session on December 16th at 1pm ET. We will review the results of the community survey and discuss the next steps regarding where we will go as a combined network together! | | Update on 10 Cents a Meal for Michigan Kids and Farms | | | The MSU Center for Regional Food Systems team is disappointed that 10 Cents a Meal for Michigan’s Kids and Farms (10 Cents a Meal) was not included as a line item in the recently released 2026 State School Aid budget for Michigan. Now in its 10th program year, 10 Cents a Meal recently hit a milestone of over 300 program applicants from school districts and providers across the state for the 2025-2026 school year — more than any other year — who desire to purchase fruit, vegetables, and dry beans from Michigan producers to serve to Michigan children. The impacts of this loss are huge for the Michigan communities who have relied on the program to help provide quality, Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and dry beans for children's meals and snacks in school, community, and early care and education settings.
Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, one of the founding 10 Cents a Meal program partners, shared their disappointment in the drop of state support to an established and respected program that supports child well-being and farm family income in their recent blog post here. Do you have interest in joining Groundworks in building strategy and capacity to move forward? Learn more about the history of 10 Cents a Meal and how to communicate about its impact here:
Please share this information so more people know 10 Cents a Meal was cut… but is not forgotten! | | School Meals for a Sustainable Future: Local, Organic, & Regenerative November 19, 2025
Join the Chef Ann Foundation for the final session in their free webinar series. This webinar will explore the realities of districts’ ability to incorporate more local, regenerative, and organic food into their programs. | | | The 10th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference December 2-5, 2025
With registration closing November 15, this is the last call to register for next month’s 10th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference in New Mexico! You are invited to register now for the 10th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference! This conference is designed to be a powerful space for learning, networking, and collective action. In light of all of the changes in the food systems space this year, this will be an even more impactful and important moment to gather in person. Whether you’re involved in school nutrition, local food procurement, early care education, or community food access, you are invited to join! | | | | Agenda Highlights:
- Curated Workshops and Networking Sessions
- Exhibitor and Poster Sessions
- Intensive Courses: Farm to ECE Deep Dive, Bringing the Farm to Table, Creating and Sustaining School Gardens, and more!
- Field Trips to Local Farm to School Sites
| | 2026 Growing School Gardens Summit February 19-22, 2026
Save the date for February 19 to 22 in Phoenix, Arizona when over 700 school garden educators will gather for four days of peer-to-peer learning, networking, and movement building. Registration is now open with early bird pricing through December 17! | | | Resources, Opportunities, and Inspiration: | | | Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub Spark and Innovation Collaborative Awards: APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN!
Do you know a way to bring local, nutritious food to more schools across our region?
MSU’s Center for Regional Food Systems is a part of the Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub, which supports people working to improve school meals across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The initiative offers funding, training, and other assistance to partnerships that include farmers, food producers, suppliers, distributors, schools, and organizations.
Applications are now open through January 23, 2026: the Spark Awards and the Innovation Collaborative Awards.
Spark Awards - Spark Awards fund projects that need a short-term infusion of funds for school food system and product improvements, such as capacity-building, planning, and product-testing projects.
- ($30K - $100K per year)
Innovation Collaborative Awards - Innovation Collaborative Awards fund projects that promote systems-level change of the school food system, such as scaling up of programs, forming regional partnerships, or developing or integrating new programs or products.
- ($250K - $500K over 2 ½ years)
We encourage those interested in applying — including farmers, food producers, School Food Authorities and others working to improve school meals — to reach out via our Michigan Interest Form. Our staff is offering weekly drop-in office hours to answer questions, and a launch webinar date is coming soon. Michigan’s State Lead, Julie Lehman, is available to answer questions and help guide you through the application process, as well as connect you with partners and resources to bring your ideas to life. Grantees will receive ongoing support tailored to their needs and goals. | | | | | Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program: APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN!
Exciting news: USDA’s Farm to School grant is now open! This grant is designed to increase the availability of local foods in Child Nutrition Program (CNP) operations and connect students to the sources of their food through education, taste tests, school gardens, field trips, and local food sourcing for CNP meals. Grants can be used to launch new farm to CNP programs or expand existing efforts and projects can range from $100,000 to $500,000.
*FYI: USDA webinars on the RFA have been postponed due to the federal shutdown. You can send questions about the RFA (that are not clarified by the posted FAQ) to Anna.Arrowsmith@usda.gov with a cc to SM.FN.FarmToSchool@usda.gov.
See an in-depth analysis on the current iteration of the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant opportunity from National Farm to School Network on their recent blog post. | | | | | Starting a School or Community Garden Course - Do you love your community and want to start a school or community garden? Are you a beginning gardener looking for direction so that your school or community garden is as successful as it can be? If so, consider taking this free class! The "Starting a School or Community Garden: Essential Steps for Success" course from MSUE offers a flexible, self-paced online learning experience. Winter will be a great time to access this info if planning a garden in the spring!
FoodCorps Kindred Fellowship - The Kindred Fellowship is a seven-month leadership program, January – July 2026, that equips 20–30 school food leaders to drive meaningful change in school food systems. Fellows will participate in nine interactive sessions on themes like leadership, storytelling, and policy advocacy; work in small learning pods; receive on-demand mentorship; and complete a culminating change project.
Deadline to apply: December 8, 2025.
Who Should Apply: FoodCorps alumni, current or aspiring school food leaders, educators, administrators, and community organizers passionate about food systems.
Mindful Choice Meals Program - Cafeteria Culture has launched Mindful Choice Meals, a free, student-led program designed to reduce food waste and build environmental literacy in schools. This hands-on initiative has helped schools reduce plate waste by 30–50% and increase student cafeteria food consumption by 15–40%.
The toolkit shows steps to educate your school community about the USDA’s Offer vs Serve (OVS) rules so students can actively choose what they want to eat to reduce untouched food waste.
How to De-colonize Your Thanksgiving Curriculum - What is Thanksgiving and how did it evolve into the holiday we observe today? Join Shelburne Farms to dig into primary sources, multiple perspectives and regional resources to co-construct a fuller understanding of the myths and truths of the Thanksgiving story. This free webinar recording will take a critical look at what we know, don’t know, and how we teach about Thanksgiving; learn tools, resources, and activities you can adapt for your classroom that push beyond roast turkey, pumpkin pie, pilgrims, and friendly Indians. There is something for every teacher in this webinar, although upper elementary and middle level educators may find the content most appropriate for their practice.
The 2025 Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Harvest of the Month - This monthly packet encourages children to learn about nutrition, agriculture, Indigenous food culture and cooking with monthly recipes, coloring pages, and fact sheets. Each month is focused on a different culturally relevant food in season. November's feature is BLUE CORN!
| | | | Cranberries! A Cultivate Michigan Fall Food
Fresh Michigan cranberries are now in season! Explore Michigan cranberry sourcing tips, resources, and recipes for your school site.
Explore resources | | | About Michigan Farm to School
Farm to School centers around efforts to serve local foods in school and early care and education settings. We share ideas, tools and resources to support a range of efforts, from school garden programming to farmer visits and field trips.
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