Farm to School News

Greetings all,

Here are the latest Farm to School news bites:

NEWS

 “New School Meals Nutrition Requirements Recommended ” School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Children, a new report by the Institute of Medicine, recommends new nutrient targets and standards for menu planning that would bring school meals in line with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans and Dietary Reference Intakes to replace the outdated 1995 nutrition standards.

 

“Kids Eat Few Fruits, Veggies” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published findings that fewer than 10% of U.S. high school students are eating the combined recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables.

As the current Child Nutrition Act is up for reauthorization next year, the One Tray coalition is aiming to increase the number of Farm to School programs by demanding mandatory federal funding through this reauthorization.

“Food Fit for Kids” As Americans are further removed from the sources of their food, the importance of Farm to School is increasing dramatically as children in this generation are having to face more cases of obesity and diabetes from poor food choices. Check out this article from Michigan Country Lines, which features Michigan Farm to School!

 “Fixing Lunch” See how Tony Geraci, the food-service director for Baltimore Public Schools, and other school food-service directors around the nation are managing to get healthier and local choices into school cafeterias.

“American Meat Institute Discusses Meatless Mondays” Listen to this related radio about Baltimore Public Schools and Baltimore Public School officials' decision to move to "Meatless Mondays”.

“Farm To School: A Conversation with Marion Kalb” Marion Kalb, Program Director of the Farm to School program, part of the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC), talks about the benefits to school kids, farmers, and rural communities when fresh, and local food is brought into the school lunch program for K-12 kids. Check out the video!

“Vermont FEED receives $476,000 from the Centers for Disease Control to Advance Farm to School programs encouraging Healthy Food Choices” Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was instrumental in securing this funding that comes after a recent U.S. government study released showing that most Americans don't eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables.

.

RESOURCES

The University of California, Berkeley has created a Nutrition Education in School Food Service Tool Kit that aims to take advantage of the potential of school food service settings to positively influence children’s eating – both at school and at home. Check it out! 

Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability by Michael K. Stone from the Center for Ecoliteracy portrays the growing sustainability movement in K-12 education, showcasing inspiring stories of public, independent, and charter schools across the country. Click here to learn more about the book!

http://www.kidsgardening.com/ offers many great tools at for teachers and parents regarding youth gardening.  The “Classroom Exchange” portion of the website is a place where people can go and post information about what their school is doing but also ask for help.

“Begin Farming Ohio Website Launched to Assist Beginning Farmers” For the first time Ohio's new and beginning farmers have an entire website dedicated to their unique information needs and designed to make it easier for them to find the services and resources they seek.

 

EVENTS

2009 Michigan Community and School Gardener Networking Meeting

When: Saturday, November 7th, 2009 from 10 am to 5 pm

Location: Eastern Michigan University's College of Business in Ypsilanti, MI (300 W. Michigan Ave, Gary Owen Building, Ypsilanti, MI 48197)

What: CS Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at MSU, Greening of Detroit, Growing Hope, Garden Project, and Ruth Mott Foundation-Applewood invite you to discuss the innovative community gardening network currently taking place around Michigan and Northern Ohio and facilitate the development of communication and resource networks between groups. The day will include lunch, opportunities to learn, network and share experiences.

Event Information (PDF)

Directions

You can also RSVP for this event online or by phone to Anne Scott at (517) 353-0751.

If you are interested in assisting to plan, facilitate, or present at this event, please email directly to communityschoolgardeners@gmail.com

 

 

Colleen Matts

Farm to School Specialist

CS Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems

Michigan State University

303 Natural Resources Building

East Lansing, MI 48824-1222

517.432.0310

www.mifarmtoschool.msu.edu