MI Farm to School Training Opportunities for School Food Service Directors - Oct 17th, 19th, and 21st

Greetings Michigan school food service directors,

Are you interested in starting or expanding a farm to school program? If so, please join us for one of the Michigan Farm to School: Scaling Up and Branching Out regional trainings the week of October 17^th!

 

This series of afternoon training sessions is being offered by the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at MSU through the new MI Farm to School Grant Program (http://www.mifarmtoschool.msu.edu/index.php?id=348), which provides farm to school planning and implementation mini-grants to school food service directors at schools/districts with 50% free and reduced rates or greater. Eight MI Farm to School grants were awarded this first, pilot year, and all grantees will attend the training nearest them. We're happy to extend the invitation to Michigan school food service directors interested in starting or expanding their farm to school programs!

 

MI Farm to School training dates and locations are as follows:

 

·        Monday, October 17^th, 12-4:15 pm

Grayling Charter Township

2090 Viking Way

Grayling, MI 49738

 

·        Wednesday, October 19^th, 12-4:30 pm

Kent County Michigan State University Extension Office

775 Ball Ave NE

Grand Rapids, MI 49503

 

·        Friday, October 21^st, 12 – 4:30 pm

Livingston County Michigan State University Extension Office

2300 E Grand River Ave., Suite 111

Howell, MI 48843

 

The first hour of the training will focus on starting farm to school programs and the step-by-step guide to connecting with local farmers and purchasing local products. The remainder will focus on expanding farm to school programs, offering a greater range of products through more avenues. Tools and information from Produce Safety University, a national training offered by the National Food Service Management Institute and the USDA, will also be shared. The agenda is the same for each training, but we hope to draw on the farm to school experiences of attendees.

 

Please RSVP to me at matts@msu.edu or 517.432.0310 to reserve your spot for any one of the training opportunities. RSVPs will be taken on a first come first serve basis as we have space constraints in a couple of locations. More details will follow!

 

Best,

 

Colleen Matts

Farm to Institution 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