FW: USDA Farm to School E-letter - December 11, 2012

Hi all,

I'm passing along the latest USDA Farm to School E-letter, which includes details on two webinars offered this week that may be of interest. For those of you who applied for or are interested in applying for USDA Farm to School Grants, a webinar on "Trends in Successful USDA Farm to School Grant Applications" will be held today at 1 pm Eastern. Another webinar will be offered on Thursday, December 13^th focusing on school gardens. See details below!

 

Thanks,

 

Colleen Matts

Farm to Institution Specialist

Center for Regional Food Systems | Michigan State University

480 Wilson Rd | Rm 303 Natural Resources Building | East Lansing, MI 48824

(p) 517.432.0310

www.foodsystems.msu.edu | www.mifarmtoschool.msu.edu

 

From: USDA Food and Nutrition Service [mailto:usda.fns@service.govdelivery.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 10:01 AM
To: Matts, Colleen
Subject: USDA Farm to School E-letter - December 11, 2012

 

USDA Farm to School E-letter December 11, 2012 | Volume 1, Issue 14 USDA NEWS & UPDATES Communities Warm Up to Winter Markets This year, the National Farmers Market Directory saw a 52 percent spike in winter listings. On December 6, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan said, "Each winter farmers market offers additional opportunities for farmers to generate income year round. These investments are a win-win. Farmers have more stability, and consumers have a reliable supply of local food, regardless of the season." Cost effective options, such as hoop houses and eco-friendly greenhouse energy use, have helped many small and mid-sized farmers expand their growing season while keeping overhead costs down. Many local markets also launch targeted marketing campaigns to raise community awareness of the extended farmers' market season and product offerings. A recent USDA Blog post, highlights a few producers who have increased their growing capacity with USDA grants for season extension technologies. Farmers' markets offer a great way to meet producers in your community and learn what products are available in the winter season. If you are a school food service director or teacher, visiting a local market may spur ideas for your harvest of the month program or provide a networking opportunity that leads to a future farm field trip for students at your school. As outlined in the recently published Geographic Preference Q&As – Part II, school food authorities may also use farmers' markets to obtain price quotes when using the informal procurement method. Click here to check out the National Farmers Market Directory's searchable database of over 7,800 markets! WEBINARS AND TRAININGS Trends in Successful USDA Farm to School Grant Applications ~ December 11 During the first round of the USDA Farm to School Grant Program, hundreds of applicants across the country competed for a limited amount of funding. The overwhelming interest in this inaugural program excited us, and we are already looking forward to next year's applications. To aid applicants in increasing the competitiveness of future submissions, we will be hosting a webinar today, December 11, at 1:00 pm EST to summarize trends observed in successful USDA Farm to School Grant applications. It is not necessary to RSVP for this event; simply use the dial-in instructions and live link below. For questions about the webinar, contact Laura Brown. Live link to the webinar: https://www306.livemeeting.com/cc/usda/join?id=7DHD2D&role=attend Meeting ID: 7DHD2D Conference line: 888-790-1895 Passcode: 2750176 Best Practices in Starting and Sustaining a School Garden ~ December 13 Garden-based learning offers a host of benefits, from increasing children's willingness to eat fresh vegetables, to improving their attention spans. On December 13 at 12:00 pm EST, join USDA's People's Garden initiative for a webinar about  how to incorporate gardens into schools, make garden projects successful and sustainable, and encourage participation from others in your community. Click here to register. BITS FROM BLOGS New Jersey School Gardens Offer More than Just Produce New Jersey Farm to School Network and Edible Jersey Magazine recently awarded their inaugural School Garden of the Year Award to three projects for innovative efforts to connect their school gardens to the cafeteria, curriculum, and community. How fitting that schools in the Garden State are host to a number of exemplary school gardens! The garden co-cultivated by William H. Ross Elementary School and Eugene A. Tighe Middle School in Margate City, NJ came in first place. The schools' Garden Gourmet tasting program allows students to sample the fresh fruits and vegetables harvested from the garden—and the garden opportunities don't end at lunch! At Ross Elementary, students digitally photograph vegetable beds and write multiplication and division word problems based on the garden layout. These math word problems are then solved by fourth grade students. More > Stay up-to-date on all the latest USDA news and stories on the USDA Blog! Farm to School - Learn more at http://www.fns.usda.gov./cnd/f2s/ Find out how USDA supports local and regional food economies and see examples of producers, businesses and communities putting these resources to work with the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Compass. Update your subscriptions, modify your password or e-mail address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your e-mail address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact support@govdelivery.com. This service is provided to you at no charge by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. This email was sent to matts@msu.edu using GovDelivery, on behalf of: USDA Food and Nutrition Service · 3101 Park Center Drive · Alexandria, VA 22302 · 800-439-1420