Michigan Farm to School News

Here's the latest Farm to School-related news, opportunities, resources and events.

 

NEWS:

Check Out These New Michigan Farm to School Videos!

This video takes place at Olivet Community Schools where a farmer visits the cafeteria, and this video shows off the herb production at MSU's Bailey Greenhouse.

 

 

Hunger Doesn't Take A Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report 2014

According to a new report released by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), for the first time in a decade, the number of low-income children eating summer meals has increased substantially.

 

USDA Announces School Meal Flexibility For Upcoming School Year

Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon announced that there will be more flexibility for school districts working to meet the updated whole grain requirements for school meals. For additional information, click to see the USDA's Whole Grain Resource for the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs: A Guide to Meeting the Whole-Grain Rich Criteria.

  

State of Origin for USDA Foods in FIscal Year 2012

This report outlines where all USDA Foods purchased in 2012 were processed and packed. Michigan, along with California, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Texas had the highest dollar values of USDA Foods purchased. For more information and to read the full article, click the link above. Click here for the data that was included in this report.

  

2013 Food Hub Financial Benchmarking Study Report

The 2013 Food Hub Financial Benchmarking Study Report has been released by the Wallace Center and partners!

 

A Lesson in Farming, Classroom to Cafeteria

From the New York Times, this story shares an interdisciplinary approach (involving cattle) to Farm to School!

 

How to Build an Equitable Food System: Lessons From Battle Creek from Michigan Nightlight

Good Food Battle Creek is striving to improve access to healthy food by bringing stakeholders together to address challenges that currently exist in the local food system.

 

OPPORTUNITIES:

USDA Secretary Vilsack Announces The Local Foods Local Places Initiative

The Local Foods, Local Places federal grant program provides direct support to selected communities to develop and implement plans to promote local food and downtown revitalization. Click the link above for more information about the program, eligibility requirements and instruction on how to apply. Letters of interest are due by July 15, 2014.

 

RESOURCES:

Updated Buying Local Fact Sheet

The updated version of this useful guidance document from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is attached.

 

Summer Meals Site Locator Map

Meet Up and Eat Up! Click the link above to check out the new Michigan Department of Education Summer Meals Site Locator Map, which will now be updated on a weekly basis. There were upgrades to this tool and individuals will not be able to use it via mobile devices and/ or tablets. People will also be able to dial 2-1-1 from anywhere in the state and get up to date information on site locations.

 

Expanded Eligibility for Summer Food and CACFP Child Care Homes

On a related note, click on the link above to access a USDA memo outlining greater flexibility for eligibility for the Summer Food Service Program, the Child Adult Care Food Program (CAFCP), and the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Summer Seamless Option (SSO) . This map provided by FRAC show eligibility through census data.

 

Farm to Preschool Fact Sheets and Trainings

The National Farm to School Network has released new Farm to Preschool fact sheets and trainings. Click the link above to check out items such as: Getting Started with Farm to Preschool, Experiential Education in Farm to Preschool and a handful of others! Just search for Farm to Preschool resources in NFSN only publications.

 

Let's Move! Gardening Guide

Click the link above for all the information you need to start your own garden! From planting a kitchen garden in your own backyard or starting a school garden, this guide offers something for everyone.

 

EVENTS:

Michigan Green Healthcare 7th Annual Conference

Michigan Green Healthcare Committee's 7^th annual conference

Grand Rapids, MI

October 8^th – October 9^th, 2014

 

Michigan Good Food Summit

Lansing Center in Lansing, MI

October 28^th

Stay tuned for news about a limited opportunity to join in a Michigan Farm to Institution Network Meet Up the previous day, October 27^th, at the same location!

 

Happy summer!

 

Colleen Matts

Farm to Institution Specialist | Michigan Lead for National Farm to School Network

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

 

Invitation to sign the Michigan Good Food Charter Resolution of Support

Greetings,

 

This is your Invitation to sign the Michigan Good Food Charter Resolution of Support during our “Take you place at the table” campaign.

 

Wouldn’t it be great to see healthy people, places and economies across Michigan? Would you like to be a part of achieving this vision?

 

The Michigan Good Food Charter is a vision and a roadmap, to support Michigan’s food and agricultural contributions to the economy, protect our natural resource base, improve our residents’ health and enable generations of youth to thrive. The Charter outlines six goals to make our vision real by 2020.

 

On behalf of the Michigan Good Food Steering committee and if you haven’t already, I invite you to sign the Michigan Good Food Charter Resolution of Support by completing the form online at www.michiganfood.org.

 

Every signature makes a difference! By signing, you will help encourage decision- and policy- makers to support growing, selling and buying good food across Michigan. Your name will be added to the Charter website and published lists of supporters.

 

For more information on these goals and some of the successes more than 400 organizations and individuals have had in working towards these goals, please visit www.michiganfood.org or our Facebook page www.facebook.com/michiganfood.org 

 

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Jude Barry (517-432-0308) or Kathryn Colasanti (517-353-0642) at the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems. Please forward this email to others who may be interested in signing the resolution of support.

 

Thank you for your consideration,

 

Colleen Matts

Farm to Institution Specialist | Michigan Lead for National Farm to School Network

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

 

 

 

TRICYCLES

NEWS

 

From: mambrose=frac.org@mail.salsalabs.net [mailto:mambrose=frac.org@mail.salsalabs.net] On Behalf Of Food Research and Action Center
Sent: Monday, June 02, 2014 8:42 AM
To: Matts, Colleen
Subject: Summer Food Participation Grows Across Nation

 

Summer Food Participation Grows Across Nation Momentum Signals Progress and Outlines Path for Continued Growth Download Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation - Summer Nutrition Status Report 2014 (pdf) Washington, D.C. – June 2, 2014 – In 2013, for the first time in a decade, the number of low-income children eating summer meals saw a substantial increase year-over-year, according to a new report released by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). Nearly three million children participated in the Summer Nutrition Programs in July 2013, an increase of 161,000 children, or 5.7 percent, from July 2012. Not only did the number of low-income children eating summer meals grow, but there also was progress in reaching a higher proportion of children in need. In its annual report, Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation, FRAC measures the success of Summer Nutrition Programs at the national and state levels by comparing the number of children receiving summer meals to the number of low-income children receiving school lunch during the regular school year. The programs grew to serve 15.1 children for every 100 low-income children who participated in school lunch during the 2012-2013 school year, a modest increase from the 14.3:100 served in the 2011-2012 school year. "More low-income children are eating federally-funded summer meals subject to federal nutrition standards, and that's good news for families and communities across the nation," said FRAC President Jim Weill. "Summer meals are moving in a positive direction, but we need to accelerate progress. Summer meals only are reaching one in seven low-income children. States and cities should continue to build on their successes so we can keep reducing the summer hunger gap." The Summer Nutrition Programs, which include the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program over the summer period, provide free meals at participating summer sites at schools, parks, other public agencies, and nonprofits for children under 18. A good deal of the growth in summer food participation can be attributed to the leadership of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which made increasing the numbers of summer meals served a top priority for the agency. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack set the goal of providing five million more meals in the summer of 2013; the results show that USDA surpassed its goal, serving seven million more meals in 2013 than in 2012. USDA achieved these results by partnering with national organizations to increase the number of sponsors and sites providing summer meals and to increase the number of children who participated; and by undertaking aggressive steps to provide hands-on assistance to states, including targeted help in five states (Arkansas, California, Colorado, Rhode Island, and Virginia). This summer, USDA is focusing efforts in six states (Alabama, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, and Texas), and launched "SummerFoodRocks," a free web-based application that features a site locator and search tool, and works on devices such as iPads, iPhones, Blackberrys, and Androids. Still, the Summer Nutrition Programs must be further improved and strengthened to enable them to serve food to even more children in need. Looking ahead to the upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization, FRAC noted that Congress should make some key investments in the program, most notably looking at ways to help more areas qualify for the Summer Nutrition Programs—making the rules conform to those in other programs – and easing administrative requirements. Increasing participation means more nutritious food for hungry children, but it also means more federal funding for communities. If every state had reached the goal of 40 children participating in Summer Nutrition in July 2013 for every 100 receiving free or reduced-price lunch during the 2012-2013 school year, an additional 4.8 million children would have been fed each day, and states would have collected an additional $365 million in child nutrition funding in July alone. "Last summer shows us that we can make very large strides in improving the reach of the Summer Nutrition Programs, but it does require all hands -- federal, state, and local agencies and nonprofits -- on deck to make it happen," said Weill. "This is an encouraging start, and summer 2014 should yield even bigger gains for children and for communities." About the report: The Food Research and Action Center's annual summer report, Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation, gives data for all states and looks at national trends. The report measures participation in the Summer Nutrition Programs by comparing the number of children receiving summer meals to the number of children receiving school lunch during the regular school year. The regular school year is used as a measure because such a high proportion of low-income children eat school lunch on regular school days. FRAC measures national summer participation during the month of July, when typically all children are out of school throughout the month and lose access to regular year school meals. The report is available online at www.frac.org. # # # The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) is the lead advocacy organization working to end hunger in America through stronger public policies. For more information, visit www.frac.org. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/foodresearchandactioncenter or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/fractweets. About Us: The Food Research and Action Center (www.frac.org) is the leading national organization working for more effective public and private policies to eradicate domestic hunger and undernutrition. Visit our Web site (www.frac.org) to learn more. Click here to unsubscribe from this e-mail.

Request for Farm to School Bids

Greetings farmers and food vendors,

 

See the attached request for bids for local foods for public schools in Manistee County. The school food service directors specifically seek local apples, asparagus, blueberries, sweet corn, sweet cherries, green beans, lettuce, pears, plums, potatoes, summer and winter squash, strawberries, tomatoes and watermelon. Please note that the deadline for submission has been extended to July 15^th.

 

Thanks for your consideration,

 

Colleen Matts

Farm to Institution Specialist | Michigan Lead for National Farm to School Network

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