MI Farm to School News

Happy Back to School!

With school’s starting up next week, what better time to look forward with your farm to school programming?  Don’t forget to register for the regional Farm to School Trainings coming up in just a few short weeks!  This year we’ll be hosting trainings in Detroit, Kalamazoo, Cadillac, and Chatham.  Whether you’re brand new to farm to school or a seasoned expert, working in early childhood or K-12, this will be a great experience to increase your knowledge of farm to school activities, meet and collaborate with colleagues developing farm to school efforts throughout the region, and provide you with new skills for beginning or expanding your farm to school programs.

A short edition of the news this week, leaving lots of time for R&R this holiday weekend!

News

- NY Times: School lunches becoming healthier, statistics indicate – a federal report showed that the nutritional profile of school meals in the US had improved since the new government standards went into effect in 2012, with an increase of 10% in schools offering two or more fruits and an 18% increase of schools offering two or more vegetables per meal.

- Cultivate Michigan: Rep. David Trott visits Waterford School District - Last week, Cultivate Michigan participant Waterford School District hosted US Rep. David Trott to show off their farm to school approach, and to allow for conversations with Michigan farmers on their experiences in growing for institutions.

- Citizen, NY: Senator Kristen Gillibrand fighting back against attempts to weaken school nutrition standards – The senator is seeking to bolster the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to ensure that nutrition standards remain in place and opportunities for local farmers are expanded

- Ecocentric: Farm to School: Why we need it and how to get it – highlighting the need for farm to school and resources for starting programs.

Resources

Many eligible children don’t participate in school nutrition programs

This brief documents levels of participation in federal nutrition programs, and showed that only 64% of eligible households participate in the National School Lunch Program, while only 52% of eligible households participate in the School Breakfast Program

Happy Labor day!

  

Abby Harper

Farm to School Specialist

Center for Regional Food Systems | Michigan State University

480 Wilson Rd | Rm 309 Natural Resources Building East Lansing, MI 48824

(p) 517.432.4525 (c) 857.600.6921

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