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Friday, October 23, 2015

MI Farm to School News

Hello Ganders!

Sorry to have missed you last week!  All the more exciting for this one.  I hope you all had a spectacular Michigan Apple Crunch day yesterday and ate some healthy, crisp, and delicious apples!  We had a fun time at CRFS crunching and have a fabulously lovely video documenting that magical bite.  Given my two week absence from the news, there’s a lot in this one, including news from all over Michigan about crunches happening everywhere!  And I mean everywhere – we had schools from north to south and east to west participating (in both peninsulas!).  Pretty sure they heard our crunch in Canada as well, but that’s just speculation. Now it’s time to keep that enthusiasm and momentum going and keep Farm to School activities happening all year long!  If you have any pictures from the crunch you would like shared (or local stories that I didn’t catch below!), please feel free to send them to me!

Michigan Apple Crunch in the News
Any pieces I didn’t see?  Send em my way!


Now onto the other news:

News
  • MSU Extension: How do I talk to farmers about their food safety practices?
    • A great piece on strategies for food service directors in understanding the food safety practices of farmers
  • MSU Extension: http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/celebrate_the_michigan_harvest_in_october
    • A great resource on Food Day, Farm to School Month, the Apple Crunch, and other opportunities to celebrate local food in your school in October
  • MSU Extension: Farm to school continues to flourish
    • Farm to school expands in NW Michigan
  • MSU Extension: FoodCorps Michigan: Cultivating healthy kids through healthy school diets
    • Heard of FoodCorps but not sure what it is? Find out what it is, where members are serving in Michigan, and it’s broader goals
  • The Daily Meal: Farm-to-School programs minimize food waste and maximize health
    • More coverage of results from the recent Farm to School Census, showing that kids ate healthier lunches and threw away less food when schools incorporated locally source produce.  Some schools also experienced greater support from parents and lower food costs
  • Schawangunk Journal: Making applesauce for an entire district
    • A school in NY celebrated Farm to School Month by processing 1,800 pounds of local apples into 100 gallons of applesauce (also highlights a school that has taken a few years to gain traction – it happens!  Stick with it!)
    • Also this great quote: “Farm to School gives them a direct connection to where their food comes from and why local farming is important…more importantly it inspire them to think about the role they can play in creating a local, sustainable food supply.”
  • NFSN: School Food Justice
    • NFSN has had a lot of great articles this month in honor of National Farm to School Month (I encourage you to browse them all!), but I liked one this week especially.  This article focuses on the vast impacts possible through farm to school programs, and the cycle that creates mutual benefits across sectors.
    • This one focuses on the side effects of farm to school – improved school performance!
  • The Dialy Courier: School Children give Thumbs Up in Taste Tests
    • A fun video showing kids preferences in local food
Resources:
  • Webinar recording: Farm to School 101 – National Farm to School Network
    • Intro to Farm to School, for those of you brand new or who need a refresher!
That’s all I got for this week.  Happy continued crunching!

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


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