MI Farm to School News

Greetings, and happy Friday!

Here are the updates on the MI Farm to School front:

Opportunities

•  National Farm to Cafeteria Conference Scholarships – Deadline: February 29
  • The National Farm to School Network makes it a priority to keep conferences affordable and to offer scholarships to make events more accessible. Now is your chance to apply for a scholarship award to attend the conference in June!
• Webinar: Garden to Cafeteria – Tuesday February 16, 2-3:30 pm
  • Interested in getting more of your on-site garden's harvest into your school and/or early childhood program's meals? Join us to learn about garden to cafeteria programs and hear from practitioners in the field who successfully use garden harvests in their procurement strategies.
• Everybody Eats: Cultivating Food Democracy – Saturday March 19, Lansing, MI
  • Everybody Eats is a one day conference poised to energize food system awareness and reform in Mid-Michigan communities.

Resources

•  Safety in Agriculture for Youth – MSU Extension
  • Safety in Agriculture for Youth (SAY) is a grant project funded by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute for Food and Agriculture to develop a sustainable and accessible national clearinghouse for agricultural safety and health curriculum for youth.

News

• Changing lives from farm to freezer – Michigan Farm News
  • Mark Coe runs Farm to Freezer, an awesome and innovative program that aims to preserve Michigan foods so that schools, early childhood programs, and other institutions have access to local produce year round. Learn more about this innovative program and the people who make it possible.
• President Obama Wants More Funds To Feed Low-Income Kids In Summer – National Public Radio
  • Read about the proposal to give additional support to families who qualify for subsidized school meals to help support food security in the summer 
• Beyond farm-to-table meals: Bringing fresh food to Michigan's schools – Second Wave Northern Michigan
  • The Groundwork Center's farm to school efforts now touches more than a dozen schools, 70 individual classrooms and some 2,000 students!
• Grand Traverse County Hosts Farms Foods and Health Conference – 9&10 News
  • Many farmers, health professionals and educators came together at the 2nd annual Farms, Foods and Health Conference to focus on ways to help people in Northern Michigan get access to healthier foods

That's all for this week! Hope everyone stays warm!

Best,

Abby Harper

Farm to School Specialist

MSU Center for Regional Food Systems

480 Wilson Rd Rm 309 | East Lansing, MI 48824

(p) 517-432-4525 (f) 517-353-3834

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