Farm to School Events and Resources

Greetings!

Below are several opportunities and upcoming events. In some cases please scroll for detailed information on:

• Webinar on July 18^th Dinner Hall Leftovers: Combatting Hunger and Waste (see below for details)

• Articles:

• 10 Cents a Meal is bringing more healthy food to Michigan youth. This story is part of a series that explores access, equity, and sustainability through Good Food in Michigan's thriving food economy. Read the full article here.

• Small Potatoes, Big Impact: Michigan Farm to School Potato Processing Partnership Case Study report by MSUE and MFIN

• Events:

• Michigan Apple Crunch is October 17^th (see below for details) 

• National Urban Agriculture Conference: August 4-6th in Detroit

• Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference: August 11-12th

• Resources: 

• Marketplace events/ Producer training & networking  2022-23 Marketplace Event Eval Report NOW LIVE  and Special reports available for co-hosts 

• Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center webinar recording on how to establish an UEI number for upcoming grant opportunities

• Food in our Community: An Exploration of Western Wayne County report by Western Wayne County Food Policy Council

• Local Food Purchasing Incentives resources by MSU CRFS and NFSN

• REAL Talks - Podcast Episode 7: Scaling Up - It's Trust and Relationships: Overcoming Historical Barriers in Mid-Tier Agriculture by MSU CRFS

  
  
  
  

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(NEW) Dining Hall Leftovers: Combating Hunger and Waste

Webinar July 18, 2024, 1 - 2 pm ET

Learn how you can increase food access by transforming dining hall leftovers into single-serve, frozen meals for your campus or community food pantry in this one-hour webinar from FINE, Food for Free, and Harvard University Dining Services. Molly Hansen from Food For Free and Crista Martin from Harvard University Dining Services share how their organizations' partnership created a program that produces thousands of single-serve meals annually. Register Here

(NEW) SAVE THE DATE - 2024 Michigan Apple Crunch on October 17, 2024

The Michigan Farm to Institution Network will be hosting the 12th annual Crunch on Thursday, October 17th. Last year, more than 250,000 people participated in The Crunch at their local school, hospital, business, organization or from their own home. The Michigan Apple Crunch is a statewide event that promotes local food and farm to school programs by encouraging as many people as possible to "crunch" into a juicy Michigan Apple. Though the event is primarily focused on K-12 school participation, we encourage any large or small institutions, businesses or organizations to register for the event and join in the fun. The Michigan Apple Crunch is a collaborative promotional program of the Michigan Farm to Institution Network. MFIN is coordinated by the Center for Regional Food Systems with support from MSU Extension. For questions about the 2024 Michigan Apple Crunch, please contact Garrett Ziegler, with MSU Extension at zieglerg@msu.edu

May Tsupros  (they/them)

Director, Farm to Institution Programs 

Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems 

College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Natural Resources Building, Room 312A

480 Wilson Rd., East Lansing MI

Michigan State University occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary Lands of the Anishinaabeg–Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples. The University resides on Land ceded in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw.