Garden to Cafeteria Webinar TODAY - 2:00 - 3:30 pm

Hi all - 

A reminder about this afternoon's webinar on using on-site gardens in procurement strategies for k-12 schools and early childhood programs.

A full description of the webinar can be accessed here: http://foodsystems.msu.edu/events/garden_to_cafeteria_using_on_site_gardens_to_supply_meal_programs_webinar

The webinar can be accessed at:

http://msucrfs.adobeconnect.com/mifarmtoschool/ 
1-719-234-7800
Participant Code 738419

You need to connect BOTH via webinar and telephone to get both audio and visual.

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

National Farm to Cafeteria Conference - Early Bird Registration and Scholarship Deadline

Register Now! Early Bird Prices for National Farm to Cafeteria Conference. Don't miss the 8th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference in Madison, Wis., June 2-4, 2016. 

This event is the only national gathering of stakeholders from across the farm to cafeteria movement, making it a crucial leadership development opportunity to advance community health, build economic opportunities for farmers and producers, and ensure long-term sustainability for local food efforts nationwide. Early bird registration is open now, including pre-conference short courses and field trips. Event organizers expect more than 1,500 attendees, and the last event sold out before the registration deadline, so don't wait. Register today at farmtocafeteriaconference.org.

MSU CRFS Presents at the National Farm to Cafeteria Conference

Over the course of two days, attendees will have access to 48 different workshops in 12 topical tracks, and your Michigan Farm to School team will be involved in a number! MSU Center for Regional Food System's Farm to Institution Specialist Colleen Matts will be co presenting on institutional sales for Farmers and Food Hubs, Farm to Institution alliances, and Hoophouses for Health, Farm to School Specialist Abby Harper will be co-presenting on local procurement in early care and education programs, and Cherry Capital Food's School Liaison Kelly Lively will be co-presenting on Farm to Cafeteria promotional events (and showcasing our Apple Crunch efforts!). With 12 different tracks, there truly is an opportunity of interest to everyone. Check out the full list of workshops, and start planning which ones to attend!

Scholarship Deadline Approaching

Finally, the Scholarship Deadline is fast approaching! Scholarships can cover full conference attendance or short course participation. To ensure the conference reflects the full diversity of the movement, scholarships are prioritized for farmers, farmer support organizations, youth (through age 22), persons of color, food service professionals, farm to college/hospital practitioners, and early care and education providers. Don't delay! Learn more and submit your application now until the deadline of Feb. 29 at 5pm ET. 

Apply for a scholarship or register today at farmtocafeteriaconference.org.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

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

MI Farm to School News

Greetings from Washington, D.C.!

I've been spending the last two days at the Healthy Kids, Healthy Futures summit, which is an opportunity for early care and education and public health practitioners to come together and strategize for integrating health initiatives into ECE settings. So many great ideas and collaborations coming out, but I am excited by the number of mentions of Farm to School as a strategy! Nutrition and healthy lifestyle promotion, family and community engagement, and opportunities for experiential learning – not to mention the opportunities to build economic opportunities for small farmers!

LOTS of opportunities this week, including our upcoming Garden to Cafeteria webinar (and some other opportunities to get involved in school gardens) and the approaching scholarship deadline for the Farm to Cafeteria Conference. 

News

• What's for Lunch? Demanding Quality Protein in School Meals – Yahoo!
  • America's schools collectively spend nearly $1 billion per year on poultry and legumes. School Food FOCUS works with school districts to coordinate this purchasing power and put market pressure on food companies to provide healthier proteins for our nation's school children.

Resources

• Michigan School Garden Newsletter
  • If you're interested in learning MORE about school gardens, be sure to sign up for this great newsletter out of MSU Extension! Additionally, attached is a flyer for the MSUE Starting and Sustaining a School Garden workshop, which can be registered for by April 1 here

Opportunities

• Webinar: Garden to Cafeteria – Tuesday, February 16, 2-3:30 pm
  • Don't miss this opportunity to learn about garden to cafeteria programs and hear from practitioners in the field who are successfully using garden harvests in their procurement strategies. Webinar can be accessed at http://msucrfs.adobeconnect.com/mifarmtoschool AND calling 1-719-234-7800 with participant code 738419
• Job Opening: Detroit School Gardens Collaborative Garden Attendant – Deadline Wednesday, February 17
  • Detroit School Garden Collaborative is seeking five seasonal, part time staff to support their work. Interested applicants should email Monica Rischiotto at monica.rischiotto@detroitk12.org or call 313-651-3457 for more information
• 2016 NSLP Equipment Assistance Grants – USDA
  • Fuel Up to Play 60 is providing $5 million dollars, in addition to the USDA's school nutrition equipment grants, to support equipment purchases to facilitate the use of fresh food
  
  

Conferences

• Farm to Cafeteria Scholarship Deadline – Monday, February 29
  •  The National Farm to School Network is now accepting applications for scholarships to the 8th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference, which will take place in Madison, Wis., June 2-4, 2016. The MSU CRFS Farm to School team will be presenting in FOUR workshops this year. Come join us
• 2016 National Good Food Network Conference – March 30 - April 1, Atlanta, GA
  • This year's conference theme is "Maintaining Values while Building Value," with a special daylong in-depth food hub training the day before. 
• 2016 Good Food Festival & Conference - March 24 - March 26, Chicago, IL
  • Celebrate the region's growing local food community with three dynamic days connecting people active in the Good Food community.

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

FW: Prima Civitas agri-talent and agri-employer surveys

Forwarding a request on behalf of Mary Zumbrunnen at Prima Civiitas to complete these surveys 

For Agri-employers…

 

Dear Agricultural Employers:

 

Prima Civitas, a non-profit statewide economic developer, has received funding from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to assist with the research and development of an agricultural talent pipeline and we need your help…

 

Specifically from employers, we are looking to gather feedback on: your organizational background, staffing and retention, employee skills and training needs, as well as interest in participating in a regional talent pilot model development. Please take 15 minutes to complete this survey.

               

Your responses are completely confidential. Your identity and organizational data will not be shared. Prima Civitas has requested this information only in the case that we need response clarification or to follow-up on your interest in participating in a regional talent pilot model. Please click on the link below and submit responses by Friday, February 26, 2016 by close of business. If you have any questions, please call us at (517) 708-4240.

 

SURVEY LINK: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/M39HRBD   Your response if very important. Thank you for your participation.

 

 

 

For Agri-talent…

"The purpose of this survey is to assist statewide economic development non-profit, Prima Civitas, to better understand what would draw those not currently interested in the field of agriculture to agribusiness, as well as to understand what would help those currently working in this sector to improve their experience. Your response is greatly appreciated and will help inform strategy to improve Michigan's workforce experience. Your comments are confidential and no one outside of Prima Civitas will review individual response information. This survey will take about 15 minutes to complete. Thank you very much for your time and reflection. Your thoughts are important to us!"

Please complete this survey by February 26, 2016 at: 
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/150SCOqAfiUIv69eQ2QbUD4TO-pfJ9KWmmisGMSOZUCc/viewform?c=0&w=1&usp=mail_form_link

 

 

 

 

 

Mary ZumBrunnen

Director, Talent Initiatives

Prima Civitas

Catalyst for a Competitive, Innovative & Global Michigan

325 E. Grand River ISuite 275 I E. Lansing, MI 48823

Cell: 810.553.7389 I Office: 517.708.4240 I Fax: 517.999.3196 
mary.zumbrunnen@gmail.com I primacivitas.org

 

 

 

Registration now open for All About Food Conference

Greetings!

 

Registration is now live for the All About Food Conference: From Farm to Fork, hosted by the Macomb Food Collaborative. The conference will be hosted on Tuesday, March 15^th from 8-3:30pm. The event will be located at the Macomb Community College University Center, 44575 Garfield Road, Clinton Township, MI 48038.

 

The early bird pricing of $20 is applicable now through February 15^th. A locally sourced and prepared lunch is included in the cost of registration.

 

See the attached registration brochure for more information on the wide variety of food related sessions, our speakers, and further details. Registration is available online at http://www.macombfood.org/register-for-the-conference.html, or by mail.

 

Apologies for any cross-postings. Please feel welcome to share this announcement widely.

 

We hope to see you there!

 

Kaitlin Koch Wojciak

Michigan State University Extension Educator

Community Food Systems

21885 Dunham, Suite 12

Clinton Township, MI 48036

Work: 586-469-6088

Cell: 313-695-7746

Please note my new email address:

kaitwoj@anr.msu.edu

 

 

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RSVP Deadline Extended - Breaking into Institutional & Wholesale Markets

Greetings,

We have extended the registration deadline until 5 pm on Wednesday, February 10^th for the Breaking into Institutional & Wholesale Markets Winter Workshop in the Battle Creek area. See details below and a link to register for this unique workshop!

 

Announcing Breaking Into Institutional & Wholesale Markets Winter Workshops!

Institutional and wholesale markets can be a key component of a successful farm business and an important part of a plan to expand. At these workshops you’ll learn from farmers and food hub staff who have experience selling to institutions and wholesale markets about how to best present yourself and your business, quality standards buyers are likely to expect, products of interest, and how to price your products. The workshops are free to attend! Please register online at the links below.

 

February 15, 2016 from 2:30 - 4:30 with reception to follow until 6 pm

Territorial Brewing Company in Springfield/Battle Creek

Presenters:

• Trent Thompson, Green Gardens Community Farm
• Brennan Dougherty, Sprout Urban Farms
• Tyler Vuillemot, Hoophouses for Health
• Colleen Matts, Farm to Institution Specialist at CRFS and co-lead of the Michigan Farm to Institution Network (MFIN)

 

Workshop hosted by Sprout Urban Farms, Michigan Farm to Institution Network, the Michigan Farmers Market Association and MSU CRFS.

Register to attend here.

 

Best,

 

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 311C Natural Resources Building | East Lansing, MI 48824

(p) 517.432.0310

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

 

 

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