How can you help farm to school grow?

Learn about Michigan Farm to School news, events, resources, and opportunities!

April 2019 Dear Michigan Farm to School subscribers, Hints of warm weather in the past week are suggesting spring really is on its way. Equally exciting are the conversations across the state regarding farm to school initiatives. Take a peek at this month’s newsletter to find out what is happening in Michigan and ideas to help grow farm to school at your site!  News Michigan 10 Cents a Meal Shows Benefits The 2018-2019 legislative report suggests continued benefits of the Michigan 10 Cents a Meal for School Kids & Farms program, providing 93 different fruits and vegetables to 135,000 students across the state. Read more Michigan Communities Address Food Insecurity  Summer camps in community gardens, community programs to help children and families gain “nutrition literacy”, and weekly garden coaching visits are some of the strategies used to address food insecurity and increase nutrition knowledge in local communities.  Read more Events Georgia Farm to School and Early Care and Education Summit June 7-8 Macon, GA Join colleagues across the farm to early care and education and K-12 spectrum for hands-on workshops and professional development and to try locally sourced food as part of the Summit. Register 2019 Iowa Farm to School Conference  June 21-22 Pella, IA Hands-on workshops, field trips, intensive courses, and keynote speakers highlight this 2-day conference in Iowa to learn more about farm to school curriculum, procurement, and building community collaborations.  Register Resources National Farm to School Network Resources Check out the full list of farm to school resources available through the National Farm to School Network. Accessible in one location, the list of free resources is organized by topics such as Getting Started, Policy, Equity, etc., and notes when materials are available in Spanish. View the resources Maximize Information with the Capacity Builder Map Access data for your next grant or find community partners using the Capacity Builder Map. This tool can help you find information such as the USDA Farm to School Census or USDA’s Farm to School Grants, as well as Summer Meal Sites and public-school data, or help sites find the nearest farmers market. Use the tool Opportunities Team Nutrition Grants for FY 2019 Deadline: June 2 Two grant opportunities are available under the Team Nutrition Training Grant Program. Both grants are intended to help State agencies implement job-skills training programs to impact school meal quality. State agencies administering National School Lunch Programs can apply for grant funds, with up to $9 million dollars expected to be awarded in FYI 2019.   Learn more and apply About Michigan Farm to School Farm to School centers around efforts to serve local foods in school and early care and education settings. We share ideas, tools and resources to support a range of efforts, from school garden programming to farmer visits and field trips. Visit mifarmtoschool.msu.edu >> FOODSYSTEMS.MSU.EDU ‌ ‌ ‌

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Launching next week! Workforce assessment of Michigan food system

We need your help to connect with the right people.

Does Michigan have the workforce to grow its good food movement? We need your help to find out! Next week, we will release a survey and begin interviews that focus specifically on the portion of the Michigan food system where good food is grown, processed, distributed, sold, and consumed in Michigan markets. We are doing this workforce assessment research because food grown and processed in Michigan is vital to Michigan’s economy and workforce, and Michigan good food is becoming even more important to the state’s economy. But what we don’t know is: does Michigan have the workforce to continue this growth? We will study: the types and wage ranges of existing and future jobs employer demand for these jobs what skills, education, and training is needed to perform these jobs For more details about this research, please visit the project webpage. Can you help us? We need to connect with employers, workers, educators, training providers, and other stakeholders in Michigan’s local and regional food system. Here are 5 ways to help: Share your data and information Volunteer to take the survey Let others know to contact us Send ideas for who to contact or data to include Volunteer to participate in an interview If you can do any of the above, or are curious to learn more, please visit: http://foodsystems.msu.edu/michigan-food-workforce Thank you in advance for your help! Questions? Contact Jeanine La Prad, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, at MiFoodWorkforce@skilledwork.org Suggested social media post: What does Michigan’s good food workforce look like and need? If you have existing data, info or ideas about who to survey or interview, visit foodsystems.msu.edu/MiFoodWorkforce. This work is a collaboration between MSU Center for Regional Food Systems, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, MSU Extension, and the Corporation for Skilled Workforce. It is funded in part by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The Michigan Good Food Charter describes the importance of “good food” produced and processed in Michigan - food that is that healthy, sustainable, affordable, and pays a livable wage across the supply chain. EXPLORE foodsystems.msu.edu EMAIL CRFS@msu.edu CALL 517-353-3535 FOLLOW @MSUCRFS ‌ ‌ ‌ FOODSYSTEMS.MSU.EDU

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