Nutrition: Information for Schools
Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat
Resources
Step-by-step tools | More resources
Training films |Salad Bars to School
Getting started
- National Farm to School clearinghouse This is Minnesota’s school food service staff and teachers first stop for all their farm to school needs. This on-line page offers info about buying preparing and serving local foods and promoting the food to students, parents and teachers. It also offers information about school gardens and the fresh fruit and vegetable program.
- Tool kit from Countryside Public Health Countryside Public Health, serving the counties of Big Stone, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Swift and Yellow Medicine in western Minnesota, has made available their Farm to School Resource Manual for agencies working on their own Farm to School programs. Developed by Annette Hendrickx Derouin, MPH, RD, SNS, the manual offers materials, promotional messages, recipes and more. To use this manual in its entirety or to draw from materials from it, specific credit needs to be given to Countryside Public Health.
Purchasing
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MN Grown Directory for locating farmers who sell to schools and other wholesalers
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Food safety manual at this Oklahoma site offers a simple produce calculator to help you know how much to order
- Purchasing Guide, a step-by-step guide form Michigan State University
Getting support
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Farm to School Field Guide for Community Members
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Economic analysis from the University of Minnesota: "The Economic Impact of Farm-to-School Lunch Programs: A Central Minnesota Example
- Paper on the economics of fruits and vegetables: "Selected Measures of the Economic Values of Increased Fruit and Vegetable Production and Consumption in the Upper Midwest" --Dave Swenson, ISU Department of Economics
Promotional ideas
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“I dig my farmer” posters, aprons and point of service promotional items to highlight your farm to school foods from the Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy, MN Local Foods division
Food safety
The Minnesota Departments of Health and Agriculture have written fact sheets for purchasing local foods, canning, freezing or drying foods as well as picking mushrooms for school food service settings.
- On-farm food safety information for K-12 food service personnel
- Salad Bars and Food Safety Resource List
- Existing Food Facilities Planning to Freeze, Dry or Otherwise Preserve Fresh Foods for Sale or Service (PDF: 310KB/2 pages)
- Serving Locally Grown Produce in Food Facilities (PDF: 286KB/2 pages)
- Hand Sanitizers: Not a Replacement for Handwashing in Food Service Settings (PDF: 251KB/1 page)
- Harvesting and Selling Wild Mushrooms in Minnesota (PDF: 403KB/2 pages)
- Existing Food Facilities Planning to Can Fresh Foods for Sale or Service (PDF: 297 KB/2 pages)
School Gardens
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Fresh, Healthy and Safe Food: Best Practices for Using Produce from School Gardens
- "Creating and Growing Edible Schoolyards: A How to Manual for School Professionals" from the Anoka County Community Health & Environmental Services Department’s SHIP initiative and the Anoka–Hennepin School District (pdf 970kb, 36 pages)
Student Education Resources
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Farm to School for Teachers: A compendium of resources for a variety of ages http://www.extension.umn.edu/farm-to-school/teachers/
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Growing Minds provides lesson plans, children’s literature guide, farm field trip ideas and recipes in Spanish and English
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“Healthy Foods from Healthy Soils: a Hands-on Resource for Educators”. Elizabeth Patten and Kathy Lyons, 2003. Tilbury House Publishers
Information for the More Experienced
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USDA Farm to School Team 2010 Summary Report
http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/f2s/pdf/2010_summary-report.pdf
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Report of the Humphrey School Farm-to-School Policy Fellows Work Group
- Farm to School: An Overview of Policy and Training Opportunities in Minnesota
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Delivering More: Scaling Up Farm to School Programs
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The Economic Impact of Farm-to-School Lunch Programs: A Central MN Example
- Action for Healthy Kids is committed to working with schools to help kids learn to eat right and be active every day so they’re ready to learn.
Wellness Policies
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Sample School Wellness Policy: Farm to School from Public Health Law Center (pdf 263kb, 2 pages)
