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This Week in Farm to School
September 30, 2021
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Farm to school connects local agriculture, schools, and partners to benefit students, educators, farmers, families, and communities.
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Greetings all. School educators and staff are still juggling too much in these COVID days, and School Nutrition Professionals are still struggling with staff shortages and supply chain breaks. Lean into ways to support your school partners, each other, and yourselves. Hold tight, and throw glitter, not shade!
Thank you each and all,
tes thraves, CEFS Farm to School Coordinator
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Conversations of Food Justice: Overcoming Barriers to Land Access
TODAY! September 30 // 4-5pm EST
Toxic Free and Pinehurst Farmers' market host a conversation discussing barriers to land access. One of the greatest barriers to just agriculture is equitable access to land. Through a history of land grabs and forced migration, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color have been separated from their land, worsening systemic inequities. Over the past 100 years, Black-owned farmland in U.S. has declined by roughly 98 percent. Savi Horne, Executive Director of Land Loss Prevention Project, and Malik Yakini, Executive Director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, will talk about the impacts of land loss on rural and urban communities and what we can do to break down these barriers.
The COVID-19 Aid Landscape for Farmers: Fall 2021 Update for Organizations and Service Providers
TODAY! September 30 // 2-3pm EST
Join the Farmers' Legal Action Group and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in a walk-through of currently available USDA-administered COVID-19 aid programs for agricultural producers and related supply chain entities. They’ll discuss important changes to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP-2), the new Pandemic Response and Safety Grant Program (PRS), and additional aid opportunities, along with an outline of resources and technical assistance outlets currently available to would-be applicants from USDA and grassroots organizations.
Racial Equity in Farm to School
October 5 // 3-4pm EST
Join CEFS and the Farm to School Coalition of North Carolina for an optional, informal, hour-long discussion space around implementing racial equity in Farm to School. In this space, we can share what racial equity work looks like in our day to day efforts. (No pre-registration required!)
School Nutrition Programs and School Gardens
October 20 // 2pm EST
The School Garden Support Organization Network is hosting a conversation about School Nutrition Program service and school gardens. Listen to how school gardens can be intertwined with the work of School Nutrition programs, including case studies related to School Nutrition service program funding and staffing support of school gardens!
Recorded Webinar: The Role of Racial Equity in SNAP-Ed Part 1: Bringing Racial Equity into the Conversation
The Food, Fitness, and Opportunity Research Collaborative (FFORC) brought several stakeholders together in an interactive, 75-minute session. They started a discussion of how SNAP-Ed activities can be implemented to advance racial equity by framing the issue of racial equity in SNAP-Ed, the directive from the USDA, the definition of racial equity and how we can work to engage communities to advance racial equity.
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Register for the N.C. Crunch 2021 |
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October is National Farm to School Month! One way to celebrate is by participating in the The N.C. Crunch, which co-hosted by the Farm to School Coalition of North Carolina and N.C. Farm to Preschool Network. The N.C. Crunch is designed to celebrate agriculture, nutrition, and farm to school activities.
This year's N.C. Crunch is scheduled for Wednesday, October 20, 2021 but you can plan to participate any time during October that works for you in celebration of Farm to School and Farm to Early Care and Education Month. Plan now for produce orders and educational activities and and reach out to local partners who can help. Utilize this opportunity to recognize and thank our agriculture, education, and school and early care and education nutrition heroes who make farm to school activities possible!
Sign up now for the 2021 N.C. Crunch to receive a free guide with tips and resources so that you are ready to crunch this fall.
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Reports Look at State Food Waste Policies in 12 States
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) surveyed food waste-related policies in 12 states across three regions and compiled an inventory and gap analysis of existing policies. The inventory provides a comprehensive overview of policies related to food waste reduction across 10 categories, and the gap analysis identifies policies that can be leveraged to further city food waste reduction goals, as well as opportunities where policies are weak or nonexistent.
Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization 2021
As Congress takes up the next Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization (CNR), we have an important opportunity - the first in a decade - to leverage federal farm to school and other Child Nutrition policies to shift power towards a racially just food system. Together with our network, we can call on all Members of Congress to show their commitment to the well-being of our nation's kids, family farmers, and food-producing communities by strengthening farm to school and advancing racial equity opportunities in the next CNR.
Federal Budget Reconciliation Includes Wins for Farm to School
Congress is currently negotiating a budget reconciliation package that offers new funding for a broad range of issues important to farm to school and early care and education stakeholders. This bill is a rare opportunity to secure significant new funding and advance equity in Child Nutrition, education, worker protections, rural communities, and climate-resilient agriculture.
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The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), one of our Farm to School Coalition of NC partners, has created a document of current webinars as well as resources to facilitate engagement and learning around Racial Equity, both in general and especially as it relates to food systems and education.
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The National Farm to School Network |
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Shifting Towards the Next Generation: National Farm to School Network Movement Meeting
Join the National Farm to School Network for a virtual Movement Meeting on Thursday, October 14 from 1-2:30pm EST, featuring young leaders of color working to transform their community, for deep conversation and action-oriented reflection on how the next generation is working to intersect the food movement with racial justice, environmental justice, economic justice, and other key justice-centered movements. Everyone is welcomed and encouraged to attend this free event.
Be Our Partner!
Announcing NFSN’s New Partnership Structure – Last year, National Farm to School Network (NFSN) issued a bold, new Call to Action for ourselves and for the wider food system: By 2025, 100% of communities will hold power in a racially just food system. We share this Call to Action as a pressing need that none of us can reach alone. It’s going to take all of us, and it’s achievable if we each offer our time, talents, and resources to make it happen.
As part of our work to get us there, National Farm to School Network is restructuring and broadening our network of partners to ensure that our organization reflects our commitment to shifting power and achieving a racially just food system. We seek Partner organizations from all 50 states, Washington D.C., the five U.S. territories, and Native nations to join us in moving on our Call to Action.
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Policy Campaign Grant
Deadline: October 15, 2021
The American Heart Association wants to help fund advocacy campaigns supporting Voices for Healthy Kids policy priorities with a focus on health equity. They seek to support and drive local, state, and tribal policy change efforts that will dramatically improve the health of children with a focus on those experiencing the greatest health disparities including Black, Brown, and Native children from low-income families. They are particularly interested in providing funds to tribal nations including ones located in North Carolina.
2022 Budding Botanist Grant
Deadline: October 29, 2021
The 2022 Budding Botanist grant is now open! In partnership with the @kloraneusa Botanical Foundation, Kids Gardening will award $1,000 to eighteen high schools across the United States to support their youth garden programs.
Pandemic Response and Safety Grants
Deadline: November 8, 2021
The Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grant Program provides grants to food processors, distributors, farmers markets, and producers to respond to coronavirus, including for measures to protect workers against COVID-19.
EJ4Climate: Environmental Justice and Climate Resilience
Deadline: November 14, 2021
The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is launching a $2 million grant program, EJ4Climate, to support environmental justice and climate resilience for underserved, vulnerable communities, and Indigenous communities across North America. This program will provide funding directly to Indigenous communities and community-based organizations to prepare for climate-related impacts.
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Farm to School Resource Hub |
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@bug2school
Follow @bug2school feed on Instagram. Each week it will be updated with information about insects that the University of Georgia students are observing in their garden. They also have a small collection of short "garden bug" videos that help students appreciate the arthropods they are likely to find in school gardens.
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