Farm to School

Success• At PDN headstart we went from almost being ‘kicked-out’ to 180°

positive.

• Transition from a Bistro Kids (turn key independent school lunch program) to an in-house PDN program with minimum oversight.

• Expanding at PDN to the Guadalupe Center (the parent NP of PDN).

• In partnership with Treat/Bistro Kids expanding to 8 headstart in YMCA. (potential for national replication)

• Dr. Gibson KUMC; survey and evaluation shows positive response from administration, advocates for replication at other schools, parents very positive and incorporating same foods in home setting.

• PDN in 2010 served 8,740 Good Food meals (breakfast and lunch).

• PDN to Sept 2, 2011, served 43,700 Good Food meals (this does not include snack). This is a $56,400 in value of Good Food.

Farm to School

Challenges• Working with major food service suppliers to the schools. USDA GAP Farmer Certification Required.

• Food service personnel change of behavior ‘buy in’ at the kitchen level and the mid-management level.

•Schools expectation of vast amount of planning.

•Intellectual property rights of technical information of consultants.

•Moving from minimum oversight to 100% in-house program implementation.

•Cost of translation of educational materials.

Farm to School

Lessons Learned & Best Practices

•Cost of conventional vs ‘Good Food’ is equal.

(PDN $1,200.00/wk and Bistro Kids $1,200.00/wk)

•Cost is the addition of prep cook and some automated equipment (i.e. Robo Processor).

• Federal reimbursement for headstart is $4.94/child for breakfast, lunch, and snack.

•Federal reimbursement is not dependent on age in K-12.

•Essential to build partnerships with major food service to make system wide changes.

•KUMC Dr. Gibson’s focus groups measures what is working and not working and we can implement the change with quick turn around.