National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

Farmers as Educators: How to teach the next generation of eaters

Insert Name of Presenters

Peer Leadership Network

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

National Farm to School Network

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

Farm to School Peer Leadership Network

Goal: Strengthen farm to school training and technical assistance for stakeholders through peer learning.

• 20 Peer Leaders selected in 4 stakeholder groups:• Farmers• Child Nutrition Directors• Educators / Teachers• Early Child Education Providers

• 12 peer trainings developed and shared nationally• Peer leaders available to provide one-on-one assistance• The Peer Leadership Network is a project of the National Farm to

School Network• The project is supported by Newman’s Own Foundation

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

Presentation Outline• What is Farm to School?• Why Participate in Farm to School?• How to Add Value to Your Farm as an Educator• Farmers As Educators• Are You Ready?• Get Started

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

Farm to School: A Holistic Approach

SCHOOL GARDENS

LOCAL PROCUREMENT

EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION

FOOD & AG CURRICULUM

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

What is Farm to School? Farm to school is the practice

of sourcing local food for schools or preschools and providing agriculture, health and nutrition education opportunities to children, such as school gardens, farm field trips and cooking lessons. Farm to school improves the health of children and communities while supporting local and regional farmers.

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

How to Get Involved1. Sales of farm products to schools

- AND / OR -

2. Visits to schools for educational activities

3. Hosting student field trips to your farm

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

Benefits of Educational Activities• Boost community awareness of your farm• Raise awareness of local food system with students

and families• Increase demand for local products while cultivating the

next generation of eaters• Enhance farmer-to-consumer relationships• Reinforce healthy eating behaviors and knowledge of

nutrition and agriculture among students• Create new revenue streams on farm through

agritourism opportunities

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

Benefits of Educational Activities1. Provide valuable learning experiences that meet state

or national academic benchmarks 2. Help schools meet state or local requirements for

experiential, outdoor or environmental learning3. Share meaningful awareness of the value of agriculture4. Impart knowledge and farm life with students, especially

with urban students who have minimal access to farms5. Change student nutrition behaviors with lasting impact

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

How to Add Value through Education• Increase your competitiveness in the school

marketplace by adding value through education– Point of sale materials in the cafeteria provide education about local

food and farms– Informal school visits (cafeteria, tastings, etc.)– Classroom visits linked to educational component– On-farm field trips to extend learning experiences

• Whether or not you are selling to school, this is an opportunity to provide education

•  Align your activities to state or national standards– Farm knowledge is a natural tie in to school standards, especially

science and social studies

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

Which Educational Activities?At schools:• Participate in ‘taste tests’• Join cafeterias when your local product is

being served• Visit classrooms to talk about food &

farming• Contribute to school garden efforts• Host a farmers market, farm stand or CSA

pick-up• Write a column for the school newsletter• Donate or sell product for school

fundraiser

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

Which Educational Activities?On your farm:• Provide guided educational tours• Create ‘self-guided’ education tours and materials for

students, teachers and chaperones to use• Agritourism:

– Create a pumpkin patch, corn maze or U-pick– Host farm field trips where students practice math at

the farm store

Connect student experience to educational benchmarks

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

Roles for Farmer as Educators• Serve as “Informal Educator”• Share a memorable and

meaningful experience• Share your story, but remain

neutral regarding religious, political or controversial issues

• Connect the lesson and experience with schools standards and curriculum

• Demonstrate impact of student learning

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

Are You Ready? In schools:• Do you enjoy interacting with people, especially school

aged students?– Are you better suited for a school assembly or small

classroom visit?• Does your schedule allow time for this work?• What do you have to share with students? • Do you have printed marketing materials about your farm

that are easily shared with schools?

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

Are You Ready? On-farm education isn’t for everyone.• Are you willing to share your farm?• Are you prepared to operate as an agritourism business? • Do you have appropriate liability insurance that includes

having students on your farm?• Do you have capacity to add one more enterprise to the

list?

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

How to Do It• Make a local connection: talk to a teacher, food service

manager, school administrator or other school staff• Connect with a local non-profit acting as an intermediary

between farm and school. Who is their planner? What teachers do they work with? Who is your connection?

• Extension Nutrition Educators may be looking for opportunities to connect farming and healthy foods to students

• Understand what subjects are being taught in local schools and how to connect your farm to these topics

• What do you have to share? What are your strengths?

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

Additional Resources• National Farm to School Network

http://www.farmtoschool.org

• Growing Minds: Farm Field Tripshttp://growing-minds.org/farm-field-trips/

• Farm Based Education Networkhttp://www.farmbasededucation.org/

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

www.farmtoschool.org

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

National Farm to Cafeteria Conference

April 15-18, 2014 in Austin, Texas

www.farmtocafeteriaconference.org

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

October is National Farm to School Month

More information at www.farmtoschoolmonth.org

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

Evaluation and Future Assistance

• Complete the training evaluation form• Future one-on-one training

National Farm to School Network - Nourishing Kids and Communities

Thank You!

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