What is Farm to School?
At its core, farm to school connects children to local food and farms. Farm to early care and education (ECE) – also called farm to preschool – has the same focus, but adapts materials and activities to serve children in pre-K, childcare centers, and family homes, instead of students in kindergarten through 12th grade. For consistency and ease of reading, we refer to all as “farm to school” throughout our website.
The Growing Minds program defines farm to school as giving children opportunities to learn about and have positive experiences with local food and farms in the classroom, cafeteria, and community. It includes one or more of the following core activities:
Why Farm to School?
Children who participate in farm to school activities learn about where food comes from, foster lifelong healthy eating habits, and build connections with their community. Farm to school offers an experiential, holistic approach to engaging children in many subjects, including math, science, literacy, art, nutrition, social emotional learning, cultural awareness, and more.
School gardens provide children sensory learning opportunities that promote curiosity about food, their culture, and the environment. Gardens can also be tools to teach a variety of subjects, as well as promote social emotional learning and cultural awareness.
Classroom cooking engages children of all ages with hands-on activities, demonstrations, and tastings of local products. Students are exposed to different foods and cooking methods, which helps build important life skills and their willingness to try new things.
Farm experiences, including field trips to farms and farmers markets as well as farmer visits to your classroom, spark curiosity in children through discovery of how food is grown, talking to farmers, and exploring agriculture in their own community.
Serving local food in meals or snacks provides students with fresh, healthy food and supports local farmers – a win-win for the community. Sourcing locally creates meaningful connections and supports a culture of healthy eating.