Farm to School Workshop: Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask!
On Friday, March 5th, Oregon Rural Action will be hosting a workshop featuring a panel discussion with experienced Farm to School members (schools and growers) and the Oregon Department of Education. The day is divided into two portions, with the morning focused on opportunities and challenges for producers interested in selling to schools, and the afternoon on opportunities and challenges for schools and how schools and community members can work together on a Farm to School Program.
| What |
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|---|---|
| When |
Mar 05, 2010 from 09:00 am to 04:00 pm |
| Where | UBESD bldg, 10100 N McAlister Rd, La Grande, OR |
| Contact Name | Andi Sexton |
| Contact Phone | 541-975-2411 |
| Add event to calendar |
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Oregon Rural Action is organizing a free workshop on increasing the consumption of and education on locally produced agricultural goods in Union County schools. Producers of local foods, school administrators, food service personnel, teachers and, of course, involved parents or community members that want to help with the success of the first Farm to School program east of Bend are welcome to attend.
The workshop will take place Friday March 5th from 9 am to 4 pm in the Union Baker Educational Services building located at 10100 North McAlister Rd in La Grande.
A panel of Farm to School experts from around Oregon, including Joan Ottinger, the Oregon Department of Education Farm to School and School Garden Coordinator, will discuss the challenges that they have encountered in establishing Farm to School Programs in their communities and how they overcame those challenges. This discussion will be followed by a question and answer session.
The day is divided into two portions. The morning (9:00 am to noon) will focus on opportunities and challenges for producers interested in selling to schools, and the afternoon (1:00 pm to 4 pm) will focus on opportunities and challenges for schools and how schools and community members can work together on a Farm to School Program. Lunch will be provided for those interested in attending both sessions.
Who should attend?
Producers of local foods, school administrators, food service personnel, teachers and of course, involved parents or community members that want to help with the success of your school are welcome to attend the workshop.
If you are interested in attending, please contact Oregon Rural Action by March 1. To request more information or to RSVP for this event, please contact Andi Sexton, Oregon Rural Action Farm to School Coordinator, at 541-975-2411 or by email at andi@oregonrural.org.
Learn About:
Depending on the desire of the community and the school, a Farm to School program can include various ‘menu options’. By attending the workshop, producers will learn:
- How you can sell your products directly to local schools
- How producers from other parts of the state have overcome challenges in selling directly to schools
- What safety requirements are necessary in order to sell to a school
- What products schools are most interested in purchasing
- What types of processing will make your products more appealing to local schools
- How you can help local students become more connected with where their food comes from
Schools and involved parents and community members will learn about:
- Featuring local foods in lunch, breakfast or snacks – once a month, once a week, or daily
- Offering a local foods salad bar
- Helping plan nutritional school gardens and garden-based learning activities (in partnership with Union Baker ESD and OSU Extension)
- Organizing educational opportunities such as farm tours and farmers as teachers programs
- Including ‘tastings’ as part of a ‘Harvest of the Month’ feature
- Having a ‘Harvest of the Month’ that incorporates any of the above options, yet focuses on one local product at a time
What is Farm to School?
The National Farm to School Network sprouted from the desire to support community-based food systems, strengthen family farms, and improve student health by reducing childhood obesity. Farm to School brings healthy food from local farms to school children nationwide. In addition to supplying nourishing, locally grown and produced food in schools, Farm to School programs offer nutrition and agriculture education through taste tests, school gardens, composting programs, and ‘meet the farmer’ farm tours and in-school presentations. These experiences help children understand where their food comes from and how their food choices affect their bodies, environment and community.
Background
Through a collaborative effort with the U.C. Fit Kids Coalition, Oregon Rural Action has received first year funding from Meyer Memorial Trust for a three-year Farm to School Program tailored to Union County.
The concept of initiating a farm to school program within Union County evolved from an assessment that U.C. Fit Kids conducted of the food environment in the county’s eight elementary schools and the desire of many Oregon Rural Action members to help local producers develop a sustainable local market for their products.
U.C. Fit Kids is a dynamic collaborative project with a diversity of interests represented. The mission of the U.C. Fit Kids coalition is to improve children’s physical activity and eating habits by reducing barriers and increasing access to exercise and recreational opportunities, and to healthy foods. U.C. Fit Kids has identified several interventions to create a healthier school and community environment countywide and one of the interventions is a farm-to-school project that would link regional farms with school food service programs to provide fresh food in the school cafeterias and nutritional education opportunities for children.
