Farm To School Home
Farm to School: More local fresh fruits and vegetables and other farm products that feed children in schools for meals and for snacks. Educational activities that help extend and strengthen the changes happening in the school cafeteria. Grades Pre-K through 12.
Farm to Cafeteria: Specifically the fresh foods part of Farm to School.
Farm to College: Similar to Farm to School, but for College level.
Farm to School Education: Those educational activities mentioned above that can include many associated disciplines such as nutrition and health, cooking, agriculture basics, cultural history, environmental studies, outdoor education and activities such as composting and recycling, farmers in the classroom, school gardens, and field trips to farms and other food system sites.
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Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Alliance for a Healthier Generation Release Book Showcasing Moms’ Creative Ways to Fight Childhood Obesity in Their Homes, Communities
Post Date: October 6, 2009
A new book featuring smart tips from moms on tough topics like cutting down screen time, getting your kids to eat more vegetables and increasing physical activity is available to any parent in the U.S. at low or no cost. The book is a product of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative between the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation. Susan Dell — healthy living advocate, co-founder of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and wife of tech legend Michael Dell — narrates the book. Be Well: Messages from Moms on Living Healthier Lives features the stories of 15 moms who are creatively finding ways to fight childhood obesity in their homes and communities.
Be Well is available free or at low cost online at www.BeWellBook.org, in English and Spanish versions, and through local schools and community centers around the nation. The aim of the book is to make it accessible to any parent who wants to start their children on a healthy path.
“Obesity crosses all socio-economic lines, but the moms featured in Be Well don’t have the resources that many other moms do,” said Susan Dell, co-founder and chairman of the board of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. “What they do possess is the creativity and determination to guide their children toward the healthiest lives possible and show us all that healthy living can be easy and inexpensive. I hope women across the country find a story in this book they can identify with and are inspired to jump-start healthy habits in their own homes, or even share their own personal story on the www.BeWellBook.org Web site.”
“We want to enable parents to take an active role in creating healthy lifestyles for their families, as it is an important piece of the puzzle in the fight against childhood obesity,” said Ginny Ehrlich, executive director of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. “It is our hope that the book will not only inspire families to create a healthier environment for their children at home, but that they will become active in creating healthy communities by joining the Alliance’s Healthy Schools Network.”
The foreword is written by Dr. William H. Dietz, M.D., PhD, Director, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The moms’ creative strategies in the book map to five levers Dr. Dietz attributes to preventing childhood obesity: 1) decreasing screen time, 2) decreasing high-energy density foods, 3) decreasing sugar-sweetened beverages, 4) increasing physical activity and 5) increasing fruits and vegetables.
A flavor of the moms and tips featured in Be Well: Messages from Moms on Living Healthier Lives:
–Debra in Harlem takes care of not only her own children, but also feeds upwards of 10 children on her own dime to ensure they have access to healthy food. She also finds creative serving techniques like “turkey hotdog necklaces” and “broccoli forests” to make healthy fare appealing to little ones.
–Ashley in Houston runs with her two young sons for at least 60 minutes each night to teach them the importance of physical activity and setting goals. Her eldest son’s grades and behavior improved since starting their nightly routine.
–Jamilia in Oakland had a family history of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. As a 26-year-old mother of four, she made great efforts to cut out fast food by involving her kids in planning the weekly menu and rides the bus 30 minutes each week to buy fresh produce at a farmer’s market.
–Andrea in Tucson recognized the need to improve her family’s habits but wanted to honor her Mexican heritage and ancestors with her cooking. She adapted her culture’s traditional recipes and makes them healthier without sacrificing taste. Instead of frying beans and meats, she uses a slow cooker. Resources Behind the Book
The book was developed by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. The Dell family foundation advocates the need for childhood obesity prevention strategies to intervene at all levels of a child’s environment, including at the individual level, within families, within schools, and in the community. The foundation’s Health Portfolio reflects the passion of book narrator, Susan Dell, the co-founder and chairman of the board and the driving force behind the foundation. An accomplished athlete, Susan was a member of the President’s Council for Physical Fitness and Sports and is a board member of the Cooper Institute in Dallas. In the U.S. she is specifically focused on encouraging kids to be more physically active and promoting healthy eating. Dell also has four children of her own.
To obtain a copy of the book, go to www.BeWellBook.org. Parents can also submit their personal stories or the story of someone they know–and help others develop lifelong, healthy habits. Stories submitted may be published on www.BeWellBook.org.
Topics: Education, Resources and Publications |
The Community Food Projects (CFP) Request for Applications for FY2010 is Out!
Post Date: September 24, 2009
The Community Food Projects (CFP) Competitive Grants Program is the major funding source for community-based food and agriculture projects in the U.S. The Fiscal Year 2010 Request for Applications (RFA) was released September 23, with a deadline of November 19. The CFP Request for Applications describes what is funded and how to apply: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/funding/rfas/community_food.html
There is no Letter of Intent process, so all applicants must submit a full proposal to be considered for funding. All proposals must be submitted electronically. If you plan to apply this year and are not already registered with grants.gov, it is important to start that process immediately, since it can take up to two months. More information and technical support contacts are available at: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/funding/electronic.html.
If you are interested in applying for the CFP grant and want some help figuring out if your project is a good candidate and/or need some help putting your proposal together, Farm to Table can help. Contact Ilana Blankman at ilana.blankman@gmail.com or 505-473-1004 x 12.
Topics: Uncategorized |
New Food Safety Report
Post Date: September 24, 2009
A new food safety report, “Bridging the GAPS: Strategies to Improve Produce Safety, Preserve Farm Diversity and Strengthen Local Food Systems,” was recently released by Food and Water Watch and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. This timely report shows how current government and industry protocols and regulations intended to promote food safety often have the opposite effect by placing unfair burdens on farmers, confusing consumers, damaging the environment, and hindering the growth of local food systems.
Topics: National News, Uncategorized |
USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative Launched Last Week
Post Date: September 24, 2009
The Department of Agriculture recently announced a new initiative, “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food,” (KYF2) led by Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan. According to the Department, this initiative “is the focus of a task force with representatives from agencies across USDA who will help better align the Department’s efforts to build stronger local and regional food systems.” This week alone, about $65 million in funding for KYF2 was announced. “Americans are more interested in food and agriculture than at any other time since most families left the farm,” said Merrigan. “‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ seeks to focus that conversation on supporting local and regional food systems to strengthen American agriculture by promoting sustainable agricultural practices and spurring economic opportunity in rural communities.”
Topics: National News |
Save the Date: NM Organic Farming Conference, February 19-20
Post Date: August 24, 2009
After a great conference in Las Cruces last year, the annual NM Organic Farming Conference will be headed back to Albuquerque in 2010. The conference program is being developed and lots of great speakers lined up, so mark you calendar and check back in a few months for conference details. For questions, contact Le Adams at ladams@cybermesa.com or (505) 473-1004 x10.
Topics: Farm To Table Conferences, Workshops, and Trainings |
Quivira Coalition Conference, November 4-6
Post Date: August 24, 2009
Join the Quivira Coalition for their bi-annual conference:
“Living Leopold: Land Ethic and a New Agrarianism”
held at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Albuquerque, NM
Wednesday to Friday, November 4-6, 2009
The event will include pre-conference workshops on Induced Meandering (a way to restore streambed channels) as well as Range School (this year’s focus is the harmony between livestock and wildlife). Conference topics will include land health, conservation, beauty, sustainable agriculture, restoration, and the land ethic.
For more information or to register online, go to www.quiviracoalition.org.
Topics: Farm To Table Conferences, Workshops, and Trainings |
Southwest Marketing Network 7th Annual Conference in Durango, April 6-8, 2009
Post Date: March 3, 2009
Southwest Marketing Network 7th Annual Conference in Durango, April 6-8, 2009
Registration Now Open!
We have a full schedule of workshops, networking meetings, and free time for informal networking with a focus on “good food networks.” See the February SWMN Newsletter for more on this exciting topic.
Click here to register online.
Click here to download the Conference Brochure and Registration Form.
If you wish a hardcopy mailed to you, contact Le Adams.
Topics: Farm To Table Conferences, Workshops, and Trainings |
Local Organic Food & Farming Can Help Revitalize the Economy
Post Date: February 12, 2009
Opportunity Knocks When it Comes to a Local Food Economy
By Olga Bonfiglio
Common Dreams, February 6, 200
Community-based agriculture has the potential for creating jobs, developing small business entrepreneurships and keeping precious dollars in the community.
“As manufacturing jobs decrease, food jobs are increasing,” said Dr. Kami Pothukuchi, associate professor of urban planning at Wayne State University in Detroit.
This is especially good news for a state like Michigan whose economic engine has been dependent on the declining automobile industry.
Out of a total GDP of $381 billion, agriculture is the state’s second largest industry pulling in $63.7 billion annually compared to $68.4 billion from manufacturing, according to the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
However, the present “industrialized food system” is made up of a handful of “mega-corporations” that control food production, processing, distribution and preparation, said Pothukuchi. Change to a community-based system is difficult because these corporations have a lot at stake in keeping the current system.
The U.S. industrialized food system was designed in the 1950s to increase production in order to provide the nation with cheap and plentiful food that was easily accessible. As a result, the United States became a top food producer in the world.
A variety of food-related jobs in processing, marketing and distribution also emerged even though the number of farmers declined. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Census (USDA) reported that farms increased in size averaging 155 acres in 1935, a peak year when the country had 6.8 million farms, compared to 2002 when farms averaged 441 acres and numbered 2.1 million farms.
It is important to remember that the industrialized food system was developed at a time when most American businesses were creating systems for mass production and economies of scale. Because volume is critical to the profitability of this system, farming methods developed to support a large-scale, energy-intensive monoculture that uses huge amounts of water and chemicals for herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizers. Tons of animal waste products also accumulate and pollute land, water and air because factory farming methods keep animals indoors and free of disease instead of allowing them to graze in pastures.
Actually, the cost of the industrialized food system outweighs its benefits. For example, most food in the industrialized system ends up in supermarkets after traveling an average 1,300 miles to get there. Fruits and vegetables may spend seven to fourteen days in transit. So freshness and taste are sacrificed for the products’ ability to travel.
Transporting products has been possible through cheap fuel. However, when oil reached over $100 a barrel last spring, the expense incurred over such long distances proved problematic. For example, world food prices averaged an increase of 43 percent over the past year, which inadvertently created a global food crisis that is causing political and economical instability and social unrest in both poor and developed nations.
Unseasonable droughts in grain-producing nations also affects high food prices just as falling stockpiles, the increased use of biofuels in developed countries and increasing demands for meat products in Asia’s middle class, according the BBC (May 2008).
The Consumer Price Index estimates that U.S. retail food prices increased in 2007 by only 4 percent, but this is the largest spike in 17 years-with more expected to come.
Industrial farming practices were developed when world population was only 2 billion. While these practices increased the carrying capacity of the earth then, they are slowly destroying the earth’s long-term carrying capacity for today’s population, which is 6.7 billion and climbing.
Over the past two decades as the industrialized food system has expanded to the global level, concerns over food safety have emerged, like the recent tainted food imports from China.
The industrialized food system has had a detrimental effect on the local economy, said Pothukuchi. Our food system should be a community-based system that revolves around small, polycultural farms that practice sustainable agriculture, preserve regional biodiversity and help build local economies. This is already being done in many ways.
First, local food networks like community gardens, food co-ops, Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA), farmers’ markets, and seed savers groups keep money in the community.
Second, as more people prefer organic food products, organic farming represents a profitable alternative for local economic growth and sustainable agriculture since organic farmers tend to sell to local markets (within 150 miles). More acreage is being dedicated to organic farming. From 1997 to 2005, the number of U.S. certified organic acres grew by 63 percent, while Michigan certified organic farmland increased by 166 percent.
In actuality, the number of industrialized farms converting to organic farming methods remains steady, but small. Michigan’s 45,500 certified organic acres comprise only 0.4 percent of the state’s total farmland and 1 percent of the total 4,000,000 certified organic acres in the country according to the Michigan Organic Farm and Food Alliance (MOFFA). But the potential for growth is there, especially when organic food processors/handlers are figured into the economic mix. The USDA reports that there were over 3,000 organic-certified facilities nationwide in 2004, with 41 percent of those located on the Pacific Coast and almost 800 in California alone.
Local organic food is admittedly more expensive than food from large, industrialized farms, however, organic advocates claim that prices in the industrialized food system are cheap because their true cost omits governmental price supports, direct payments or tax breaks and road infrastructure.
Third, colleges and universities across the country are looking for ways to support sustainable agriculture. One way they are doing it is by supplying their cafeterias with food grown by local farmers. These institutions teach students how to grow backyard and community gardens as well as food-related careers like urban farming. Pothukuchi started an urban gardening program at Wayne State, which is distinguished as the largest inner-city campus with a comprehensive food systems program that is not run by an agriculture school.
Some areas of the state are actively recruiting youth for community-based farming careers through hands-on learning situations. The 4-H Entrepreneurs Club in Kalkaska County has youth pick and buy produce at area farms in order to sell it at five different farmers markets. There are similar programs in Detroit and Monroe County.
Fourth, regions like Grand Traverse in the northwestern lower peninsula, are rebuilding their local economies through agriculture by forming partnerships among businesspeople, economic developers, schools, grocers, restaurateurs and food retailers, reported the Great Lakes Bulletin News Service. As these partnerships work to bring more food-related jobs to the area, they not only support local farmers but they also protect precious income-producing farmlands from being overtaken by urban sprawl.
The Michigan Land Use Institute (MLUI) speculates that the Grand Traverse region could stimulate more job growth and entrepreneurship by supporting its 2,229 farms through cooperative efforts like the Food and Farm Network. Moreover, a 2006 MLUI study found that farms could generate 1,889 new jobs across the state and $187 million in new personal income by selling more fresh produce locally.
Fifth, state programs can provide yet another opportunity for local economic development, like the MDA’s Agricultural Innovation Program. This competitive grant seeks to establish, retain, expand, attract or develop value-added processing and production operations in Michigan through innovative financing assistance to processors, agribusinesses, producers, local units of government and legislatively-authorized commodity boards in Michigan.
All these efforts for change, however, have barely dented the deeply-entrenched industrialized food system. Michigan residents, for example, spend $26 billion on food with only 10 percent from the state’s farmers, according to a 2001 MLUI study.
“Michigan has the second most diverse agriculture in the United States [with 150 crops],” said Pothukuchi. “We could add another $2.6 billion to the state’s economy if we increased production of local food by another 10 percent.”
Olga Bonfiglio is a professor at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and author of Heroes of a Different Stripe: How One Town Responded to t…. She has written for several national magazines on the subjects of social justice and religion. Her website is http://www.olgabonfiglio.com/. Contact her at olgabonfiglio AT yahoo DOT com.
Reprinted from the Organic Consumers Association website.
Topics: Health and Nutrition, National News, Partners & Other Links |
Let’s help the schools make better food choices for our kids
Post Date: February 11, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
By Denise Miller
Of the Journal
Mornings are hectic at my house. The kids are eating breakfast, coffee is brewing, my middle-school daughter is preparing her lunch, and I’m usually tripping over someone to make lunch for the boys.
My kids rarely buy lunch, so I am lucky enough to know most of what they will eat each day. Lunches aren’t fancy — lots of peanut butter, local raspberry jam, whole grain bread, sliced turkey, carrots, apples and dinner leftovers.
But in New Mexico, where 218,000 children are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, sending a brown bag isn’t always an option, according to the fiscal impact statement for the Senate bill SB107 seeking $1.44 million for more produce for school lunches.
The challenge for school food-service directors is to provide a balanced meal when, after expenses, they are left with $1 per meal, and 30 cents of that is spent on milk, according to the fiscal report on SB107.
New Mexico, like most other states, doesn’t spend a penny on school lunch, according to Mary Ann McCann, school nutrition coordinator for Taos Municipal Schools, and Corrine Lovato, retired state director of school nutrition. State budget allocations only assist with school breakfast.
In 2007, $85,000 was set aside under the Valley Cluster program to give 6,000 Albuquerque Public Schools students two more servings of fruits and vegetables — locally grown when available.
Eight school districts are serving New Mexico-grown produce to 165,000 children statewide, according to the fiscal impact report for a bill before the House of Representatives to fund an increase in the amount of state produce in schools.
The proposed program would more than double that existing fruit and vegetable provision.
Mind-numbing statistics about obesity in today’s youths and the related health risks of diabetes and heart disease are easy to find. More fruits and vegetables can help combat the potential health epidemic our country may face.
Worried about our cash-strapped economy? Remember the current economic costs of health care related to obesity and diabetes in New Mexico are estimated to be $324 million and $876 million, respectively, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Diabetes Association.
Rep. Rhonda King, D-Santa Fe, introduced HB386 seeking $3.3 million to buy New Mexico grown fruits and vegetables for school lunches. A second, similar House bill also has been introduced.
Sen. Pete Campos, D-Las Vegas, is sponsoring a similar bill, SB107, seeking $1.44 million.
An interim committee of Health and Human Services has designated the issue a priority. The New Mexico Department of Agriculture has supported farm-to-school programs for years.
We all know it’s going to be a tough year or two at the Legislature.
But when it comes to the health of our kids and our economy, perhaps the real question is whether we can afford not to fund the bill.
So here’s a recipe for a healthy school lunch:
~ One dedicated cadre of school food-service personnel;
~ One committed partner at the New Mexico Department of Agriculture;
~ One large helping of New Mexico farmers eager to have their produce consumed by school kids;
~ An informed, vocal public that tells legislators they want them to support the bills to add New Mexico produce to school lunches;
~ A passing vote on the bills at the Legislature and the governor’s signature.
We have most ingredients. With everyone’s support, we will have all of them. The value of this recipe is priceless.
Topics: Education, Health and Nutrition, Partners & Other Links, Regional News |
Albuquerque Journal Article: Growth Spurt
Post Date: February 3, 2009
ABQJOURNAL EDUCATION: Growth spurt
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Growth spurt
<!–COPYRIGHT:Copyright 2009 Albuquerque Journal–>
For the Journal
Blake Matheson loves pigs.
He also likes to sing and perform in school plays when he’s not helping out with the family’s cattle.
But his real passion is the National FFA — formerly the Future Farmers of America — and Matheson says you don’t have to be from a farming family to join.
“You don’t even have to work with animals if you’re a member of the association,” the 16-year-old Belen High junior said. Matheson is president of the Belen FFA chapter and vice president of the district that includes Los Lunas, Belen, Socorro and Truth or Consequences.
“It’s a real passion,” he said. “I really enjoy going to a place where there’s a wide range of members,” … from city dwellers “who have never had livestock in their lives” to students whose families have hundreds of cattle.
Matheson is one of 3,726 students in New Mexico who are members of the national organization, which offers agricultural education classes, career development and leadership skills.
New Mexico is predominantly a rural state, but most of the group’s membership comes from Belen, Los Lunas, Roswell, T or C, Tucumcari and Las Cruces, said Jerrod Smith, New Mexico’s FFA executive secretary.
“These are larger towns that have grown around agricultural centers and still have agriculture as a huge part of their local economy,” he said. “We currently don’t have any chapter in the Albuquerque Public Schools system — most of these chapters were dissolved in the ’80s because of budget cuts. We are trying to get programs in urban areas started up again.”
Smith said Rio Rancho’s Cleveland High School, slated to open next school year, is in the process of starting an agricultural education/FFA program, which he hopes will begin an “urban agricultural education trend.”
“As an agricultural education teacher, I had seen firsthand how the program can change the lives of students,” Smith said. “I had several students who didn’t have a place to belong, and the FFA became that place.”
It also helps students plan careers or “guides them to a college education with special scholarships for FFA members,” he said.
Opening an APS chapter also is the goal of Paul Moya, a 2006 Los Lunas High graduate who recently became national president — the first New Mexican to hold that position, according to FFA officials.
For Matheson, the biggest benefit was learning how to speak in front of an audience through FFA speech competitions and talks at 4-H events.
“I remember I used to tremble when I talked in front of people, but now I can talk in front of my class all day with no issue at all,” he said.
Topics: Education, Get Active, Partners & Other Links |
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