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October is National Farm to School Month!

October is National Farm to School Month, a time to celebrate connections happening all over the country between schools and local food!

Farm to school enriches the connection communities have with fresh, healthy food and local food producers by changing food purchasing and education practices at schools and preschools. Students gain access to healthy, local foods as well as education opportunities such as school gardens, cooking lessons and farm field trips.

Over the past decade, the farm to school movement has exploded across the United States, reaching millions of students in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Farm to school is an important tool in the fight against childhood obesity and food insecurity. In addition to improving child health, when schools buy local, they create new markets for local and regional farmers and contribute to vibrant communities, a win-win-win scenario!

SFC has worked with a variety of partners over the years to help empower schools to source foods locally from Texas farmers. SFC’s Farm to School Program offers schools the opportunity to host Meet the Farmer Visits in the classroom and Veggie Samplings in the cafeteria, and makes local food promotional materials available to food service staff. In the garden, SFC’s Grow Local program offers School Garden Classroom Training to help build capacity within schools so that teachers, staff, students, and the community can manage and utilize their gardens as an experiential and educational resource. In addition to this, we welcome schools to participate in paid and free field trips to SFC’s Teaching Garden.

Whether you are a food service professional, a farmer, a teacher or a food-loving family, there are plenty of ways to celebrate and get involved in National Farm to School Month! We’ve partnered with the National Farm to School Network to get Austin area schools involved this October in Farm to School activities. Please contact SFC’s Farm Direct Projects Manager, Evan Driscoll, if interested in more information – evan@sustainablefoodcenter.org