Sustainable Food Center is a longtime sponsor of the annual Food and Farm Leadership Conference, and has been involved in Farm to School programming since 2006 with the development of our Sprouting Healthy Kids program. SFC was pleased to announce the availability of Texas Farm to School Round Up Farmer Scholarships, which allow farmers currently involved, or planning to be involved, in Farm to School activities to attend the 2016 Farm and Food Leadership pre-conference food safety workshop and the two day conference.

The Food and Farm Leadership Conference is presented by the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, and will be held on September 25-27, 2016 at the Bastrop Convention & Exhibit Center in Bastrop, Texas.

As part of a USDA Farm to School Training Grant, in collaboration with Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and Texas Department of Agriculture, SFC issued four scholarships farmers. Texas producers who received the scholarships are Mrs. Linda Russell with Fannin Street Farms in Holland; Michael Mosley of Johnson's Backyard Garden in Austin; Mr. Dan Wickware of Wick's Locally Grown in Pittsburg; Mr. Danny Cuevas of the Brownsville Wellness Coalition and RC Family Farms in San Benito.

School food service can be an important sales outlet for small and mid-scale farmers. The changing food safety regulations and the unclear expectations are creating confusion among Farm to School stakeholders. This scholarship opportunity will help farmers gain an understanding of on-farm food safety rules and strategies. Beyond food safety, the scholarship covers farmers’ attendance in the entire conference, to participate in sessions covering financing, production and marketing, policy and advocacy, and more.

For more information about the On-Farm Food Safety for Produce Growers pre-conference workshop, check out the Program link on the Food and Farm Leadership Conference web page:

http://farmandranchfreedom.org/farm-food-leadership-conference/