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Farm to School
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 early care and education settings.
Our Vision
Our vision is to achieve a regionally coordinated farm to school program for all schools the includes:
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maximizing local food procured and distributed by school meal programs
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extensive brand awareness of farm to school and its impact on learning, health, and farm economies in our region
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universal classroom exposure of students to agriculture and nutrition literacy education.
Our Projects
In July 2019, the Greater Cincinnati Regional Food Policy Council (GCRFPC) was awarded a USDA Farm to School Planning Grant to develop the regional coordination and infrastructure to help K-12 schools enhance their farm to school programs and advance their goals.
The partner school districts on the grant included:
Campbell County Schools
Cincinnati Public Schools
Mt. Healthy City School District
Little Miami Schools
West Clermont Local School District
The Greater Cincinnati Regional Farm to School Action Plan, Regional Farm to School Resource Database for Educators, and Local Food Procurement in Greater Cincinnati: Barriers and Solutions for K-12 Schools research report were created as a result of the planning grant activities.
Join Us!
Join Us!
Greater Cincinnati Regional Farm to School Action Plan
This Action Plan provides details on key regional team members and partners, goals, context, opportunities, and action steps identified for the cafeteria, classroom and community components of farm to school programming within our region.
Feed Our Future Regional Pilot Program
Inspire young minds to make mindful choices about what they eat. Feed Our Future promotes healthy, local foods for Greater Cincinnati students & schools through community partnerships and fun, educational resources.
With support from the USDA, Feed Our Future has launched in the Greater Cincinnati region to encourage healthy food choices at home and in schools.
We need your help! Contact Anne Schneider to get involved.
Enhancing School Gardens
To enhance Farm to School (F2S) educators’ capacity and invest in school gardens, the Food Policy Council is connecting with teachers and educators to develop shared measures of the educational impacts of F2S related programming, including school gardens, agriculture education, and nutrition/cooking education.
Project Goals:
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Invest resources in building school gardens in our region and bring together school gardens and agriculture educators to share knowledge and experience (2 years).
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Build a social network of garden and agriculture educators who can support each other and collectively show the value and impact of their work (5 years).
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Increase consumption of nutritious foods by school aged children and their families (10 years).
Local Food Procurement in Greater Cincinnati: Barriers and Solutions for
K-12 Schools (March 2020)
This brief report outlines barriers to local food procurement among K-12 schools in the Greater Cincinnati region, as well as solutions that have been proposed or successfully implemented. The information for this report was gathered through partner schools’ baseline F2S reports to the USDA in FA 2019, the GCRFPC’s F2S planning team meetings and experience with F2S procurement, and data from the GU LFPP Food Hub Project, and conversations with other OH F2S Network members, and on-line research into other F2S programs.
Resources
Regional Farm to School Resource Database for Educators (July 2020)
Learn about farm to school community resources for educators within the Greater Cincinnati region, including a brief description of programs and resources offered and a link to the resource’s webpage for more information.
