Extension > Family > Farm to School > Farm to School: Growing Our Future > Resources and Outreach
Resources and Outreach
We are compiling resources for various stakeholders in the Farm to School movement including communities, farmers, schools and policy makers.
Documentary Resources | Farm to School Reports | School Meals | Food Systems and Food Hubs
Documentary Resources
Find a Screening in your area or Host a Screening on your own
Lead a Discussion after the screening
Share Participant Resources with others — including FAQs, a glossary of terms, resource list and take action handout
Farm to School Real Stories — Learn about the USDA Michigan/Florida pilot to purchase more locally grown food with school commodity entitlements, SHIP partnerships that put systems in place to create healthier Minnesota communities, and much more!
Research — Review findings of research on Farm to School, local food systems, and learning gardens.
Farm to School Reports
USDA Farm to School Team 2010 Summary Report — United States Department of Agriculture
Report of the Humphrey School Farm-to-School Policy Fellows Work Group
Farm to School: An Overview of Policy and Training Opportunities in Minnesota
The Economic Impact of Farm-to-School Lunch Programs: A Central Minnesota Example — University of Minnesota Extension
The Impact of Seven Cents — EcoTrust — Examining the Effects of a $.07 per Meal Investment on Local Economic Development, Lunch Participation Rates, and Student Preferences for Fruits & Vegetables in Two Oregon School Districts.
Michigan 10 Cents a Meal Policy Recommendation Policy Brief — Michigan Good Food Charter — The Michigan Good Food Charter is a set of food and farm policy recommendations that point the way to better health, more jobs, and a stronger state economy. The Charter calls for 20 percent of Michigan food to come from Michigan farms by 2020, including food purchased by schools.
Delivering More: Scaling Up Farm to School Programs
School Meals
National School Lunch Program (NSLP) — A federal assistance meal program, providing schools with cash reimbursements and USDA foods from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In return, schools serve lunches that meet federal requirements and offer free or reduced price lunches to eligible children.
Cash reimbursements refer to the money USDA provides schools to help pay for the cost of school meals. Schools receive $2.77 for each free lunch served, $2.37 for a reduced-price lunch, and $0.26 for each full price lunch sold. In FY10, Minnesota schools received $127,878,336 in cash reimbursements for school lunch programs and $90,406,037 for other child nutrition programs.
USDA Foods (i.e. commodities or entitlements) are foods that the USDA provides to schools to use for breakfast and lunch programs. These foods typically make up 15-20% of each school lunch. Schools are entitled to receive 22.25 cents for each meal served. In FY10, Minnesota’s commodity costs were $18,588,564.
- USDA Commodity Foods in School Lunch – School Food FOCUS
Discover More:
School Food Basics — School Food 101, including funding, budgets and procurement.
Food Systems and Food Hubs
Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Compass — United States Department of Agriculture — Helping schools find and procure regionally produced food is a key component of the USDA Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food (KYF) initiative. The Compass is a new online multi-media resource that chronicles — through stories, pictures and video — USDA’s support for local and regional food systems. It includes an interactive map of USDA-supported local and regional food activities in all 50 states.
The Business of Local Foods — Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary, USDA
USDA Food Hub — Ag Marketing Service, United States Department of Agriculture — USDA defines a food hub as “a business or organization that is actively coordinating the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of source-identified locally or regionally grown food products from primarily small to mid-sized producers.”
Food Hub Center — National Good Food Network — A comprehensive website of reports, research, and resources — plus a map of US Food Hubs, funding sources, and recorded webinars.
Building Successful Food Hubs — Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), University of Illinois Business Innovation Services (BIS), Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) and FamilyFarmed.org. - A Business Planning Guide for Aggregating and Processing Local Food in Illinois
The Rising Cost of Food: What is our food future? — Food is important to everyone and the rising cost of food places new strains on individuals, families, and communities. This Issue Guide explores this complex issue by working with others to:
- Understand the issue better
- Look at multiple approaches and consider the benefits and consequences of each approach, as well as possible trade-offs
- Explore possible actions that might make a positive difference in the community
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