What is Farm to School?
The goal of farm to school is to improve student nutrition, educate children about where their food comes from and how it is grown and to create new markets for small and mid-size farmers to support local economies. Farm to school programs are viewed as an important tool to combat unhealthy eating, which contributes to obesity, poor health and underperformance in school.
The New Jersey Farm to School Network was founded in May, 2008 through a collaborative effort of over 30 groups and individuals across New Jersey. The group’s conference in April 2009 brought together over 200 people from the region to discuss what farm to school policies, local food purchasing for school lunch programs and model school gardens can do to improve the health of school children.
The organization is a tax exempt 501c3, currently working with other stakeholders in New Jersey, to be a resource for farm to school programs across the state and to collaborate with the National Farm to School Network partners across the nation.
How College Students Engage in Farm to School
-
SCHOOL GARDENS: Building, maintaining, teaching garden-based curriculum
-
FARM TO CAFETERIA PROGRAMS: Research on school lunch program procurement, free and reduced lunch rates, school district commodity enrollment, school lunch contracts
-
COMMUNITY GARDENS: Building, maintaining, teaching
-
EMERGENCY FEEDING OPERATIONS: FOOD DRIVES/GLEANING: One-off or sustained food and gleaning drives for emergency feeding sites.
- RESEARCH, DATA COLLECTION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE at non profit and state agencies whose missions are to promote wellness, improve access to nutritious food, increase nutritional educational opportunities to underserved populations and promote programs that improve childhood nutrition.
- COMMUNITY FOOD ASSESSMENT: Study of community access to grocery stores, farms and farmers markets, transportation and cost issues
How NJ Farm to School Supports Campus Involvement
- Refers campus or community inquiries to consultants, interested partners, and other resources, as available.
- Uses website and other networking tools to connect campus and school partners with on-going information sharing.
- Develop resources that:
- profile existing efforts (courses, projects, etc.)
- make research reports available
Priorities
- School Garden Programs are an integral part of successful farm to school programs.
- Many people involved with creating and teaching school garden curriculum attest to the fact that helping children understand where food comes from and getting them to eat more fruits and vegetables through positive peer pressure is key in improving the diets of school age children. School gardens can be something as inexpensive and simple as a garden box on a window sill, to a bed or “lasagne garden” sitting directly on a parking lot to a raised bed on school property.
-
Legislation and Policy
-
There are several non profits and state agencies which work to address hunger and to promote better nutrition. These entities often help create and advocate for improved policies in school lunch programs. The state agency in NJ that handles school lunch programs, procurement and commodity distribution to schools as well as emergency feeding operations in New Jersey is the NJ Department of Agriculture-Office of Food and Nutrition, Trenton. The NJ Department of Education is the fiduciary agent involved with paying for school lunch programs.
-
Increase Free and Reduced Lunch Participation
-
Often the same students whose families are eligible for Food Stamps are also eligible for "free and reduced" lunches. Increasing the access to and assistance with this registration process is a goal of the Farm to School Network in New Jersey. Currently, cutting New Jersey's school breakfast programs and funding for school lunch programs are being considered in the Governor's budget cuts. For more information about pending votes on NJ's feeding programs, visit the New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coalition.
School Garden Trainers and Educators in New Jersey
- Camden Children's Garden (Camden County)
- Contact Mike Devlin, 856 365-8733
- City Green (Passaic County)
- Contact: Jennifer Papa, 973 800-8197 or Amy Jolin, 973 962-4864
- Dorothy Mullen, (Mercer County)
- Contact: Dorothy Mullen, 609 683-8309
- Read Dorothy's article about school garden education, written in collaboration with Andrea Eberly, MD.
- Fernbrook Farms Education Center (Burlington County)
- Contact: Larry Kuser and Eric Tadlock, 609 298-4028
- Garden State Urban Farms (Hudson County)
- Contact: Lorraine Gibbons, 973 885-3894
- HealthBarn USA (Bergen County)
- Contact: Stacy Antine, 201 891-20
- Isles, Inc (Mercer County)
- Contact: Meredith Taylor, 609 341-4700
- Master Gardeners, Rutgers Cooperative Extension (statewide)
-
Contact: Nicholas Polanin, 908-526-6293
- New Jersey Agricultural Society (Mercer County)
- Suzanne MacCauley, 609 802-3938
- Rutgers Cooperative Extension (statewide)
- Department of Family and Community Health Sciences
- Contact Dr. Kathleen Morgan, 732 932-5000, Ext 604
- Rutgers Gardens (Middlesex County)
- Contact: Bruce Crawford, 732 932-8451
Farm to School Curriculum
- Acorn Naturalists Curriculum Materials
- 4-H: Food and Nutrition Program
- Life Lab: Garden Based Learning that Promotes a Sustainable Future
- Junior Master Gardener: Health and Nutrition from the Garden
- Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom
- University of California: Curriculum Resources
- Rethinking School Lunch: A Visual Guide Linking Food, Culture, Health and the Environment: Center for Ecoliteracy
- National Environmental Education Foundation
- How to Build a Lasagna Garden
- Green Education Foundation
- From Our Farms, Rutgers Cooperative Extension-Gloucester County
- Princeton University Community Based Learning Initiative Research