Up Next For Farm to Early Care...
- CT Grown for CT Grown Week!
- Stay tuned for how you can get involved for 2025 CT Grown for CT Kids Week --> October 6th- 10th! It is never too early to think about legislator visits, farmer visits, what recipes you want to feature and how you will communicate to your community you farm to early care celebrations.
- CT Grown for CT Kids Grant
- Significant funding for Farm to Early Care projects is available! Please stay tuned for 2025 application dates and information.
- Farm to Early Care Survey Results
- In 2024 Connecticut Department of Public Health and UConn Extension have conducted a survey to learn how early care and education (ECE) providers are providing food for snacks and meals for children under their care, with specific interest in local farm fresh products served. We will post a link to the full report when it is finalized.
Growing Healthy Futures for All Children
Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) incorporates the three core elements of local procurement, gardens, and food and Agriculture education to advance health and wellbeing, engages families and communities, and enhances the quality of the ECE setting. For a helpful Infographic of this work, see the 2018 National Farm to Early Care and Education Survey
Looking to get started with Farm to ECE?
The National Farm to School Network and the Connecticut Department of Public Health have put together your to go guides for starting your Farm to ECE program. Download the documents below to help you in your Farm to ECE journey.
Farm to Early Childhood in New England (FINE)
FINE is excited to announce the publication of Farm to Early Childhood in New England: an Ecosystem Assessment. This illustrated and interactive overview of the farm to early childhood space across the six New England states was designed to help regional interest holders better understand the early childhood sector and to identify the key opportunities for expanding farm to early childhood activity across the six New England states. This assessment is part of the Northeast Farm to Early Childhood Project, a collaborative effort of Farm to Institution New England and the Northeast Farm to School Collaborative.
Go NAPSACC
Farm to ECE- visit their website
Their Best Practices include:
- Local Foods Provided
- Gardening
- Education & Professional Development
- Policy
"Connecting a farmer to the child care centers has been an amazing experience for the children, parents and center staff. The children so enjoy visiting the farmers market to pick up their weekly food order, but the real excitement comes when they get to unpack the produce box and discover what's inside. Adding Farm to ECE has opened up a whloe new world of science and nature exploration for the children and I am thrilled to be able to assist the directors, teachers and chefs as they expand their classroom nutrition education to include Farm to ECE-"
Patty, Early Childhood Health and Wellness Specialist, Randolph County