Farm to School Series
What Farm to School Means
Video 1 - Our first of five videos in our Farm to School series which focuses on, 'what it means to be a farm to school'? We talk with key partners, talk about the importance of farm to school in our cafeterias, and get you started on your journey to learn more.
Seasonality in the Cafeteria
Video 2 - It's hard to know what our farmers are offering, and if we can get it in the state, when are the products available. Our second video 'The Seasonality in the Cafeteria' takes you through the different offerings that farmers provide and what times of the year can you acquire them—some of them that are even available year round!
Kitchen Readiness in the Cafeteria
Video 3 - This video talks about how to get your kitchen and staff prepared to create more farm to school dishes to serve in our schools. We go through different tools that are useful in your kitchen to process these new foods, and how to prepare staff to share these great dishes with students.
Connecting with a Local Farm
Video 4 - Farmers can be hard to reach, and you're time is limited, so what's the best way to make these connections? Video #4 talks with farmers and school food service directors as they share the experiences they have in bringing farm to school to their operations.
Planning for Farm to School
Video 5 - There is so much work to be done around planning the implementation of Farm to School in your cafeterias. Planning makes it all possible, but everyone needs a little help along the way. Watch our final video in this series to start your planning for farm to school.
Farm to Early Childhood Education
Take a look at part of the wonderful work that has gone into getting food from local farms into our Early Childcare centers in Connecticut. This video feature local ECE centers that are currently sourcing local and bringing it into their learning.
Who Wants Local Food in Schools and Why?
Get an introduction to Farm to School by hearing from local farmers about why they participate and why it's so important! Farmers are excited to share their product with you and want to let you know why.
Farm to School Benefits Farms and Food Hubs
Kaitlyn Kimball from Sunset Farm talks about how selling to local schools has benefitted not only her and her husbands farm business, but also the local schools that she sells to. We'll also here from Renee Giroux from the NWCT Regional Food Hub who works with Kaitlyn and other farms to aggregate products to sell to schools as well.
Apple Crunch Challenge
In the fall, we love to CRUNCH! Check out this video created by the Connecticut Farm to School Collaborative featuring multiple organizations across the state as they show us how they crunch to encourage local food to be brought into schools, especially for CT Grown for CT Kids Week each October!
Teaching Farm to School in the Classroom
Emma Rotner of Groton Public Schools shares lesson ideas to help teach farm to school in the classroom. The webinar also reviews how to scale lessons up and down depending on grade level.
Building a Farm to School Program
Sherlene Rodriguez of the CT Farm to School Institute shares why it’s important to build a farm to school team, who should be included, how to get started, and examples of success.