Farm to School

We support access to healthy food for the youngest members of our communities through farm to school initiatives. Farm to School programming is built upon three pillars: ag and nutrition education, school gardens, and procurement, or purchasing of locally produced foods for the cafeteria. Many schools in our region have added gardens or ag and nutrition education to their curriculum, and are interested in adding more local foods to their food service programs. 

Members of our team are engaged in all three pillars of farm to school work in our region, and are actively involved with the Indiana Grown for Schools Network.

Farm to School VCC Fellowship Program

Sponsored by the USDA and IDOH, and administered by the NWI Food Council, this initiative is an opportunity to become a Farm to School Fellow working to shape the future of farm to school programs in Indiana. As a F2S Fellow, you’ll have the opportunity to influence and be part of the movement towards a more sustainable, resilient, and thriving food system in Indiana.

The Farm to School VCC Fellow program will launch this fall and run for 6-9 months (actual length of time may depend on the capstone project selected). Members of the fellow cohort will be expected to attend 8 virtual meetings/modules, and complete a capstone project (such as a webinar) to support farm to school efforts. Fellows will have additional opportunities for professional development and field trips during the course of the program.

Local Foods for Schools

We’re excited to share that our organization was one of two within Indiana to be awarded a Local Food for Schools grant from the Indiana Department of Health. This grant is providing funds to purchase local products from Indiana farmers/producers (vegetables, fruits, meats/eggs, dairy, grains) to then distribute for FREE to qualifying schools within our NWI Region. Qualifying schools/districts must:

  1. Participate in the National School Lunch Program, and

  2. Have 50% or more students participating in Free and Reduced Lunch or are considered a CEP school/district.

Through the council’s Region Roots Local Farm and Food Hub we are thrilled to work with our area schools and districts to be able to provide FREE LOCAL FOOD. We would love to connect with you and learn more about how your food service program is operated and your needs and interests for this coming year. We are already working with local farmers through forward contracting to ensure that we have fresh, seasonal options available year-round. We’d love to hear from you!

Kind Words About Our Farm to School Programs

  • “Hey there, I know I am ready. We will be using you guys [Region Roots] all year long, got a charbroiler installed at the high school now.”

    — Nick Alessandri, River Forest School Corporation (New Chicago, IN)

  • “Now that I can celebrate properly, I wanted to thank you so much for your help while we were developing our grant proposal. I absolutely believe your advice is what made the difference for our application, and it made our overall project much stronger. I'm so very grateful for you and all that you do! I can't wait to get started and see where this project takes us!”

    — Laura Arico, Madison Consolidated School District (Indiana)

  • “Thank you so much for this program. The quality of the food is amazing.”

    — Elsa Valdez, Food Service East Chicago K-12 (East Chicago, IN)

  • “Veronica, this [newsletter] looks great! Way to go. Thanks for the work you do in your region and for spreading it across the state!”

    — Sophie Lindley, Indiana Department of Education

  • “Fantastic, Veronica. That is tremendous guidance. We appreciate you: thank you. Enjoy your weekend.” “We very much appreciate each of you, and we thank you for your continued leadership and guidance.”

    — Rose Fritzinger, Parkview Health (Indiana)

  • “I appreciate your support, Veronica! I'll look forward to the session. Hopefully we can reapply in the future.”

    — Lindsey Hill, MenuLogic K12

Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub

Through the Lake Michigan School Food Systems Innovation Hub (Innovation Hub), grants will be available in late 2023 across Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Northern Indiana to collaboratives of K-12 schools, food producers, suppliers, distributors, and their community partners (with priority given to under-resourced collaborators who have faced economic or social disadvantage) In the amount of approximately $10,000 - $100,000/year with the purpose of strengthening and adapting the local food system and marketplace to enable schools to serve their students culturally relevant, delicious foods that align with USDA meal pattern standards. More to come!

 

East Chicago Farm to School Program

Our future initiatives include:

The NWI Food Council (NWIFC) in partnership with Purdue Extension, New Venture Advisors, and the East Chicago community will work with the School City of East Chicago (SCEC) to develop an action plan for farm to school initiatives. This action plan will focus specifically on the two SCEC elementary schools of William McKinley and Benjamin Harrison. Input from community connections developed through these programs will be invaluable to the farm to school action planning process in order to achieve long-term project sustainability through community buy-in and ongoing support.