Wisconsin Farm to School: New initiatives and a common vision Wisconsin Local Food Summit 1.14.16

Where have we been?

Wisconsin Act 293 “Farm to School” connects schools with local and regional farms to provide children with fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and other nutritious, locally produced foods in school breakfasts, lunches, and snacks; helps children develop healthy eating habits; provides nutritional and agricultural education; and improves farmers’ incomes and direct access to markets. Sarah

More than 55% of the school districts in WI are engaged in farm to school activities. TOP FIVE PRODUCTS Apples Tomatoes Potatoes Peppers Lettuce Growing movement

and documented past achievements

Last year presented new structure

Where are we now?

WI Farm to Institution Procurement Strategy A new project that aligns the institutional demand and local supply of five target products...

What will we gain from this project? DATA -- supply and demand data including price, volume, specific uses, etc. RESEARCH -- can we align the demand with the supply to create an optimal environment where institutions can afford the products and farmers are being paid a fair price? SUPPLY CHAIN DEVELOPMENT -- new product development, better alignment of local products with institutional specifications, connections to new WI producers and processors COMBINED PURCHASING POWER -- schools will work with hospitals, universities, etc. to take advantage of their combined purchasing power THE LOCAL CHOICE BECOMES THE EASY CHOICE -- WI options available through traditional distribution systems

How can YOU participate? Attend the kick-off meeting at the Midwest Food Service Expo, Milwaukee, March 8, 2016 Join the peer-to-peer network of participating school districts to learn more about purchasing local foods (more details will be announced soon) Sign up to participate in the project Commit to purchasing the target local products Attend a training and/or webinar to increase your knowledge of using local products provide feedback and/or data to improve the project

Gardens

Cultivate Health Initiative Funded by UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health from the Wisconsin Partnership Program Develop 5 regional hubs to continue youth garden training and technical assistance Over 5 years, 2,000 educators will be trained to provide garden-based education to over 90,000 Wisconsin children

Farm to School Resources to Keep Us Moving Forward

WI F2S Resources Develop resources beneficial to all F2S (and F2ECE and farm to institution) partners. Local and statewide partnerships Share your needs with us! WI F2S Newsletter (DATCP) Wisconsin School Garden Initiative Newsletter Healthy Food Marketing Guide & Assessment Toolkits DPI (Farm to School / Farm to Early Care & Education)

Wisconsin Farm to School Toolkits www.cias.wisc.edu/toolkits

Chop! Chop! Video Series FREE online training videos Enable food service staff use more WI-grown fruits, vegetables & whole grains via culinary skills These training videos are a joint project of CESA Nutrition Purchasing, the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems and Team Nutrition of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Watch videos on 6 different topics Dark Leafy Green Salads Cabbage, Broccoli and Cauliflower Slaw Roasted Root Vegetables Pureed Winter Squash Tomato and Pepper Ratatouille Whole Grain Pizza Dough and Blueberry Oat Muffins These videos will help you: Increase your knowledge of and familiarity with culinary skills needed for cooking with fresh produce and whole grains Support Wisconsin farmers and businesses by purchasing and using Wisconsin-grown products Increase your students’ consumption of Wisconsin-grown fruits and vegetables Incorporate new recipes that meet the USDA Meal pattern requirements, including red/orange and dark green vegetable subgroups Receive training that counts toward the USDA’s Professional Standards annual training requirements Each video includes: An introduction to a Wisconsin-grown specialty crop, family of crops or whole grain Basic culinary preparation techniques such as hand chopping, pureeing or freezing Creative menu incorporation ideas to get Wisconsin-grown fruits and vegetables onto the service line and salad bar School nutrition requirements met by the featured fruit or vegetables Appropriate use of “cosmetically imperfect seconds” Short interviews between farmers and Child Nutrition Director who make farm to school happen! http://www.cias.wisc.edu/chopchop/

2016 National Farm to Cafeteria Conference June 2-4, 2016 - Madison, Wisconsin Featuring local field trips and a WI focused plenary session farmtocafeteriaconference.com The National Farm to Cafeteria Conference is a biennial event that convenes a diverse group of stakeholders from across the farm to cafeteria movement who are working to source local food for institutional cafeterias and foster a culture of food and agricultural literacy across America. The conference is hosted by the National Farm to School Network, in partnership with a local host organization. The term “farm to cafeteria” encompasses all efforts to bring healthy, locally sourced food and nutrition and agriculture education opportunities to institutional cafeteria settings. This includes but is not limited to public and private preschools/early care settings, K-12 schools, colleges/universities, hospitals and prisons. The conference is designed to appeal to beginners and veterans of the movement alike, and attendees come from across the nation and Canada, and from a variety of diverse backgrounds. More information about the 2016 Farm to Cafeteria Conference coming soon. Images: http://goo.gl/JxPizJ

Where are we going? Promote children’s health by providing fresh, healthy and minimally-processed foods in schools and supporting the development of healthy eating habits Strengthen children’s and communities’ knowledge about, and attitudes toward agriculture, food, nutrition, and the environment. Strengthen local economies by expanding markets for Wisconsin’s agricultural producers and food entrepreneurs

Where are we going? Group Discussion It’s 2020. Where is your farm to school program? What resources need to be in place for you to get there? How can we help you access them?

WI Farm to School Steering Committee Sarah Elliott Local Food Economic Development Consultant WI Farm to School Program Manager WI Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection sarah.elliott@wisconsin.gov 608-224-5046 Vanessa Herald Farm to School Outreach Specialist Great Lakes Regional Lead for the National Farm to School Network Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems UW-Madison vherald@wisc.edu 608-263-6064 Beth Hanna Training and Outreach Specialist Wisconsin School Garden Initiative Community GroundWorks beth@communitygroundworks.org 608-310-8844 Allison Pfaff Nutrition Program Consultant WI Department of Public Instruction - School Nutrition Team allison.pfaff@dpi.wi.gov 608-267-1066 Our future goal is to create a hub for all farm to school resources on a neutral domain of http://wifarmtoschool.org.