Throughout the City of Columbus, elementary age students are looking through mini magnifying glasses, eagerly watching sprouts grow, right in their own homes. This creative, hands-on learning approach has been taken by Ohio’s largest school district, Columbus City Schools (CCS), to keep students actively engaged this school year. As part of the district’s Farm to School initiative, CCS created and delivered 1,500 garden take home kits, all aligned with lesson plans. This project was led by CCS Farm to School Coordinator, Christine Weatherholtz. The kits include garden and science tools suggested by teachers, for the students to use with the lessons provided. There are 75 CCS elementary schools and 44 with gardens. Weatherholtz recognizes that each of the 44 schools […]
Ohio Success Stories
GREAT Apple Crunch Virtual Events 2020
We are SO excited to share these interactive and fun Apple Crunch Experiences to celebrate National Farm to School Month! Here is the link to the Facebook live Virtual Crunch Day Event! This 15-minute virtual Crunch is hosted at Quarry Hill Orchards, where Farmers Ben and Brooke answer most asked apple questions in the orchard! Crunchers will learn where apples are grown, how they grow, and how they to their plates! Here is the link to an Apple Crunch event from SNAP-Ed Program Assistants in Wood, Seneca, Ottawa, Lucas, and Sandusky counties! This interactive Apple Crunch event includes apple facts, jokes, physical activity (picking apples in an orchard), reading Apple Farmer Annie and of course, a big CRUNCH! Now that […]
Growing Food Justice
An online talk show hosted by Whitney Gherman and featuring agriculturalists from around Ohio. Join for honest talk and healthy food access solutions featuring: -Brittany Jones | Urban Agriculture Alliance of Lucas County -Sophia Buggs | Lady Buggs Farm -Sediah Hamzah | Meals Made Easy -Walter Bonham, Justin Ocheltree | NECIC -Shawn Jackson | Mayes Temple While it is essential to address food security and food access, that work alone does not address systematic racism that permeates America’s food system. Driving Indigenous people off their land, enslaving Africans, the legacy of redlining, the plight of farm workers, and even more recently, racial discrimination against African American farmers in its allocation of farm loans and assistance, has caused Majority Melonated People to […]
Ohio State Students Create School Garden Outreach Program
Ohio State Students Create School Garden Outreach Program Across degree program at Ohio State, students want to help people improve their health and improve their lives. Ohio State medical students Ryan Poland, Brandon Rodgers, and Nicole Hurwitz will provide health care to treat patients’ illnesses. However, they are even more interested in preventing illnesses from arising before individuals need to visit a doctor. To this end, these dedicated medical students organized the Ohio State School Garden Outreach and Engagement group to help implement and maintain school gardens within the Columbus City Schools (CCS) district. “In our day, we see people being treated in the hospital instead of …starting with a good foundation. What you eat and what you do at […]
Head Start Great Apple Crunch
Great Lakes Great Apple Crunch 2019 What is Farm to School? Has your program ever grown a plant, served local food or taught about nutrition or agriculture? If so, you have participated in Farm to School efforts. If you haven’t participated in Farm to School activities, get started with the Great Lakes Great Apple Crunch! The Great Lakes states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio celebrate National Farm to School Month ➚, nutritious meals and local farmers by crunching into locally and regionally grown apples at NOON on Thursday, October 10, 2019. Although we aim for a collective Crunch heard ‘round the region on October 10 at noon, you are welcome to Crunch any day or time in […]
2020 Meeting Dates
Ohio Farm to School State Network and Advisory 2020 Meeting Dates: March 5, June 4, September 3, December 3 Join the Ohio Farm to School Advisory and State Network meetings to connect with organizations, state agencies, and schools participating in Farm to School efforts throughout Ohio. All 2020 meetings are on Thursdays from 9:30 am–noon with a networking lunch from noon–1 pm. Meetings will be held at the Franklin County Extension building at 2548 Carmack Rd, Columbus, OH 43210. If you plan to attend the June 4 meeting, please register here.
Farm Fare Produce Vendor
Farm Fare was created when the three co-founders approached the same problem, but through three different lenses. Laura Adiletta, a former chef and food writer, aimed to improve ability for restaurants and food service kitchens to order superior quality product from local growers. Cullen Naumoff, wanted to get off the road and move freight more efficiently. And, Dan Conway, co-founder of Great Lakes Brewing Company, knew there was an better way to be stewards of the land. These lenses revealed a need for a new way of doing business and utilizing existing and often underutilized resources in the regional food system. Farm Fare reimagines the local food supply chain by equipping economies of collaboration to compete with the economies of […]
Seminary Hill Farm
An Ohio seminary is offering hands on training to its students on growing food. They are focused on being both a place of learning and a place to gather and celebrate fresh, local food. The Methodist Theological School in Ohio (MTSO) near Delaware founded Seminary Hill Farm (SHF) in 2013. They began raising food for their dining service in the spring of 2014. Tadd Petersen the manager of Farm and Food at SHF said, “We have raised far too many different crops to list them all. This season we raised roughly 30 different crops at around 80 different varieties. Baby greens are our specialty (and our most profitable crop).” They provided $26,000 worth of produce to the school’s dining hall […]
Bexley City Schools Enjoys Harvest of the Month
Pictured: Kristin Peters, Franklin Co. Public Health, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, and Juli Carvi director of food services at Bexley City Schools “School food does not have to be great, it just needs to be good,” explained Juli Carvi, the director of food services at Bexley City Schools. She thinks she has the best job in the school, because it is rewarding for her to make kids happy (with lunch) and she does not have to worry about giving them grades. “I have found zero resistance while implementing a Farm to School program in my district. The hardest part is the leg work and going after the Ohio products. It takes extra work for me to go after the products, but […]
Who Grew Your Food?
Is the question Yellowbird Foodshed promotes on their delivery trucks. Yellowbird Foodshed of Mount Vernon has connected local farmers and small food companies with its more than 900 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members in the Columbus area. They have also provided produce to central Ohio school and college cafeterias. Benji Ballmer founder of Yellowbird said, “The Ohio Days: My State, My Plate monthly Farm to School promotion taking place in central Ohio is a stepping stone to increasing local food sales. Many schools want to do more with local foods. However, it is a hassle for them to coordinate buying the food directly from the farmer therefore, we can step in. We are not trying to infringe upon that farmer […]
