Ohio Farm to School News

Students at Carrollton Exempted Village School District growing lettuce with the Lettuce Grow Towers. WATCH: Chieri Kubota Talks Controlled Environment Plant Systems Welcome! Welcome to the January edition of the Ohio Farm to School Newsletter featuring Ohio Hydroponics! Hydroponic growing is a form of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) which focuses heavily on the manipulation of light, temperature, water, and nutrients to grow plants. The most common crops grown in controlled environments are lettuce, kale, spinach, herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and strawberries. The year-round accessibility of hydroponics provides engaging experiences for students, bringing agriculture education into the classroom and beyond. According to Chieri Kubota, professor of controlled environment agriculture in OSU’s Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, students with greenhouse related jobs are in high […]

Ohio State University Extension, Wood County celebrated the Great Apple Crunch by sharing how local apples are grown with preschoolers and families Meet your tour guide, Emmett and Doug Haslinger from Haslinger Orchards LLC in the below video!  

Over 280,000 Ohioans (including 213,000 K-12 students) celebrated National Farm to School Month in October by collectively purchasing and crunching Ohio grown apples for the Great Lakes Great Apple Crunch. Mrs. Jones Second Grade class at Dan Emmett Elementary continued the Crunch by tracking the apples the students ate throughout the month of October. Overall, the class ate 73 apples! Thanks to Tanner Cooper-Risser, Ohio State University Extension SNAP Ed Educator in Knox County for sharing this Apple Crunch class activity! See more Apple Crunch stories and examples on the Ohio Farm to School Facebook page HERE!

Join the Ohio Farm to School Advisory and State Network meetings to connect with statewide participating in Farm to School efforts throughout Ohio. All 2020 meetings are on Thursdays from 9:30 am–noon. Meetings will be held virtually until further notice. To register for the December 9th meeting, click here.

FY2022 Request for Applications (RFA) Now Available! The Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Farm to School Grant Program RFA is now available through www.Grants.gov. Be sure to visit the Grant Applicants Resources page to access other helpful resources, including links to webinars that provide specific assistance on applying for a Farm to School Grant. The solicitation officially opened October 22, 2021 and will remain open until 11:59pm ET on January 10, 2022. USDA expects to award approximately $12 million in competitive grants to eligible entities through the Farm to School Grant Program in FY 2022. Each grant helps implement farm to school programs that increase access to local food in Child Nutrition Program (CNP) meals, connect children with agriculture for better health, […]

It’s official! The 2021 Great Apple Crunch is scheduled for noon on Thursday, October 14, 2021. Join over 300,000 Ohio youth and adults in crunching to celebrate Ohio farmers, healthy kids, and strong communities this October. Participating in the Crunch is simple: buy, serve, and Crunch into locally grown apples! Since 2014, we have highlighted National Farm to School Month and our local farmers with MILLIONS of Crunches across the region. Register your Crunch to make it official, add to the Crunch count, get the scoop on purchasing and serving local apples, and receive the Crunch Guide and lesson plans. Everyone is invited to Crunch to reach our Midwest regional goal of 1 MILLION CRUNCHES in 2021! Noon on Thursday, October 14, 2021 […]

Congratulations to all eight Ohio recipients of the 2021 USDA Farm to School Grants! These are all such exciting projects that will advance buying, serving, and teaching about local foods in Ohio. Learn more about the grant awardees here.  

High School Environmental Science Take Home Kit Success Story  With many students learning virtually from their homes this school year, fun, engaging and hands-on projects can be hard to come by. Dublin Jerome Environmental Science teacher, Ashley Dulin-Smith filled this gap by giving her 50 high school students two educational garden projects to do at home.  To make these projects possible, Dulin-Smith gathered materials from donors and made an Amazon wish list that successfully drew requested packages to her doorstep, sometimes sent by strangers who had happened to see the wish list. With the help of these donations, her 50 high school students who have been engaged in hands-on learning throughout the winter! 1. Aquaponics Kits These easy to assemble […]

Assistance available to promote fruits, vegetables, flowers and nut crops in Ohio REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (March 1, 2021) – The Ohio Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications for the 2021 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. To qualify, the grants must be used to support projects that raise awareness about and increase demand for specialty crops grown in Ohio. Eligible specialty crops include fresh fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture. Successful grant applications should explain how projects will improve specialty crop production through marketing and promotions, research, and development, expanding availability and access to specialty crops, or addressing local, regional, and national challenges confronting specialty crop producers. Preference will be given to projects […]

Click HERE to see the 2020 Ohio Farm to School Highlights!