Farm to School Toolkit
Getting Started with Farm to School
Starting a Farm to School Program can seem like a daunting task. How are you going to get everyone involved? How can you make the case for a school putting resources into a new program? What are the benefits? Where do you start?
Starting big or small, you can create a Farm to School Program at your school. Below are questions to ask to get you started and information to utilize for a one-off event or for recurring events throughout the school year. Make sure to do your due diligence, gather a group of stakeholders from inside and outside the school and figure out what aspects of farm to school your school is capable of.
Create a Farm to School Team:
- Principal
- Teachers
- Food Service personnel
- Curriculum instructors
- Superintendent
- School Board members
- Custodial staff
- Health Teacher
- School Nurse
- Physical Education teachers
- Parents-PTA
- Outside volunteers, Master Gardeners
- Area businesses-in kind donations and funding
- Non-profits-grants
- Higher Education
- STUDENTS!!
New Jersey Department of Agriculture
USDA
The USDA Farm to School Planning Toolkit
National Farm to School Network
The Benefits of Farm to School
Sustainable New Jersey
Sustainable Jersey Certification
Campaign to Reduce School Food Waste
Food Recovery - Share Tables & Donation
Food Waste Recycling or Composting
Other Resources
Cornell University: Farm to School Outreach
Farm to School in the Northeast
Garden to Cafeteria a Step-by-Step Guide
Department of Agriculture
P.O. Box 330, Trenton, NJ 08625
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