Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the growing a farm to school…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the growing a farm to school education program to build student engagement and increase access to local produce within schools and communities project targets 8,354 k-5 students within six rural and two urban school districts in broome and tioga counties. The goals will be to 1) increase access to fresh produce by building capacity for garden, nutrition, and food education 2) increase leadership skill development and interest in agricultural and food science careers by engaging students in hands-on experiential learning opportunities and 3) establish a learning community within and between partnering school districts in order to positively impact the schools' curricular, physical, and service-learning environments. These goals will be met through strategic planning amongst collaborative partners and school districts, professional development opportunities, and educational support from new york state and broome county agriculture in the classroom educators, americorps members, and university public health students. Outcomes include employing a farm to school educator to lead project implementation; establishing eight school garden programs and farm to school committees with individual district action plans; increasing the use of student-grown produce on school lunch menus, taste tests, and school-operated food pantries; implementing garden-based educational experiences and agriculture education for elementary students; providing three professional development trainings for school garden leaders; and offering learning opportunities to engage community stakeholders. Thus, the project will work to expand capacity for experiential and agriculture-based learning opportunities for students while supporting student health in underserved communities by increasing access to fruits and vegetables through the use of student-grown produce.