Health and Nutrition Services

The Arizona Department of Education, Health and Nutrition Services Division sponsors the Arizona Farm to School Network as a project of the agency with goals that align with USDA Child Nutrition Programs.

Vision: The Arizona Farm to School Network, envisions an Arizona food system in support of schools, producers and industry partners (distributors and processors) that work to engage children in healthy eating and connections made to where food comes from.

In March 2019, the Network’s Leadership team was formed of self-nominated agencies and organizations with statewide focus and/or influence that are key to the success of farm to school in Arizona.

On August 21, 2019, The Arizona Farm to School Network invited members of the education, health and agriculture community to join the Network membership. Network membership will consist of stakeholders and supportive community members that want to participate in Arizona’s farm to school movement. This may include: producers, industry support partners (distributors and processors), community partners, foodservice professionals, teachers, parents, and Administrators.

• Review the 2020 Arizona Farm to School Network Work Plan – Coming soon!
• Review the archived membership launch webinar here
• Contact us at: [email protected]

USDA Guidance

• USDA Geographic Preference Fact Sheet
• USDA Procuring Local Foods for Child Nutrition Programs
• USDA Online Procurement Training
• USDA Local Foods Decision Tree

State Guidance

• Arizona Attorney General Procurement Opinion Memo

Other Guidance

• School Food FOCUS GP Primer
• School Food FOCUS Procurement Partners
• WSDA Procurement Guide

Resources

• School Garden FAQ
• Farm to School Expenses Memo
• FoodCorpsAZ

Popular Publications

• Collective School Garden Network
• UA Extension Garden Publications
• ESSA and Farm to School Toolkit

School Garden Statistics

• Arizona School Garden Report 2018 -COMING SOON!
• School Garden Map via Good Food Finder

Safe Practices in the Garden

• Online UA Extension School Garden Training
• ADHS School Garden Certificate Program
• ADE Food Safety in School Gardens Memo

Arizona Department of Education has many partners in the education of both nutrition and agriculture. Below is a list of those partner organizations and links to the websites that house their specific areas of expertise.

Arizona Nutrition Network is housed out of the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) and is a product of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that works in eligible schools to assist in their development of specific strategies used to address school health, active living and nutrition education.

The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension’s Agricultural Literacy Program provides K-12 educators with professional development for improving students’ knowledge which ensures an agriculturally literate society, one that understands and can communicate the source and value of agriculture as it affects our quality of life. Their Summer Agricultural Institute is a five day tour designed to teach K-12 teachers about the food and fiber grown in Arizona. Participants visit a variety of agricultural operations, spend an entire day at the University of Arizona’s research farm, visit schools with active agriculture education programs, and spend one night with a family on a modern-day working farm or ranch. Teachers are provided with free classroom materials that are aligned to Arizona Academic Standards throughout the tour.

Arizona Farm Bureau’s Agriculture in the Classroom develops and implements curriculum and programs, aligned to state learning standards to help students and teachers be successful, while increasing agricultural awareness in K-6 classrooms and beyond.

Arizona Beef Council is a not-for-profit organization created by the State of Arizona. The Arizona Beef Council provides in-state programs that focus on education, nutrition, retail, and food service promotion of the beef industry.

Dairy Council of Arizona is a not-for-profit nutrition education and communication organization working on behalf of Arizona dairy farm families to highlight the benefits of dairy as an important part of a healthy, balanced diet. Dairy Council provides free nutrition education materials and curriculum, along with Fuel Up to Play60, the premiere school wellness program in the country.

Harvest of the Season
The Harvest of the Season Program is a marketing campaign designed to encourage school foodservices to purchase and promote the Arizona grown vegetables and fruits offered at meal service. Purchasing locally grown items, when available, is used to increase student acceptability of various vegetables and fruits offered at meal time.

Program Objectives:

1. Increase exposure of vegetable subgroups that meet meal pattern requirements
2. Increasing consumption and acceptability of vegetable subgroups
3. Increase awareness of Arizona seasonality

Where to Buy Local

• Arizona Farm Bureau’s Fill Your Plate Online Directory of Arizona’s Farm Families
• Local First Arizona’s Good Food Finder AZ Online Directory of Arizona’s Farm Families and Locally Owned and operated Businesses
• Arizona Department of Agriculture publishes their Specialty Crop Guide; a resource of Arizona agriculture.

National Farm to School Network

Farm to school enriches the connection communities have with fresh, healthy food and local food producers by changing food purchasing and education practices at schools and early care and education settings. For more information visit www.farmtoschool.org

USDA’s Community Food System Programs

USDA’s Farm to School Program is housed in the Food and Nutrition Service’s Office of Community Food Systems (OCFS). OCFS helps child nutrition program operators incorporate local foods in the National School Lunch Program and its associated programs, as well as the Summer Food Service Program and Child and Adult Care Food Program. In addition, OCFS staff works with tribal communities to respond to their desire to better incorporate traditional foods into our meal programs. OCFS accomplishes this through grant making, training and technical assistance and research.

USDA Farm to School Grant Program

In this funding cycle USDA anticipates awarding approximately $5 million in grant funding to support efforts that improve access to local foods in schools. Grant funds are made available on a competitive basis, subject to availability of federal funds.

Statistics

• USDA Farm to School Census In order to establish realistic goals with regard to increasing the availability of local foods in schools, in 2013, USDA conducted the first nationwide Farm to School Census (the Census). In 2015, USDA conducted a second Farm to School Census to measure progress towards reaching this goal.

The Farm Fresh Challenge is an initiative of the Health and Nutrition Services Division with the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). The Challenge encourages food service professionals to serve three locally sourced meal components, offer two enrichment activities about nutrition or agriculture education and share at least one social media post using the hashtags #FarmFreshAZ, #AZF2S or #FarmtoSchoolMonth.

In preparation for National Farm to School Month this October, School Food Authorities are encouraged to review the July 31st webinar for the Farm Fresh Challenge to the National School Lunch Program.

• 2019 Farm Fresh Challenge Toolkit
• Arizona’s Specialty Crop Guide
• Farm Fresh Challenge Planning Tool
• Review the webinar from July 31, 2019 (recorded webinar and slides)

National Farm to School Month
October is National Farm to School Month this October and twelve School Districts have registered for the Farm Fresh Challenge! The Challenge is designed to be a simple first step in building your farm to school program. New this year is the tiered “Taste Arizona” challenge, encouraging School Food Authorities to grow in their buy-local efforts. Congratulations and happy celebrations to:

• J.O. Combs Unified School District
• Balsz School District
• Isaac School District
• Madison School District
• Cartwright School District
• Concordia Charter School, Inc.
• Littleton Elementary School District
• Nazlini Community School, Inc.
• Litchfield Elementary School District
• Deer Valley Unified School District
• Tempe Elementary School District
• Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community Schools

Farm to preschool is an exciting program for children 0-5 focusing on healthy eating habits. Examples of farm to preschool activities include farm visits, school gardening, local food taste tests, taste education, local food preparation and cooking education, parent education on access to local foods, and serving locally grown foods during snacks and meals.

Benefits include:

• Investing in Arizona’s local ranchers and farmers thereby supporting the local economy
• Helping meet the nutrition requirements of federal child nutrition programs by providing access to fresh and healthy food
• Supporting education initiatives by providing innovative learning opportunities in and outside of the classroom

Statistics

• 2015 National Farm to School Network ECE Results
• Request only– Arizona Farm to Preschool Report 2017
• Coming soon – 2018 National Farm to School Network ECE Survey

National Resources

• National Farm to School Network (NFTSN) is an information, advocacy and networking hub for committees working to bring local food sourcing and food and agriculture education into school systems and preschools. NFTSN hosts a farm to preschool subcommittee where members oversee content submitted to farmtoschool.org website and the organization of the preschool network.
• USDA’s Office of Community Food Systems: Farm to Preschool offers information around farm to preschool as it relates to the Child and Adult Care Food Program.