A1. Exchanging Cultures Through School Food: Developing Culturally-Relevant Meals for the School Cafeteria (Download presentation)
Presenters: Gabby Headrick, Mellissa Honeywood, Chef Sam Icklan, Dawn Olcott, Sasha Palmer
Whether based on local tastes or traditional cultural dishes, students often crave meals similar to those they’d find at home. Serving meals that reflect your student body creates the opportunity for cultural exchange in the cafeteria, while also showing appreciation for students’ heritage through serving familiar food. Learn how to develop and test recipes that fit the needs of your school community, on a school food budget! This workshop will detail the recipe development process and answer your questions on how to incorporate culturally-relevant dishes into school menus.
A2. Strategies for Creating and Sustaining Successful Farm to School Programs (Download presentation)
Presenters: Jon Belber, Sara Dufour, Liz Manning, Janice McPhillips
Many Farm to School programs succeed with the help of community partners like farms or educational nonprofits. Holly Hill Farm fills both those roles and we will present strategies for farm and school garden education programs that have students both learning and excited to try new foods in their school cafeterias.
A3. Creating Change in the Cafeteria Through Community Collaboration (Download presentation); (Download Chelsea H.S. School Food Survey)
Presenters: Holly Fowler, Jennifer Martinez, Madelyn Herzog, Amanda Muniz, Chelsea Youth Food Movement: Madina Hassan & Nevena Jurisic
The Chelsea Public Schools has been using a unique, collaborative approach to school food change. Bringing together different stakeholders–including community health professionals, school food leadership, data consultants, and youth–around shared goals of program participation and healthier, fresher school meals, this Chelsea team has made a noticeable impact in their school cafeterias.
A4. Local Procurement 101
Presenters: Peter McLoughlin
This session will discuss the basics of incorporating agriculture and locally procured foods in your National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs. We will cover: defining local and where to find local foods, procurement principles and regulations, procurement methods, geographic preference, and forward contracts. Location: Rodgers
A5. Developing Community Partnerships to Promote Local Sea to School (Download presentation)
Presenters: Kyle Foley, Kevin Gibbons, Laura Orleans, Kirby Roberts, Andrew Wilkinson, Nancy Wiseman
Seafood is an often overlooked part of New England’s food system. The fishing industry is a strong part of our region’s economy and culture, yet fish is sometimes perceived to be too difficult for schools to serve. During this session, we hope to share concrete strategies, data, and examples of educators partnering with end users to build the local fish to table movement.
A6. Creative Solutions to Expand Farm to School Programming: Results from Community-Partnered Research in Massachusetts Schools (Download presentation)
Presenters: Hope Guardenier, Mistelle Hannah, Megan Lehnerd
Farm to school partners from Central and Eastern Massachusetts and a local university will facilitate an interactive panel and audience discussion about their recent research collaboration. Come discuss farm to school best practices and leave with action items to help your elementary or middle school program expand. We suggest that you attend this session with colleagues from your program! Location: Gershwin
A7. From Seed to Sales: How to Create Successful, Student Powered Plant Sales and School Garden Stands (Download presentation)
Presenters: Katie Ruppel, Suzie Scordino
Join Island Grown Schools as we share our model for successful, student driven seed, plant, and produce sales. These sales are a great way to raise funds for school garden programs, teach students new skills, and provide a diverse selection of plants and produce to school families and your community. Location: Hammerstein
A8. Weaving New Narratives for Food Futures
Presenters: Lisa Fernandes, Eilisha Manandhar, Karen Spiller
Food Solutions New England is a regional network that has been working towards a vision of a more self-reliant food system that is a driver of racial equity, health, sustainability and thriving communities. In this interactive workshop, we will explore various “network innovations” for inclusion, equity and liberation; apply a storytelling framework to identify and co-create new “food stories” that lead to a more humanizing food future. Then we will hear about the BOSFoodLove Program, a partnership between Boston Public Schools’ Food and Nutrition Services and the Boston Mayor’s Office of Food Access, and their example of how these values can be applied in school food programs. Location: Schubert
A9. Farm to Early Care & Education: Growing Healthy Eaters and Engaged Learners
(Download the HOTM Activities & Book List handout)
Presenters: Lara Lepionka, Annabel Raby, Shannon Raymond, Emma Scudder, Noli Taylor
In this session participants will learn the basics of farm to early care and education, an approach that offers increased access local food sourcing, garden based learning and food education to enhance the quality of the educational experience in all types of ECE settings. Hear from experienced ECE practitioners about how these efforts support experiential learning, parent and community engagement and life-long health and wellness for children, families and caregivers. We’ll cover the nuts and bolts of incorporating local foods into meals and snacks, implementing age appropriate curriculum, and involving families in your efforts. Come away with practical tools and tips for starting up or expanding these activities in your early care setting. Location: Porter
B1. Farm to School Program Blossoms after Marketing Students Promote Harvest of the Month (Download presentation)
Presenters: Susannah Hinman, Maryann Hoenig, Ellen Nylen, Bartlett High School Students
“Collaboration is not about stitching together existing egos, rather it is about the ideas that never even existed until everyone entered the room”. This spirit of collaboration is the driving force behind this unique partnership between students, teachers and food service at Bartlett High School, with assistance from a regional food hub. Seeking to raise awareness of the benefits of local foods and expand Webster’s Farm to School Program, the Food Service Director approached a Marketing teacher about becoming the client for her students’ internship, and the rest is history. Monthly strategy meetings were filled with creative brainstorming and planning, and the Harvest of the Month promotions that emerged inspired a spirit of engagement and discovery in the cafeteria. See examples of student-designed Harvest of the Month marketing materials and ideas, and hear from Bartlett High School students and Farm to School team members.
B2. School Food Waste Reduction and Recovery (Download presentation)
Presenters: Christine Beling, Matt Delaney, Amy Donovan
USDA notes that K-12 schools have a special role in not only reducing, recovering, and recycling food waste on their premises, but also in educating the next generation about recovering wholesome excess food for donation and about reducing and recycling food waste to conserve natural resources. Food waste diversion can take many paths from composting food scraps to feeding animals by separating organic waste from the trash. Food recovery of surplus food is also possible by implementing a program that allows schools and food recovery organizations to work together to collect both surplus food from the kitchen, as well as, whole and packaged cafeteria leftovers and share them within their community. Learn how to set up a program in your school to divert true food waste to compost or animal feed and to recover food to feed students and/or donate to a local food recovery organization or food bank to fight hunger in the community. Location: Brahms
B3. Aligning Garden-Based Learning with Your School’s Curriculum (Download presentation)
Presenters: Kelly Cronin, Jennifer Feller
Are you struggling to build school-wide buy in for garden based learning? In this session participants will hear from experienced educators about how to successfully align school garden lessons with Massachusetts educational standards, from elementary through high school. Help your whole school community, from other teachers to administrators and parents, value the garden as not just enrichment time but also an effective tool for delivering engaging curriculum. Learn practical tips from the Salem Public Schools and professional development staff from Mass Audubon and bring questions and ideas from your school to share with the group as there will be ample planning and networking time. Location: Schubert
B4. Policies Promoting Racial Equity and Social Justice: Case Study Amherst-Pelham Schools Food Services (Download presentation)
Presenters: Ryan Harb, Jennifer Ortiz
Workshop participants will learn about new school district policies that promote racial equity and social justice and were implemented within Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools (ARPS) during SY17-18. A case study of ARPS Food Services will explain how the new policies directly impacted the food service department and farm to school program.
B5. Seafood Throwdown (Download presentation)
Presenters: Jenny Devivo, Jamey Lionette, Amy MacKown
Two Public School Chefs will compete in a cooking competition inspired by local seafood. Each participant brings only their favorite cooking vessels/utensils, presentation plates and three of their favorite ingredients. Once there, they discover the secret seafood ingredient – based on Red’s Best School Fish of the Day Program. The chefs are also given USDA Commodity ingredients typical to most Public Schools’ inventory. They will have 35 minutes to prepare, cook and plate their dish for 3-5 judges. The chefs also make enough to offer a small tasting to some of the audience. Location: Restaurant
B6. Fish out of Water: Lessons, Games, and Activities That Bring the Ocean to the Classroom (Download presentation)
Presenters: Tim Connelly, Noli Taylor
Seafood is an important aspect of many coastal food systems, but it can be a challenge to make sea based lessons relevant to most food and garden programs. This workshop will introduce some games and activities that will help bring seafood curriculum to existing food education programs. Location: Rodgers
B7. Distilling the Data: Tips for Using Existing Research and Tracking your Progress toward Program Goals (Download presentation)
Presenters: Danielle Fleury, Rachel Harb, Hannah Leighton
Come join a discussion about using existing data & collecting your own to bolster farm to cafeteria program goals. Participants will learn key data points – from USDA’s F2S Census, FINE’s regional surveys, and a local program’s tracking tool – to inform their work and support robust messaging to stakeholders. Location: Hammerstein
B8. Seeing Market Gaps as Opportunities in Farm to School
Presenter: Jen Faigel
In this workshop, CommonWealth Kitchen (CWK) will discuss the importance of finding your differentiation strategy in farm to school work. This approach has allowed CWK to partner with schools, universities and hospitals, linking its contract manufacturing social enterprise with thousands of consumers with locally-made products including local applesauce, whole grain muffins, eggplant “meatballs,” and apple crisp. Location: Porter
C1. Integrating Food Service Management Approaches and Community Values
Presenters: John Turenne (Moderator), Andy Cox, Liz O’Gilvie, Mary Reilly
This session is designed for school decision-makers (business office managers, superintendents, etc). Join us for a candid discussion of food procurement within food service management styles: Self-Operated (self-op) and Food Service Management Companies (FSMCs). We will provide a brief overview of the state of food service management in New England and then turn it over to our panelists to discuss their experiences and the factors they weighed when deciding between Self-Op or FSMCs. For both approaches, our panel will discuss ways to integrate community values into their food procurement programs and increase local sourcing. Location: Beethoven
C2. Salad Days: Using School Gardens to Launch Farm to School Programs, Policies, and Culture in your School (Download presentation)
Presenters: Abby Johnstone, Meghan Stratton
Want to make a positive change in your school’s culture? Start with a goal-oriented, streamlined plan that takes the challenges of schools into account. Work within your school system to reach students of all ages and backgrounds, and give each student the fundamental experience of growing their own food. Location: Schubert
C3. Farm to Summer: Bringing Fresh, Local Foods to Summer Meals
Presenters: Nick Cacciolfi, Anna Kelchin, Erin McAleer, Maria Moreira, Ellen Nylen
Summer Eats, which provides free meals to anyone 18 and under during the summer months, is a perfect partner for local produce, allowing children and teens to enjoy local foods when they are at their peak. Learn from a panel of farm to summer “newbies” and veterans on how they successfully introduced local produce and activities into their program, and come away with new ideas to bring back to your community. Location: Strauss
C4. Make Farm to Breakfast a Reality in Your School (Download presentation)
Presenters: Joanne Lennon, Donna Miner, Greta Shwachman, Madison Walker
Is Farm to Breakfast right for you? It might be easier than you think! Join us for a discussion on school breakfast, a “mock” baking demo from the Chicopee School Food Service team, and a detailed look at the financials of the in-house baking program at Chicopee schools. Come with questions and your appetite (for samples). Leave with recipes and a road map for baking in your schools. Location: Restaurant
C5. Food Hubs: Collaborating on Processing and Distribution for Farm to School Success
Presenters: Joanna Benoit, Susannah Hinman
Learn how two Massachusetts food hubs, the Franklin County Community Development Corporation and the Worcester Regional Food Hub, have collaborated throughout the entire supply chain to create new avenues for farm to school success. This workshop is for anyone who is interested in a more collaborative and localized supply chain. Location: Rodgers
C6.Using Public Policy to Expand Farm to School in Massachusetts
Presenters: Lisa Damon, Simca Horwitz, Winton Pitcoff
In this session participants will learn about ongoing efforts to expand farm to school activity in Massachusetts through public policy. Gain the tools you need to become a farm to school advocate and use your on-the-ground experience to educate decision makers at the state and local level about the power of farm to school. Location: Hammerstein
C7. Harvest of the Month: Beyond the Lunch Line (Download presentation)
Presenters: Giuliana Cappucci, Maggie Notopoulos
Learn how Lowell is trying to leverage Massachusetts Farm to School’s Harvest of the Month program from the cafeteria and beyond! Attendees will participate in HOTM curriculum, brainstorm ways the can incorporate HOTM lessons into their educational offerings and markets, and join the conversation of where HOTM can go. Location: Porter
Phone: (413) 253-3844
Email: info@massfarmtoschool.org
