“Powering Up” in Austin, TX!

Recently Mass. Farm to School’s Lisa Damon and Simca Horwitz, spent four action-packed days in Austin, TX at the National Farm to Cafeteria Conference. Hosted by the National Farm to School Network, the conference is a biennial event that brings together diverse stakeholders from across the country who are all working to source local food for institutional cafeterias and foster a sustainable food and agricultural system across America. This year the conference drew over 1,100 participants from all 50 states to talk about “Powering Up” the farm to cafeteria movement! Attendees shared stories and ideas, reported successes and challenges, and were inspired to raise the bar as they look to the year ahead.

In the opening session Anupima Joshi, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the National Farm to School Network, highlighted the impressive growth in Farm to School from only six programs in 1990 to over 38,000 Farm to Cafeteria programs happening in schools across the country this year! Collectively Farm to Cafeteria programming is benefiting 21 million kids…and counting. Following Anupima’s welcome, Jim Hightower, author and twice-elected Texas Commissioner of Agriculture, officially kicked off the conference with his rousing keynote address challenging all attendees to keep up the good work and advised, “Those who say it can’t be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.”

The conference provided opportunities to see firsthand, what exciting farm to school activities are happening in Austin. Simca spent some time visiting nearby preschool locations to witness their innovative programming and food service operations and participating in hands-on gardening activities used to inspire little locavores.  Lisa spent a day immersed in Austin’s local food supply chain.  Exploring multiple models offering procurement solutions for large institution-scale cafeterias in the area, the tour visited a produce distributor, a co-op, a local producer, and a college cafeteria.

The following three days were packed with fantastic sessions focusing on various themes. Expert panelists presented on a variety of topics including garden-based education, farm to preschool programs, youth engagement, using food hubs for institutional procurement, as well as local procurement in college and hospital cafeterias.  During one of the workshops, Simca teamed up with the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic to co-present the findings from the recent report “Tools for Advocates: Increasing Local Food Procurement by State Agencies, Colleges, and Universities”. Throughout the conference, attendees had time to network with peers from across the country and learn about robust programs happening far and wide.  The conference was a great opportunity to come together, to learn and to plan together for the next steps for programs across the country.