Farm to School

Wednesday morning 11:30 am

Summary: Session will be held in Grand Gallery room C (lower level)

Farm to school is growing in Michigan! With over 40 farm to school programs throughout the state and many more school food service directors interested in purchasing local foods, farm to school programs provide an expanding market opportunity for Michigan growers. Last December, Michigan lawmakers supported farm to school and local economic development by passing farm to school bills to reduce procurement barriers to expanding farm to school programs in our school cafeterias. But farm to school applies more than just the cafeteria; farm to school also includes school fundraisers that use local products and educational opportunities like school gardens, farmer visits to schools, and field trips to local farms.

The Michigan Farm to School Information Session will feature a panel discussion including farmers and food service directors involved in farm to school projects who can speak about their experiences including the benefits and challenges, and answer participants' questions. We will then allow time for informal discussion so that farmers can connect with local school food service directors and other farm to school resources.

This session will be of interest to fruit and vegetable farmers looking to diversify their markets, of any scale. Schools and school districts of varying sizes with different needs and different interests in Michigan produce (in terms of volume and crop type) are eager to connect with Michigan farmers so there are no one size fits all solutions and a wide range of farmers are needed to meet the demand. Schools and local farm to school facilitators are also looking for farmers that are willing and able to host school field trips and/or visit schools to share their experiences and educational lessons about their produce with students.

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