The NH Farm to School Program works with food service directors and staff, farmers, distributors, school administrators, teachers, and health educators to foster connections between local farms and New Hampshire school cafeterias and classrooms. There are many ways to participate! Click on the links below for more information.Who is participating now in NH Farm to School?
Food Service DirectorsThere are many good reasons to choose locally grown apples, cider and other local fruits and vegetables for your school! Local foods are fresher, and fresh tastes better than foods shipped long distances. Buying local food helps to make farming more profitable thereby helping to preserve NH's open spaces and rural, working landscape.
NHFTS facilitates connections between local farms and NH schools. If you already sell your farm products to local schools, or are interested in getting started, please let us know!
NHFTS is designed to connect local farms and farm products to New Hampshire classrooms and cafeterias by integrating agricultural production, school food procurement, and school curriculum. The goal is to develop a healthy, community-based, community-supported school food system. Part of this food system is to educate students about the ecological, social and health reasons for buying locally grown products. School administrators are in a unique position to integrate those components into their schools.
NHFTS can help enhance existing curriculum. Local food connections afford schools a unique opportunity to generate and reinforce classroom learning. If, for example, the food served in the cafeteria is part of the daily lesson — learning how and where that food is produced, meeting the farmer either in the classroom or on the farm, integrating food and agriculture knowledge with standard science, math, and social studies curricula — then local farms, because of their proximity, variety, and accessibility, extend the teaching impact of the school. NH FTS has assembled resource materials that can be used, not as another add-on program, but to integrate the ideas of sustainability, health, ecology, and community into what is already being taught.
NHFTS supports healthy kids initiatives. Research on nutrition education methods increasingly suggests that there is a link between long term healthy eating behaviors and experiential learning that begins early in life. The more a child is involved with food, through gardening, farming, cooking or other "real life" food experiences, the more likely he or she will adopt healthy eating behaviors as a life long practice. As a health educator, you are in a unique position to integrate those components into your daily routines.
- Schools
- Farms
- Distributors
- See locations of schools, farms and distributors in an interactive Google Map
- Talk with staff at your school about possible farm to school activities. There are many ways to get involved, depending on your goals and priorities. Does your school want to:
- Buy directly from local farms?
- Order locally grown foods through a distributor?
- Use FFVP (Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program) funds to purchase local produce?
- Set up a salad bar featuring local vegetables?
- Grow vegetables in a school garden?
- Organize a harvest meal featuring local ingredients?
- Incorporate food, farming or nutrition into classroom activities and curriculum?
- Take field trips to local farms?
- Contact us! Call or email Stacey Purslow, NHFTS Program coordinator. Phone: 603-862-2542. Email:stacey.purslow@unh.edu. Work with Stacey to determine the next steps. She'll help you connect with farmers, distributors, and other resources you may need along the way. Use this website as a reference as you begin to implement farm to school activities.
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Resources: Explore resources on agriculture, nutrition, food systems, curriculum, school gardens, and more!
- NHFTS In Action: Find out what other schools are doing
Food Service DirectorsThere are many good reasons to choose locally grown apples, cider and other local fruits and vegetables for your school! Local foods are fresher, and fresh tastes better than foods shipped long distances. Buying local food helps to make farming more profitable thereby helping to preserve NH's open spaces and rural, working landscape.
- Purchase local fruits and vegetables for your cafeteria.
- Purchase as many locally grown products for use in your cafeteria as you can. To find local farms, visit our Find NH Farms page.
- Contact produce distributors that offer NH grown and regional produce.
- Arrange a local foods taste test in your cafeteria.
- Organize a harvest meal, featuring local foods.
- Talk with students, teachers and administrators about the program.
- Print NH FTS posters for your cafeteria.
- Read about how one food service director integrated local foods into his cafeteria!
- Check out our resources page to learn more!
NHFTS facilitates connections between local farms and NH schools. If you already sell your farm products to local schools, or are interested in getting started, please let us know!
- Find out if schools in your area are buying locally grown foods.
- Contact the schools in your town or district and talk with the Food Service Directors. Find out which fruits and vegetables they typically need, and tell them about farm products you plan to have available during the months school is in session.
- Explore the possibility of selling to a distributor who buys from local farms and supplies local schools.
- Offer tours to school groups and classes so that the next generation will learn about what you do and its importance to New Hampshire and to them. Check out our field trip guide.
- Check out our resources to learn more!
NHFTS is designed to connect local farms and farm products to New Hampshire classrooms and cafeterias by integrating agricultural production, school food procurement, and school curriculum. The goal is to develop a healthy, community-based, community-supported school food system. Part of this food system is to educate students about the ecological, social and health reasons for buying locally grown products. School administrators are in a unique position to integrate those components into their schools.
- Find out if your school is participating in the NHFTS program.
- Talk with your food service director about purchasing locally produced foods.
- Talk with other administrators about the Program.
- Ensure that snacks at your school include nutritious and local options.
- Talk to the faculty at your school about integrating components of farm to school into their classroom curriculum.
- Begin a school garden or compost project.
- Talk with parents about your school's participation in the NH FTS program.
- Check out our resources to learn more!
NHFTS can help enhance existing curriculum. Local food connections afford schools a unique opportunity to generate and reinforce classroom learning. If, for example, the food served in the cafeteria is part of the daily lesson — learning how and where that food is produced, meeting the farmer either in the classroom or on the farm, integrating food and agriculture knowledge with standard science, math, and social studies curricula — then local farms, because of their proximity, variety, and accessibility, extend the teaching impact of the school. NH FTS has assembled resource materials that can be used, not as another add-on program, but to integrate the ideas of sustainability, health, ecology, and community into what is already being taught.
- Find out if your school is participating in the NHFTS Program.
- Talk with your food service director about purchasing locally-produced foods.
- Inform your fellow teachers about the program.
- Integrate farm to school into your curriculum.
- Arrange a field trip to a local apple orchard or farm near you, farmer's market, the New Hampshire Farm Museum, or the Remick Country Doctor Museum and Farm. Check out our field trip guide designed specifically for teachers!
- Contact NH Agriculture in the Classroom to arrange a program on farming in NH for your class.
- Arrange a guest speaker to talk to your class about farming, agriculture, sustainability or nutrition.
- Begin a school garden or compost project.
- Encourage students to think locally and continue their farm to school experience at home.
- Check out our resources to learn more!
NHFTS supports healthy kids initiatives. Research on nutrition education methods increasingly suggests that there is a link between long term healthy eating behaviors and experiential learning that begins early in life. The more a child is involved with food, through gardening, farming, cooking or other "real life" food experiences, the more likely he or she will adopt healthy eating behaviors as a life long practice. As a health educator, you are in a unique position to integrate those components into your daily routines.
- Find out if your school is participating in the NH FTS Program.
- Talk with your school's food service, teachers and administrators about the Program.
- Talk with other nurses and health educators about the Program.
- Encourage your food service director to purchase locally produced foods.
- Encourage your administrators to reduce or eliminate junk food throughout the school and promote healthy snack items.
- Use experiential learning in nutrition education to foster healthy eating behaviors.
- Help connect students to the food system so they can better to how their food choices affect their health and the world around them.
- Check out our resources to learn more!
- Find out if your child's school is participating in the NH FTS Program.
- Attend PTA or school board meetings to ensure that the NHFTS Program is discussed.
- Talk to other parents about the Program.
- Make a meal or snack using NH products for your child's class.
- Ask for NH-produced foods at your local retail outlets and restaurants.
- Use NH-produced foods at home.
- Bring your child to a local farm, orchard, farmer's market, the NH Farm Museum or the Remick Country Doctor Museum and Farm.
- Talk with your child about the importance of caring for our environment.
- Check out our resources to learn more!
- Find out if your school is participating in the NH FTS Program.
- Talk with your friends, teachers, and food service staff about the program and why local food is good!
- Start a school club focused on gardening, healthy eating or the environment.
- Visit a local farm, orchard, or farmer's market.
- Learn more! Check out our resources!
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NH Farm to School is an initiative of:
Click here to learn more about the Sustainability Institute.
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