Current Projects 
Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program (FFVP) Project
In collaboration with partners in the NH Department of Education, UNH Cooperative Extension, and others, NHFTS is building on its previous work to develop new connections between schools, produce distributors, and NH wholesale vegetable growers. Target schools for the initial connections are those receiving grants from the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP). A USDA initiative, FFVP grants awards to schools to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables. Recipients of FFVP funds are schools whose student body has at least 50% eligibility for the free and reduced lunch program. Each school receives funding based on the total number of students in the school. The NH Department of Education (DOE) is overseeing the distribution of the funds, and NHFTS is working to help participating schools purchase some of their fresh fruit and vegetables from local farms. The NH Dietetic Internship programs at Keene State and UNH, along with Cooperative Extension, are working with the DOE to provide the educational component of the grant. Learn more...
2010 Program Goals
- Complete a statewide survey of NH schools to determine which schools are currently engaged in farm-to-school activities.
- Make more direct connections between farms and schools.
- Encourage distributors to identify local products on invoices and company websites so schools can use this information to tell the students where their food is coming from. Encourage schools to ask for this information.
- Collaborate with Cafe Services and The NH Institute of Agriculture and Forestry to find solutions to food distribution issues.
- Help interested schools organize a local harvest meal.
- Participate in events including New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference, NH Farm andForest Expo, NOFA-NH Winter Conference, NH School Nutrition Association Spring Meeting, NH Fruit Growers' Association Spring Meeting, Flavors of the Valley, Northeast Regional Farm to School Conference in Detroit.
Project History
Apples & Cider Project
The NH Farm to School Program was established in 2003 as a pilot program funded by the USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) to introduce local apples and cider into NH K-12 schools. Within three years, over half the K-12 schools in the state were purchasing them for their cafeterias! This program continues successfully today in many schools across the state. Most schools order local apples and/or cider directly through their distributors. Others purchase directly from farmers. Orchards selling to schools directly or through a distributor include:
- Apple Annie grows a variety of low-spray apples in Brentwood. The farm also sells cider, fall vegetables, jams and jelliies, and baked goods. Contact the farm at 603-778-8881.
- Applecrest Farm Orchard in Hampton Falls grows more than 40 different varieties of apples. The farm offers school tours. Contact the farm at 603-926-3721.
- Brookdale Fruit Farm grows apples, berries, pumpkins and more. You can visit the farm's store and pick-your-own when fruit is in season! Contact the farm at 603-465-2240 or e-mail.
- Carter Hill Orchard grows a number of different varities of apples, and presses the apples for their preservative-free cider right on the farm. They also host school field trips and tours for "kids of all ages." Contact the farm at 603-225-2625.
- Mack's Apples in grows a variety of apples in Londonderry. Contact the farm at 603-434-7619.
- Windy Ridge Orchard and Christmas Tree Farm in North Haverhill is a NH Farm of Distinction. The farm offers school tours and posts lesson plans on their website. Contact the farm at 603-787-6377.
A list of schools that purchase local apples and/or cider can be found by clicking here.
To make a local apple/cider connection at your school, please contact your distributor, talk to one of the farms on list above, or contact us to learn more.
- Read NH Farm to School Program Highlights: Our First Three Years
- Read the apple/cider pilot project reports
Get Smart Eat Local 10-District Project
In 2006, NHFTS initiated a new, one-year pilot program -- the Get Smart Eat Local 10-District project -- to work with school districts and farms in the seacoast region of the state to work help build and strenghten direct farm-to-cafeteria relationships and introduce new local foods in the schools. In contrast to the statewide model established by NHFTS to bring NH apples and cider to as many NH schools as possible, the Get Smart Eat Local 10-District project focused on making a connection between a wholesale grower and ten school districts — 27 schools with over 15,000 students — in Rockingham and Strafford counties to add fresh New Hampshire-grown products to school menus. Funding for this project of the NH Farm to School program was provided by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation’s Josephine A. Lamprey, Otto, and Thanksgiving funds and is a collaboration of the University of New Hampshire’s Office of Sustainability and UNH Cooperative Extension. This program continues today through direct sales of farm products to schools in the 10-District area.
- Read the Case Study on this project
- View the farm to plate slideshow
- Visit Heron Pond Farm