Farm to School Approaches
The 3Cs framework developed by Vermont FEED focuses on connecting the cafeteria, classroom, and community. While this integrated approach is foundational to the Institute, teams may emphasize certain components over others based on their specific context, resources, and constraints. For example:
The Institute host organization may be a state agriculture department that places more focus on procurement. Teams can emphasize cafeteria initiatives while still addressing classrooms and community.
Teachers in a district may be very receptive to farm to school, but the cafeteria may be difficult to access. Teams can start with a focus on classrooms while working to integrate cafeteria and community.
The National Farm to School Network offers another framework for approaching farm to school that focuses on three core elements: local food procurement, school gardening, and food/farm education. While these elements can serve as starting points, teams using this or any non-3Cs framework can enhance integration by:
connecting procurement with education through taste tests, farm field trips, meeting producers, and utilizing school garden produce in the cafeteria.
integrating community-based learning and school-community partnerships.
fostering collaboration around initiatives that bridge disciplines.
aligning messaging and promotion across the classroom, cafeteria, and community.
Regardless of the approach taken, teams should ultimately strive to create a program that is integrated across the cafeteria, classroom, and community.
Teams from schools that serve tribal communities may want to incorporate Indigenous foodways and traditions into their farm to school program. The Native Farm to School Guide: Connecting Traditional Foods, Stories, Language, and Community focuses on what food sovereignty can look like inside community education and school systems. The guide distinguishes Native farm to school from traditional farm to school programming by providing diverse examples from tribal communities across Indian Country and shares key elements that pertain to Native communities. It provides program planning activities and assessment tools to help improve, expand, and initiate Native-centered programming, along with resource lists to support this work.
Native farm to school programs have become an important way to:
introduce traditional foods and practices into the curriculum.
promote Native health, self-reliance, and sustainability.
help increase knowledge of traditional foods, languages, and ceremonies.
boost tribal economies, as many locally produced food items can be purchased and utilized in school lunch programs.