Farm to School - Purpose and Goals

Purpose
To ensure that our Pre-K through College students consume the highest quality, sustainably produced, culturally appropriate foods from local farms and ranches.

Goals

1. Increased understanding about healthy food, sustainable food production, and local agriculture among students, their parents, and the public at large (by providing curricular materials, farm tours, producer visits to the classroom, and public education).
   
2. Increased acceptance of high quality, culturally appropriate, sustainably produced, local foods by students, their families, and the general public (through school gardens, cooking classes, tasting events, special event meals, and similar participatory activities).
   
3. Increased production of these foods in our area coupled with local value-added processing and an appropriate distribution system.
   
4. Increased consumption of these foods in our schools to the greatest extent possible given current state and federal policies.
   
5. Partnerships with other groups to change state and federal policies to allow greater inclusion of these foods in our schools.
   
6. Increased participation in farm to school programs on the part of students, their parents, school administrators, community leaders, and the general public through increased understanding of the importance of farm to school programs, the obstacles involved, and what can be done by community members to promote these programs.