FAQs: Northeast Farm to School Institute

The Institute is a unique year-long professional learning opportunity for selected school, district, or early childhood teams from New England and New York. The Farm to School (FTS) Institute supports teams in working together to create a culture of equity and wellness, improve food access, increase student leadership, and strengthen local food systems.

Teams selected for the Institute are given support for an entire year. Starting with a summer retreat, teams are joined by an experienced coach that supports the team to develop an action plan inspired by workshops, learning journeys, and the work of other schools. During the school year, team members implement and adapt their plans with the support of their coach. Throughout the year, participants network and learn with peers in similar roles in an affinity group/professional learning community (PLC).

Any PK–12 school or early childhood program in New England or New York of all different sizes can apply to the Institute. The Institute is designed to support programs in either the early stages of development or for taking their programming to the next level. We typically select about ten teams to participate each year.

Teams are welcome to apply as a single school, school district, early childhood program, or as an early childhood collaborative. If an early childhood collaborative applies, each individual program should have at least one representative on the team. 

While we won’t rule anyone out before reviewing all applications, we have a preference for public schools and our programming is tailored to the public school context. The Institute supports early childhood education programs representing a variety of contexts including for-profit, non-profit, Head Start, etc. 

Farm to school efforts are most successful and long-lasting when teams take the time to build commitment and capacity of a diverse set of stakeholders. These stakeholders should include nutrition/food service staff, teachers, administrators, family members, students (middle and high school), nurses, farmers, and community partners. We encourage and seek diverse teams that contain members of different racial and gender identity, experience levels, and program roles. Teams for the Institute’s summer retreat are typically 5-7 members, but a full team or FTS committee can be larger during the school year. 

Consider inviting people who are already FTS champions as well as key decision-makers and implementers who have yet to become involved but could provide valuable insights or connections when it comes time to implement your action plan. Your school may already have a group that has been working on FTS or wellness, or there might be a committee that has worked on these efforts in the past but possibly needs a “refresh” with some new planning and new team members.

The application is used to gain an understanding of each applicant’s school community and existing farm to school efforts. We aim to build a diverse cohort of teams that have both similarities and opportunities to share lessons learned with others. We are looking for schools that prioritize making their farm to school program inclusive of diverse students and community members, equitable, and incorporating opportunities for youth and family leadership.

We use the following criteria to evaluate all applications:

• Team composition: The team has at least one member from each of the following roles: school nutrition, administrator, and educator.
• Accessibility: We prioritize teams with greater student diversity, and consider metrics such as the percentage of students participating in free and reduced lunch, ethnicity composition of the student body, school location (rural/urban), and other demographic information (e.g. income level and ethnicity composition of the geographic region).  For early childhood programs not enrolled in CACFP, the percentage of children/families receiving state subsidized childcare support can replace free/reduced lunch data.
• Team readiness: The team demonstrates some experience in Farm to School and is in a suitable phase to receive support and grow.  
• 3Cs mindset: The team has a good understanding of the 3Cs (classroom, cafeteria, and community) and intends to use an integrated approach to bring the three components together.
• Equity: The team has clear goals for centering equity in their FTS work, and demonstrates how the Institute will benefit their equity work.
• Staying power: The team has a clear commitment to FTS, and has in-place or identified strategy and additional resources to sustain their FTS work.
• The “why”: The team has a clear “why” for their FTS work, and can explain how their goals align with the Institute's vision.

Since 2010, the Institute has been bringing teams together for a summer retreat held at Shelburne Farms followed by a year of coaching, networking, and action. During the summer retreat, teams get inspired by and learn from leaders in farm to school, build relationships across the team, gain new skills, and develop a year-long action plan for FTS programming. Vermont FEED and a network of FTS partners provide support via affinity groups/PLCs, workshops, and learning journeys during the retreat. During the year, as the team implements their action plan, they work with their coach to assess and adapt to successes and challenges. 

With the support of a coach, teams spend the school year putting their plans into action and strengthening their capacity to impact classrooms, cafeterias, and communities with change that lasts. A role-specific affinity group/PLC supports individual team members with their unique role and helps them integrate the FTS action plan. In the spring, teams regather with their peers virtually to share successes, how they adapted to challenges, and begin planning for future years of FTS programming.

This is a year-long program kicking off with an in-person summer retreat. Teams will implement their action plans during the following school year with the support of a coach.

• Spring 2025: All team members watch the program onboarding video prior to the summer kick-off to prepare for the exciting work ahead. We also ask that your team meet at least once before the June Retreat to meet your coach and review the Farm to School Rubric.
• Summer 2025: Attend our summer kickoff retreat June 24-26, 2025 at Shelburne Farms to dive into farm to school action planning, network with peers around the region, and explore farm to school possibilities.
• Fall–Winter 2025–2026: Meet regularly throughout the school year with your coach as you implement your action plan; participate in a virtual, Institute-wide, mid-year check-in; and provide feedback through data collection, evaluation, and storytelling to support program growth and improvement.
• Spring 2026: Prepare a year-two Action Plan with the support of your coach, and regroup with your cohort to share your progress and reflections in a year-end virtual gathering, May 2026.

When: Kickoff retreat June 24–26, 2025; program continues through spring 2026.

Where: The retreat takes place at Shelburne Farms, an education nonprofit on a mission to inspire and cultivate learning for a sustainable future. Home to the Institute for Sustainable Schools, our historic campus is a 1,400-acre diversified farm located on the homelands of the Winooskik band of the Abenaki. The rest of the year action plans are implemented at your site with virtual learning and connections continuing until the program celebration and reflection in late spring 2026.

What: Three days of professional learning, networking, planning and fun!

Once a final draft of the action plan is ready, teams share their plan with members of their school or program’s administration and any other
stakeholders. Institute schools are expected to commit to implementing their Farm to School Action Plan and establishing systems to track progress
throughout the year. Teams will establish regular meetings that include their coach (monthly is recommended), with the focus on assessing progress,
communicating and celebrating successes, and changing course as needed. In addition, there will be role-specific affinity groups/PLCs that allow for individuals to meet with others in similar roles across all the teams. At the end of the institute, all teams will share their successes and challenges through a spring webinar with other teams. Teams will also have a final opportunity to work with their coach to create an updated action plan and rubric for the following year.

Every team participating in the Institute has a designated, experienced Farm to School coach that will be matched with them based on their geography and/or specific needs their team may have in building up their program. Coaches are supported by Vermont FEED in order to provide the best support possible to their teams during the summer retreat and throughout the year. Coaches facilitate the development of the action plan and make connections to any technical assistance a team could use as they implement their plans. Coaches keep teams informed of learning opportunities and professional development that can strengthen their practice. They can help infuse creativity into the planning and implementation process by offering insights, suggestions, and feedback regularly. Most of all, coaches guide their team, rather than do things for them—they listen, reflect, evaluate, rethink and support the implementation of the Action Plan.

Thanks to the generous funding from the US Department of Agriculture, we are able to provide the year-long Institute programming to teams at no cost, including room and board during the three day summer retreat. Travel costs and incidentals are the responsibility of teams.

Vermont FEED (Food Education Every Day), a partnership project of Shelburne Farms Institute for Sustainable Schools and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT), has hosted the Farm to School Institute since 2010, building upon decades of experience in supporting schools, communities, and farms. Visit vtfeed.org/institute for more information about the Institute and other resources. Questions? Email [email protected].