VT FEED Showcasing Work at National Farm to School Conference

Posted on May 4, 2016

8th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference Four Vermont FEED staff members are headed west - along with colleagues from our parent organizations, NOFA-VT and Shelburne Farms, and partners from the Vermont Farm to School Network. They're headed to the 8th annual National Farm to Cafeteria Conference in Madison, June 2-4, 2016, where they will gather with more than 1,000 other Farm to School advocates including food service workers, educators, policy makers, students and youth leaders, non-profit staff members, food producers, entrepreneurs and more.

It's a chance to network and gain ideas, but also to share. VT FEED staff members will showcase our work in four sessions at the conference:

  • Building & Sustaining Effective Statewide Networks to Catalyze Change
    Betsy Rosenbluth will join Vermont partners to talk about our experience developing the Vermont Farm to School Network and using a systems mapping approach to catalyze strategic action. Janet McLaughlin of the Vermont Community Foundation and Ali Zipparo of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture will present with Betsy, along with Renee Page of Healthy Communities of the Capital Region in Maine.
     
  • Put Your Values in Your Food Service Contract
    Abbie Nelson will talk about several current initiatives to foster greater transparency and collaboration among advocates and Food Service Management Companies, while integrating core principles and values in purchasing. Abbie will present with Peter Allison, Director of Farm to Institution New England; Annie Rowell, Sodexo VT's first Local Food Coordinator, and Jose Olivia, Co-Director of the Food Chain Workers Alliance.
     
  • Professional Learning Models for Building Farm to School Capacity​
    Ethan Bodin and Amy Gifford will speak in a session focused on sharing models for Farm to School professional development, with a focus on VT FEED's Northeast Farm to School Institute and the Seed Change program. Ethan and Amy will present with Sara Tedeschi of the Seed Change Program; Lihlani Skipper of the National Farm to School Network, and Simca Horowitz of Massachusetts Farm to School.

  • Aligning Statewide and Regional Farm to Cafeteria Efforts: Models of Collaboration and Network Development
    Betsy Rosenbluth with co-lead this short course on ways to build networks and programs that align state, regional and local Farm to School efforts. The session will feature the Vermont Farm to School Network and FINE alongside modesl from Colorado and Wisconsin. Betsy will present with Peter Allison of Farm to Institution New England (FINE), along with Lyn Kathlene and Sophie Oppenheimer of Spark Policy Institute and the Colorado Farm to School Task Force; Sarah Elliott of Wisconsin Farm to School; and Sara Tedeschi of the National Farm to School Network.
     

Other workshops led by Shelburne Farms and Vermont Farm to School Network partners include:

  • Connecting to Land and Place through Farm-Based Education, with Vera Simon-Nobes of Shelburne Farms 
  • Scaling Beyond Schools: Harnessing the Power of Farm to Institution Alliances, with Peter Allison of Farm to Institution New England
  • Setting expectations: Communicating with stakeholders on the farm to school journey, with Doug Davis of the Burlington School Food Program

Learn more about the conference and join us in Madison!