A Glimpse into the Northeast Farm to School Institute: Our Summer Retreat Recap
Posted on July 29, 2022
This June, over 70 educators, school nutrition staff, school administrators, and community partners gathered at Shelburne Farms with a lofty goal: to better support their students in understanding where their food comes from and connecting to their local food system.
Video by Andrea Estey.
Our Northeast Farm to School Institute has built enduring farm to school programs in over 120 schools, districts, and early childhood programs. School and early childhood teams of 5–7 members kicked off the year-long program with an intensive at Shelburne Farms to build an action plan and explore the joy and depth of connecting the 3C's: Classroom, Cafeteria, and Community.
Here's a behind-the-scenes look into what went on during the summer retreat:
The 2022 adaptation participants gathered from around the country to see the Northeast Farm to School Institute in action. Photo by Sarah Webb.
Adapters Participate to Expand the Institute Model
New to 2022, we launched the first-ever Institute Adaptation Program, a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. Representatives from teams in Arkansas, Nebraska, Connecticut, Oregon and Washington will strengthen school communities in their regions by adapting this Vermont-born model for their states.
Sarah Smith, Nebraska Department of Education Farm to School Coordinator, was part of the team that launched Nebraska's first virtual Institute last year, and was at the retreat to prepare for the state's first in-person program. "Having [the program] already laid out with research-based curricular components and stories of success behind it made it easy to build a case and get buy-in from my state. That isn't to say I don't have a million questions right now, but I know I have a million less thanks to Vermont FEED! Everything we did was based on the Vermont model, including coaching, and it really just made everything feasible for us."
Dedicated retreat time is used for school, district, and early childhood teams to work on their values statement and action plans with the support of a coach. Photos by Sarah Webb.
Team Time
Central to the Institute model, action planning allows for teams to create and implement a farm to school strategy that can ultimately shift school culture. Teams are paired with an experienced coach from their region who helps tailor that plan to their needs and put it to work throughout the school year. Lots of work time is built into the schedule, giving teams opportunity to connect and think through how they will bring their farm to school values to life in their community.
Vermont high school student Jeswin Antony shares a favorite farm to school story during the community panel. Photo by Sarah Webb.
Community Panels: Discussing the 3C's of Farm to School
Each day, a panel of regional farm to school champions shared their stories of success around one of the 3C’s: Classroom, Community, and Cafeteria. The panels are a meaningful way of bringing in a diversity of voices and perspectives, including those of the people most impacted by farm to school efforts: students.
When asked about his favorite farm to school story or project, Jeswin Antony, a rising senior at Vermont's Harwood Union High School and leader of the Farm to School Club, shared:
"Over Covid, I won our farm to school club's cookie contest — it was a glazed shortbread cookie, and it tasted alright. The contest was started by the club so students to be able to make food "together" and cook with local ingredients even if we couldn't be together in person. We had students submit photos and videos of themselves cooking a specific cookie recipe. The award was just bragging rights, but we got over 100 submissions from students and teachers! Cooking as a community brings joy."
Workshops
Institute teams are each made up of members with diverse roles: nutrition staff, teachers, administrators, and community partners, just to name a few. Tailored workshops offered participants the opportunity to dig more deeply into their areas of expertise and network with peers.
"After such a difficult school year, it was important to be able to bring child nutrition professionals together to connect," says Vermont FEED Program Director Helen Rortvedt. "During the local food workshop geared for school nutrition professionals, we invited participants to work together to prepare a taste test. True to their nature, they efficiently whipped up a delicious kale pesto from the New School Cuisine cookbook. But the real benefit was in creating a space where folks could build connections with their child nutrition colleagues."
Participants explore "Farm to School in the Classroom with an Equity Lens" as they build a 3D food web mapping the journey of food to cafeteria. Photo by Sarah Webb.
In a workshop focused on applying an equity lens on food systems learning, participants shared memories of what they ate (or didn't eat) as children, which can shape a lifetime of attitudes about food. It's a fact Institute attendees know well, and it underscores the importance of bringing farm-fresh foods into schools. They worked together to make a 3D food web, using yarn to map the systems it takes to get one crop from farm to plate, activities these educators can bring back to their own classrooms.
Storytelling to Effect Change
How does food systems literacy empower students? What happens in a cafeteria when more fresh, local foods are on the menu? What does it feel like to introduce our youngest learners to a garden? We know authentic, engaging storytelling is critical to changing the narrative about our food system, and Ferene Paris Meyer, founder of All Heart Inspirations, led participants in a workshop on how to tell your story in order to effect meaningful change. Watch Ferene's workshop above.
A trip to Shelburne Farms Dairy includes a tour of the milking parlor with Mo Whitney, Assistant Herdsman and Calf Manager. Photo by Holly Brough.
Learning Journeys
A working farm campus is a great place for participants to explore and consider new ways to connect their students with food systems. Here are some ways participants were introduced to Shelburne Farms and the topics they delved into:
Bringing Students on a Farm Based Field Trip
Particpants explored how to take students on dairy-based agriculture field trips, discussed best practices for connecting with dairy farmers, and learned about Shelburne Farms’ sustainable agriculture practices at the dairy and in the pastures.
Bringing the Food System Alive in the Garden & Compost
This opportunity was an invitation to explore a production garden and compost program to make connections across the food system—from seed to plate, and back to soil. 133 billion pounds of food is wasted per year in the U.S. alone. Schools waste very little of this big picture. “School meal programs have to be very efficient, and that's regulated by law,” shared facilitator and coach Ryan Parker, FoodCorps Associate Director of Programs in Maine. “But, it is still a great place to change culture and practices—it is much easier to influence the behaviors of youth than adults.”
Right: Judy Dow and Leah Summerfield of Gedakina introduce the Four Sisters Garden. Left: sumac was used to create a refreshing tea, a recipe that can be brought back to participants' schools and early childhood programs. Photos by Andrea Estey.
Four Sisters Gardening & Indigenous Relationship to Land
A group visited the Children’s Farmyard garden with several plots dedicated to growing crops known in some Indigenous communities as the Four Sisters: corns, beans, squash, and sunflowers. Educators took a journey through this garden, guided by Judy Dow and Leah Summerfield of Gedakina, to discuss the Indigenous relationship to the land. The Four Sisters, explained Leah, are companion plants. “That’s a big takeaway for me. Interconnectivity is a big thought-process of the native people. We can’t survive without connected relationships.”
Creative Activism: Farm to School, Civic Action & the Arts
How can art-making create a space for posing questions to inspire transformation? Participants took time to slow down with an art-based and sensory approach to food justice. They explored cyanotype techniques for place-based art making while envisioning a more just food system.
Left: a large tarp is used to winnow, separating the wheat grain from the chaff. Photo by Dinah Mack. Right: a participant meets a lamb in the Children's Farmyard at Shelburne Farms. Photo by Andrea Estey.
Seed to Bread Journey
Teams were treated to a hands-on exploration of wheat, breadmaking, and buttermaking. “These activities are a perfect opportunity to add what I like to call ‘food depth’ to your curriculum,” shares Shelburne Farms Educator Jed Norris, who led the learning journey. “If you’re eating bread, talk about wheat and where it comes from. Eating a cracker? Grind wheat berries. There is always a way to make a food story richer for students.”
Making Farmyard Connections
A tour of Shelburne Farms Children’s Farmyard was a catalyst for considering ways to connect student learning and farm experiences. And, participants met some of farm to school’s most important educators: animals!
Vermont Agency of Education Deputy Secretary Heather Bouchey shares her appreciation. Photo by Sarah Webb.
Vermont Leaders Show Their Support
Vermont leaders and delegates joined the Institute to share how the state has worked as a whole to achieve the many farm to school successes over the years, and what we’re doing now to expand and strengthen food access and literacy to even more Vermonters.
“In Vermont, we’re very excited to move into a place where we can focus on recovery and revitalization [from the pandemic]. I point that out because what you all do is the absolute, critical substrate for recovery and revitalization for our students. If our kids are not fed, there is no way they are able to learn, there is no way they’re going to be able to practice their social-emotional skills. What you’re doing is critical for bringing back schools across Vermont, and I’m sure the same thing is true across all the states represented here.” –Heather Bouchey, Vermont Agency of Education Deputy Secretary
Our biggest thanks goes to the offices of Senator Leahy, Senator Sanders, Representative Welch, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, and the Vermont Agency of Education for celebrating farm to school with us at the Institute.
New School Cuisine
When you’re gathering 70 school food practitioners for three days to explore how they can engage students in healthy local foods, what better place to start the inspiration than with your menu planning?
“We like to demonstrate new ideas for school menus by serving food all week from the cookbook, New School Cuisine,” explains Vermont FEED Project Director Betsy Rosenbluth. “It was developed by school nutrition professionals for the cafeteria to show how nutritious, local foods can be incorporated into school meals and taste delicious to kids.”
“I love sharing recipes from New School Cuisine because they're really adaptable, and you can repurpose them in lots of different ways,” shares Chef Jim McCarthy, long-time school food champion, caterer and owner of the Mill Market.
Get the recipes for Kale Pesto and Sweet Potato Hummus, both on the 2022-23 retreat menu!
The 2022-23 Northeast Farm to School Institute and Adaptation cohorts. Photo by Sarah Webb.
What’s Next?
Teams will be putting their action plans to work with the support of their coach throughout the coming school year. Participants will also meet throughout the school year in Affinity Groups, role-specific facilitated meeting times to stay connected with their cohort, share ideas with other professionals in their field, and problem-solve challenges with a larger team. We’ll meet virtually for more farm to school workshops to keep the co-learning alive!
The 2023-24 Institute applications will open in early 2023. Submit your interest using the following forms and you’ll receive the application directly in your inbox: Northeast Farm to School Institute form and the Adaptation Program form.