Pennsylvania Harvest of the Month Training Sessions for Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program Sponsors | 2026

Are you interested in introducing the Pennsylvania Harvest of the Month (PA HOM) program to children at your early care and education or summer feeding site? Join us for a 3-hour session to be offered this August and September for Child and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program sponsors. These sessions, provide an overview of PA HOM, discuss resources available, and provide ideas about how to engage children.

  Information and Registration

Orientation to School Food Service Operations | Fall 2026 (Part 1)

Topics to be covered during the Fall 2026 orientation session include Overview of CNPs, Community Eligibility Provision, Child Nutrition Financial Report, Paid Lunch Equity, Summer Food Service Program, Production Records, Accommodating Disabilities in School Meals, Meal Patterns, Civil Rights, USDA Foods, Procurement, Meal Counting and Claiming, Direct Certification, Eligibility Determination, Verification, and more.

Information and Registration

Pennsylvania Harvest of the Month Culinary Training Sessions for School Food Service Personnel | 2026

The Pennsylvania Department of Education, through Penn State (Project PA) will once again be offering hands-on Culinary Training Sessions for School Food Service Personnel led by a Chef Bill Scepansky, Smart Partners LLC.

  Information

Pennsylvania Farm to Child Nutrition Summit | 2026

The Pennsylvania Farm to Child Nutrition Summit: Rooted in Resilience – Sustaining and Celebrating Collaborations will be held June 17, 2026 at Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia, PA. This summit is being coordinated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Food and Nutrition and Project PA (Penn State University) with the support of the Pennsylvania Farm to School Network. Funding is provided by a USDA Farm to School Formula grant.

   Information

Food and Agricultural Education in Schools | May 27, 2026

  Food and Agricultural Education in Schools | Watch on YouTube

   Webinar Downloads

Bringing Local Foods Into School Meals | May 5, 2026

  Bringing Local Foods Into School Meals | Watch on YouTube

  Webinar Downloads

Downloads | Increasing Scratch Cooking in School Meals Webinar | February 18, 2026

  Increasing Scratch Cooking in School Meals | Watch on YouTube

  Webinar Downloads

Downloads | Local Procurement for School Meals | October 28, 2025

  Local Procurement for School Meals | Watch on YouTube

  Webinar Downloads

Downloads | Meal Patterns and Updates under the Final Rule | May 2025

  Meal Patterns and Updates under the Final Rule | Watch on YouTube

  Webinar Downloads

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Pennsylvania Culinary Manual Downloads

Two culinary manuals have been released by Project PA for download.

The ← Pennsylvania Culinary Training Sessions manual documents the details and steps recommended for a school or school district to conduct a culinary training at their facility.

The Healthy School Meals Mini-Grants Promising Practices → manual is a collection of promising practices eleven Local Education Agencies (LEAs) completed to meet mini-grant objectives as part of a Pennylvania 2019 Team Nutrition Training grant.

Download

Pennsylvania Local Food Purchasing Incentive Investigation — Findings From Interviews and Focus Groups with Key Stakeholders Within and Outside of Pennsylvania

Through Local Food Purchasing Incentive (LFPI) programs, state governments provide School Food Authorities (SFAs) additional funds to partially or completely offset the cost of local food as an incentive to purchase these foods and serve them in Child Nutrition Programs (CNP). An investigation was undertaken to gather information and perspectives about LFPI programs from various stakeholders both in states that have existing programs and within Pennsylvania.

Download the Report