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Incorporating Locally Grown Products in School Meals: Resources
- Produce Safety (Institute of Child Nutrition)
A series of USDA resources on produce safety that describe best practices for receiving, storing, handling, and purchasing fresh and fresh-cut produce through videos, fact sheets, and PowerPoint presentations is available on the Institute of Child Nutrition website.
- Procurement Geographic Preference Q&As (USDA's Farm to School Team)
The Geographic Preference Option allows schools and other providers to give preference to unprocessed locally grown and locally raised agricultural products when buying food for their programs. During visits to school districts around the country that were involved in Farm to School activities, USDA’s Farm to School Team found many officials who wanted clarification about how they could purchase food for their schools from local farms. USDA has issued this memo in response.
- How to Apply Geographic Preference (USDA)
This document summarizes highlights and major points from USDA's memo, Procurement Geographic Preference Q&As.
- Checklist for Retail Purchasing of Local Produce (Iowa State Cooperative Extension)
This checklist includes questions foodservice providers should ask of farmers when purchasing local produce.
- Bringing Local Food to Local Institutions (Barbara C. Bellows, Rex Dufour, and Janet Bachmann)
This resource guide provides farmers, school administrators, and institutional food-service planners with contact information and descriptions of existing programs that have made these connections between local farmers and local school lunchrooms, college dining halls, or cafeterias in other institutions.
- Farm to School Program: Tips, Tools & Guidelines for Food Distribution & Food Safety (Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food & Forestry) our Headline
This manual provides information about Farm to School distribution systems, development of a food safety plan for use of fresh produce, fresh produce handling tips for schools, best practices for using produce from school gardens, and hints, materials, and templates for producers and schools.
- Growing the Links Between Farms and Schools: A How-to Guidebook for Pennsylvania Farmers, Schools, and Communities (Clare Hinrichs, Kai Schafft, Dara Bloom, and Erin McHenry-Sorber)
The guide is aimed at food service directors, teachers, administrators, school nurses, and school health and wellness committees. It was also written for farmers and suppliers who are interested in participating in a Farm to School programs but are unsure about when or how to develop relationships with local schools. The guidebook describes a number of different ways to make connections between farms and schools to start and sustain a successful farm to school program.
- Vermont Farm to School: A Guide for Using Local Foods in Schools (Vermont FEED)
Included in this manual are steps for starting local purchasing, success stories about Farm to School relationships, and seasonal recipes and menu ideas.
