About"Farm to school" applies to a variety of initiatives in Michigan, including efforts to offer local foods in school cafeterias, school garden programs, fundraisers that take advantage of local products, farmer visits to school classrooms and cafeterias, and field trips to nearby farms. Michigan Farm to School is a portal for information and a venue for sharing ideas, tools, and resources to support these and other efforts to link schools with local agriculture in Michigan. May is Michigan Asparagus Month! We encourage schools and other institutions to add Michigan asparagus to menus in May 2012. Please click to see Governor Snyder's proclamation, recipes for Asparagus Guacamole, Pasta Salad and Soup, and a Michigan asparagus poster to download, print, and display in school cafeterias. School food service directors can source Michigan asparagus through broadline and specialty distributors, use Michigan MarketMaker and Local Harvest to search for asparagus growers in your area, or review a list of additional Michigan asparagus distributors, handlers and farm markets which may be able to help source asparagus and check on prices. Watch our three new videos on farm to school best practices and innovations in Michigan! Check out food service directors touring a farm called Veges from the Ledges, Country Dairy showing us how they bring milk to local schools, and Bear Lake Schools sharing how they use local food in the Summer Food Service Program. Michigan Farm to School is coordinated by Colleen Matts, Farm to Institution Specialist, and Jekeia Murphy, Academic Specialist, with the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (formerly the CS Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems). Find more information including contact information on this Michigan Farm to School Fact Sheet.
Farm to School Partners: The Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (formerly the CS Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems) is one of ten FoodCorps state host sites in the 2011-2012 year. Through local partner organizations, six members are placed at school sites in Michigan to help jumpstart farm to school, school garden and nutrition education projects. Learn more here about the second national gathering of FoodCorps members in April 2012 in Washington DC. National Farm to School Network |