Northeast Indiana Farm to School Team
The Northeast Indiana Farm to School team collaborates through community partnerships to generate awareness, create sustainable educational and agricultural opportunities, and support healthy living.
The Northeast Indiana Farm to School team bridges the gap between local farmers, schools and the community to cultivate a healthy environment where every person can live a life of well-being, success and purpose.
We will work to achieve our mission and vision by increasing Farm to School awareness and initiatives, promoting healthy living and providing agricultural and nutrition education experiences. To learn more about our introduction to the Farm to School program, check out our Parkview blog.
Current Farm to School Team Partners:
- Parkview Health
- Northeast Indiana Local Food Network
- Lakeland School Corporation
- Cameron Hospital
- Steuben County Soil and Water Conservation District
- East Allen County Schools
- Shape Up Steuben
- Bishop Luers High School
- Northwest Allen County Schools
- Purdue Extension
- Community Harvest Food Bank
- DeKalb Central Schools
- Trine University
- MSD of Steuben County
- Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools
- Fort Wayne Community Schools
- Community Members/Volunteers
Funding Received:
- USDA Farm to School Planning Grant – Fall 2019
- PNC Charitable Trusts – July 2020
Goals of the Northeast Indiana Farm to School Team
- The Northeast Indiana Farm to School team will create a tiered system for farm to school implementation activities in which any school/district can participate at an appropriate level.
- The Northeast Indiana Farm to School team will work in coordination with the Northeast Indiana Local Food Network (NILFN) to establish a networking event for local producers and schools to engage in conversations.
- Continue to build the Northeast Indiana Farm to School team throughout the 11-county region.
- Achieve positive changes in well-being behavior and knowledge through farm to school activities.
- Connect students to farm to school educational opportunities.
- Support local producers and the economic resilience or rural communities in our region.
- Increase awareness of the Northeast Indiana Farm to School initiative.
- Increase the percentage of locally produced food which is served in the classrooms and/or cafeterias.
- Grow the amount of fresh local produce that is available in the community backpack programs.
- Include farm to school activities within the district wellness guidelines and/or policies.
- Address Food Insecurity throughout Northeast Indiana
- Gain and maintain administration and community leadership support for Northeast Indiana Farm to School initiatives within our 11-county northeast region.
- Improve school access to local agricultural products.
Objectives of the USDA Farm to School Planning Grant
- Identify and solve for gaps in the farm to school supply chain with school representatives and other project participants to increase procurement of local foods in schools by 20%.
- Create a comprehensive regional farm to school action plan.
- A document to make the process of implementing Northeast Indiana Farm to School initiatives easier for all who are interested.
- Complements and follows USDA’s Farm to School Action Plan Template.
- Create individual school/district farm to school implementation plans (focusing on education/marketing, gardens and local procurement) for each of the participating schools/districts that tie to the regional plan.
- Districts included:
- MSD of Steuben County
- Lakeland School Corporation
- Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools
- Northwest Allen County Schools
- East Allen County Schools
- Districts included: