Early Childhood Farm to School: The Power and Curiosity of Our Youngest Learners

Maine Sea to School: From Fish Auction to Lunch Plate

How does seafood get from the water to the school lunch plate? This was the topic of the Maine's Local Food Processing Workgroup "Behind the Supply Chain" webinar series sponsored by the Maine Farm & Sea to Institution Network, the Maine Food Convergence Project, and the Department of Ag Conservation & Forestry. Hear from: Mary Hudson, Director of Fisheries Programs and Maine Coast Community Sector Manager of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, Shawn McEwen, CEO and co-founder of Sea Salt Lobster Co, in Kennebunk ME, Leni (lenny) Gronos, Owner and Operator from Graffam Brothers seafood processor in Rockport, ME and Mike Flynn, the School Nutrition Director from RSU 12 in the Sheepscit Valley Region. The webinar was hosted by Alida Peterson,  Associate Program Manager - Food Systems from the Maine Farm and Sea to Institution Network.

Indigenous Partnerships and Contributions to Farm to School

In this episode we talk with Brad Lopes, education and Public Program Manager at the Aquinnah Cultural Center and the Education Manager of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gayhead Aquinnah and Emily Armstrong, Education Director of Island Grown Initiative. Brad and Emily speak about the collaboration between Island Grown and the Aquinnah Cultural Center to promote tribal food sovereignty through the lens of curricular instruction and some best practices for engaging in local food sustainability and food sovereignty work in schools.

Stories From The Field

Welcome to Farm to School Northeast: A Podcast where we explore the creative ways that local food is getting into school cafeterias and how food system education is playing out in classrooms and school gardens across the northeast. On March 18, Massachusetts Farm to School held their biennial MA Farm and Sea to School Conference at Smith College in Northampton, MA. Over 350 attendees joined in from all areas of the farm and sea to school movement. There were educators, farmers and fishers, policy makers, food service staff, school administrators, secondary and college students, and more. The conference theme was, “Building Connections, Resilience and Joy,” and the opening plenary was a storytelling session, where 5 people shared a true and personal story from the heart that embodied the conference theme, be it a moment of challenge, joy, surprise, or change that reminds us why farm and sea to school work matters.  In this episode you will hear stories from Rina Zampieron, Education Program Manager, Early Education at Mass Audubon, Lizzy Agbedun, Advocacy Manager at Project Bread, Sarah Littmann, Director of Food & Nutrition Services at Triton Regional School District, Tim Offei-Addo, Farmer at Abrantie Farms, and Mellissa Honeywood, Deputy Director at the Boston Mayor's Office of Food Justice.

Feast Box: From Farmer to School

Welcome to Farm to School Northeast, a podcast where we explore the creative ways that local food is getting into school cafeterias and how food system education is playing out in classrooms and school gardens across the northeast. Meghan Arquin is a Western Massachusetts farmer who works with Farm Lab and runs the Feast Box program. Farm Lab is part of Momentum Ag, a grant-funded nonprofit coordinating environmentally conscious agriculture across 20 Northeast farms. Feast Box provides free weekly boxes of local vegetables to all students and staff at participating schools. Each box contains seasonal produce from Farm Lab and partner farms, plus simple recipes and farm notes to help families cook, try new foods, and connect with local agriculture.

Early Childhood Nutrition at Vermont's Mountain Village School

Welcome to Farm to School Northeast, a podcast where we explore the creative ways that local food is getting into school cafeterias and how food system education is playing out in classrooms and school gardens across the northeast. In this episode we talk about early childhood education and its connection to farm to school and childhood nutrition with Sarah Tousignant, the Executive Director of the Mountain Village School in Stowe, Vermont. The Mountain Village School is a nature-based independent school for children, birth through kindergarten, with afterschool programs for children in kindergarten through fourth grade. The school believes that early childhood is a crucial aspect of an individual's development and that nature, community harmony and discovery are the most important attributes of early childhood.