By Anupama Joshi, Executive Director and Co-Founder
On behalf of the entire National Farm to School Network, the farm to school practitioners we support, and the kids and farmers who benefit from our work, thank you for joining us on Giving Tuesday and generously contributing to our efforts.
We raised more than $12,000 in ONE WEEK thanks to the support of farm to school champions like you and a match from Newman's Own Foundation. And we’re not done!
Through the end of December, you can help us reach our end-of-year goal to raise a total of $15,000 by making a tax-deductible donation that will go toward network development to strengthen this grassroots movement, resources and trainings for farm to school practitioners across the country, and policy advocacy at the state and federal level.
As we near the end of the year, I am thankful for the many contributions and successes our team has made in 2015. Here’s a glimpse of some of our big wins for the farm to school movement:
- National Policy: Introduced the Farm to School Act of 2015 with bipartisan and bicameral support in Washington, D.C., and we are continuing work on the Child Nutrition Act reauthorization to expand opportunities for connecting kids with healthy food and nutrition education
- State-level Support: Launched Seed Change, our first targeted state-level initiative to grow farm to school activities and develop strong networks of support
- Focus on Early Care and Education: Strengthened our engagement in early childhood education and care with dedicated program staff to elevate farm to early care and education at the national level and work with key partners to research and identify innovative strategies
- Farm to School Month: Expanded public awareness by sharing the farm to school message with more than 3.5 million people during National Farm to School Month
- Leadership Development: Gathered our network of farm to school leaders from across the country in Chicago for two days of targeted training, resource sharing and partnership, including a cohort of Native communities
In 2016, we look forward to hosting the 8th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference, releasing new data from a national survey of early care and education settings, re-launching our educational webinar series and starting a strategic planning process to guide the future of NFSN and the farm to school movement.
We need your help to continue this important work.
We wouldn't be here without the incredible generosity of our supporters. Thank you for being a part of the National Farm to School Network and contributing to vibrant communities, and healthy kids, farms and families!