Since initiating its farm to school (F2S) efforts in 2007, Georgia Organics has provided support for schools and districts implementing F2S program. It is the state lead for the National Farm to School network and has been the State Partner for FoodCorps since 2014. With a long-term goal to institutionalize F2S in the state, Georgia Organics has been expanding its F2S programming over the last three years to further increase the reach, depth, and sustainability of F2S activities in schools and districts already doing F2S, and in schools and districts new to F2S.
The purpose of this evaluation was to assess the impact of two of Georgia Organics’ core F2S initiatives—the Golden Radish Award and FoodCorps' service—on the development and sustainability of F2S programming in Georgia between 2014-2016, in order to identify areas of program improvement, provide information for stakeholders, and guide operational decisions.The Golden Radish Award was initiated by Georgia Organics in 2014 to recognize school districts and local education agencies implementing comprehensive F2S programs, and to incentivize other districts to get involved in F2S. Seventeen FoodCorps service members were also placed in Georgia school districts during the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years with the aim of “connect[ing] kids to healthy food in school.”