The Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program supports child nutrition program operators to incorporate local food into their school cafeterias. Farm to school makes local food and agricultural education available to child nutrition programs. The Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program is designed to increase the availability of local foods in schools.
Feed Our Future was recently notified that we were one of the awarded projects for the 2024 Patrick Leahy Farm to School grant opportunity!
Feed Our Future (FOF): Empowering Youth Leaders to Champion Local Foods will engage youth leaders in rural and urban school districts to uplift the student voice to shape schools’ access to local food. This program empowers youth to develop leadership skills and act as leaders among their peers.
The project goals are:
- Incorporate youth empowerment in FOF’s Farm to school structure by piloting a youth ambassador program;
- Increase access to local foods by connecting local and regional sourcing efforts to youth-led farm to school activities;
- Increase sourcing from local and regional producers by connecting students with local growers and producers and increase their engagement with the supply chain;
- Increase access to agricultural education by assisting in the adaptation of FOF assets, including Harvest of the Month kits, taste test events, and recipe development; and
- Expand organizational capacity to support FOF’s youth-focused strategies by engaging in new and enhancing existing partnerships.
We are so excited about this award and what it will do for school aged children. Be sure to take the pledge and sign up for our newsletter to learn more about the ways you can get involved with us.
Congratulations to all of the other grantees!