From Aspiration to Action

In 2010, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health launched its first farm to school program in partnership with South Euclid Lyndhurst School District and Red Basket Farm. This pilot set out to answer a simple question: How can schools serve more fresh, local food and make it appealing to students? This sparked the idea for what would eventually become Feed Our Future®.

We set out to overcome misperceptions that local food in schools was not food safe, was too expensive, and wasn’t feasible with short growing seasons in Northeast Ohio. 

The local landscape revealed a clear gap. Producers were eager to supply healthy, local ingredients. Schools saw the value but faced logistical hurdles, from complex bid processes to limited equipment and budgets. The biggest challenge was overcoming the belief that students wouldn’t eat fresh, local foods. 

Our vision is rooted in a powerful belief: Every child deserves access to fresh, healthy, and when possible, local foods—no matter where they go to school. 

From the beginning, our organization’s mission has been to make farm to school not only possible, but practical, scalable, and rooted in the real needs of students, school foodservice staff, and local producers. What sets us apart is how we make farm to school accessible: 

• Turnkey farm to school bid model that makes participation seamless for schools and producers 

• Hands-on technical assistance and funding to bring small and emerging producers to the table 

• Youth engagement opportunities like the Food Leaders Alliance that spark student curiosity and innovative programming like taste test events to build lasting demand 

• Equipment support that lowers operational barriers for schools 

Today, Feed Our Future® acts as a bridge, translator, and catalyst, guided by three core values: 

• Connecting producers, distributors, and hubs with schools 

• Collaborating with partners to increase demand for local foods 

• Convening the local foods community to share knowledge and inspire change 

In collaboration with our external equity partner, Verge Impact Partners, we ensure our strategies meet the needs of historically underrepresented producers, students, and communities. 

At its heart, Feed Our Future® remains what it has always been: a connector, collaborator, and convener, helping schools, producers, and students write the next chapter in the region’s local food story.