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Attention Farmers: This program is creating opportunities
for Michigan farms to sell directly to schools and institutions to serve to
their clients such as students and patients. Check out the opportunities at
this web site and start planning for next year.
All the best
Vicki Morrone, Outreach specialist for organic farmers.
517-353-3542
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October
30, 2008
Michigan Farm to School Website Now on
the Menu:
Helping schools link to local food
Michigan
Farm to School has launched a new website to share information, tools, and
resources that help support farm to school projects throughout the state.
“Farm
to school” applies to a variety of initiatives that link schools and kids
to local food and farms, including procurement of local food for school meals
programs, fundraisers utilizing local agricultural products, and education
opportunities like school gardens, farmer visits to school classrooms and
cafeterias, and school field trips to local farms.
The
website houses Purchasing Michigan Products: A Step-By-Step Guide, a
local food purchasing manual for Michigan school food service directors.
Reviewed by school food service directors and an advisory committee, the Guide
walks school food service directors through the process of purchasing food
directly from local farmers, provides templates of forms for competitive
bidding, and compiles regulatory information concerning local food purchasing
for school meals programs participating in the National School Lunch Program.
From the website, Purchasing Michigan Products can be viewed and/or
downloaded in its entirety or step by step.
The
website also allows interested readers to sign up for the Michigan Farm to
School listserv (MIFARMTOSCHOOL). It provides links to other organizations
working on farm to school and additional resources like recipes for school
meals programs using local food. With funding from Michigan State
University’s Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet
Economic and Environmental Needs), a manual for Michigan farmers to market to
school will be developed over the next two years and posted to the website upon
completion. Information about classroom activities, fundraisers with local food
and agricultural products, and community resources will be coming soon.
# # #
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Colleen
Matts, Farm to School Specialist with the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food
Systems at Michigan State University, coordinates Michigan Farm to School. The
website and Purchasing Michigan Products were developed by Colleen Matts
and Betty T. Izumi of the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems with
graphic design by Eat Local Food, LLC. These projects were funded by the North
Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Graduate
Student Grant Program and the C.S. Mott Chair of Sustainable Agriculture at
Michigan State University.
CONTACT:
Colleen
Matts
Farm
to School Specialist,
CS
Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems
Michigan
State University
Tel:
517.432.0310
Email:
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