Hello Everyone, Time flies when you’re crunching local apples, and we’re already over half way through this year’s Farm to School + Early Care Education (ECE) Month. At the beginning of October, our Farm to School + ECE Leadership team was eager to kick things off knowing that the 2020 registration provided a variety of ways for everyone to participate. Despite the challenging and sometimes discouraging nature of this year, over 65,000 people have registered to crunch so far! That is remarkable and I want to give an enormous thank you to everyone who took the time to register. Although this celebratory month is going by quickly, it also launches us into a new season of opportunities to engage in Farm to School programming and to continue sharing on-the-ground successes. Just this week, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) opened two grant applications that invite MN schools to grow their Farm to School programming regardless of having prior experience,
Contributed by: Stephanie Heim, University of Minnesota Extension USDA will award up to $10 million in competitive grants to eligible entities. Each grant helps implement farm to school programs that increase access to local food in eligible schools, connect children with agriculture for better health, and inspire youth to consider careers in agriculture. There are three funding tracks available and new for FY 2021, institutions operating the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) at non-school based sites are included in the definition of eligible schools and may apply for funding. The deadline to apply is January 8th, 2020. Learn mor