NEWS AND RESOURCES
NEWS
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Cancelled: FY 2025 Farm to School Grants
We recently received disappointing news: the USDA has canceled the FY 2025 Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program. This unexpected decision means that much-needed funding for farm-to-school initiatives, including our work, will not be available this year. While...
Celebrating Florida Food Day with Hillsborough County Public Schools
On March 21, 2024, Locally Grown partnered with the Student Nutrition Services team at Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) to host its first (but not last) Florida Food Day, a unique event featuring an all-Florida-sourced school lunch. It was an exciting day,...
Our Newest Project! Local Food For Schools
Bringing Florida Food to Florida Kids We are excited to announce our involvement with our first state-wide project! The Florida School Nutrition Association (FSNA) was awarded a $6.5 million cooperative agreement from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer...
RESOURCES
What is Farm to School
and How Do We Build It?
Purchasing
Local purchasing involves building farmer relationships, navigating procurement rules and budget considerations. LG is here to take that burden away from the School Nutrition Team to ensure sustainability.
Education
We teach students reading, writing, math and so on, but we often forget we must also teach them how to eat to best nourish their bodies and minds! We support lessons that make connections to where and how our food is produced and what is served in the school cafeteria.
Gardening
How do you close the loop and ensure that students will actually consume the healthy local foods being served? You let them get their hands dirty through experiential gardening! If they grow it, they will eat it.
Agricultural Producer Resources
FDACS Resources and Training
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) helps connect farmers and producers with schools looking to purchase fresh Florida commodities.
A coordinated relationship between producers and schools is key to the Farm to School initiative. Without producers, Farm to School would not be possible.
Find resources to connect with schools, market your products, receive technical assistance and training, and learn more about food safety requirements.
CLICK TO LEARN MORE
USDA Food Buying Guide
The USDA Food Buying Guide is an excellent resource for food yield information for all child nutrition programs. You can use the tool to determine the contribution that each food makes toward meal pattern requirements.
The Food Buying Guide is available as an Interactive Web-based Tool, Mobile App, and downloadable PDF.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD
Food Education and School Garden Resources
Do you live or work in Hillsborough County?
Join our Farm to School Group through the Homegrown Hillsborough Network.
Featured Resources
Local Food Marketing
Downloadable Images (for social media, serving line clings, stickers)
