Fresh, healthy, local food is an experience we want kids to learn to enjoy – for their own health, and for the health of our rural food economies. By connecting activities in the classroom and on field trips to food in the lunchroom, the Farm to School program is making an important shift in the normal lines of school food service operations and helping kids understand how to balance a diet rich in prepared foods with healthier choices.

Working in Schools

Together, the Community Alliance with Family Farmers and the Growers Collaborative are building a Farm-to-School program that brings fresh, locally-grown, and unprocessed fruits and vegetables into school cafeterias across California. In many of the schools CAFF works in, students have little exposure to fresh fruits and vegetables in their home. The fresh vegetables they see in the cafeteria are often the only ones they see all day, therefore the educational outreach is not just important to teach kids about the importance of eating healthy, but also simply to introduce them to the new experiences of eating fresh raw snap peas, crunchy broccoli, and sweet in-season tangerines.