The Ontario Farm to School Challenge starts today! Recording of the Sept. 24th webinar now available
Posted: October 1, 2013
Categories: Edible Education Network / Good Food Ideas for Kids / GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Ontario / Webinars
The Ontario Farm to School Challenge starts today! Join Sustain Ontario, FoodShare Toronto, and the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation and Greenbelt Fund for the third round of the Challenge, running from October 1st to 31st.
In advance of the October round, program leaders came together for a webinar on September 24th to share their own stories of projects that encourage school staff and help them access the tools they need to set the table for local food. The webinar features Jillian McCallum of VON Canada, along with chef Robert Catherine and Mike Turnbull from the Unemployed Help Centre of Windsor. They present their exciting pilot farm-to-school projects in Windsor and southwestern Ontario. We also hear from Megan Hunter, Communications and Program Manager with the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation and Greenbelt Fund, who demonstrates how schools can use the Ontariofresh.ca Marketplace, a unique business-to-business network that connects local farmers with institutions, to buy more local food from Ontario producers.
Thank you once again to our presenters and attendees for sharing their experiences and ideas for innovative farm to school programs and resources. Please share news about the Ontario Farm to School Challenge and the Ontariofresh.ca Marketplace widely!
For those of you who were unable to attend the webinar the powerpoint presentations are shared below.
How Does the Challenge Work?
For the month of October, educators can share how they have incorporated local food into their school food program by posting to our Facebook page, tweeting at us @ONFarm2School, or sending an email to kids@sustainontario.ca. Photos, recipes and lesson plans are encouraged. You can report any time you have new information on your school’s farm to school activities. The more entries and information you send, the more chances to win!
Example Tweet: Our cafeteria is now procuring all fruit from MyLocal farm! Just received 60 lbs of apples! @ONfarm2school
Example Facebook Post: Grade 7 family studies students visited Dufferin Grove’s Farmers Market today and came away with tons of fresh produce to take home to their families.
The options for getting your school involved are endless. Your school can organize classroom taste tests, local food art projects, visit to a farm or farmer’s market, visit from a chef or farmer, or cooking demonstrations.
For more ideas, check out the Resources Page on ontariofresh.ca/farmtoschool, browse FoodShare’s Field to Table School resources for ideas about educational food initiatives or connect with the Ontario Edible Education Network.