Presentations Available from Good Food in Schools Forum in Smiths Falls
Posted: April 27, 2017
Categories: Edible Education Network / GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Ontario / Schools
The Ontario Edible Education Network had the pleasure of attending a Good Food in Schools Forum in Smiths Falls earlier this year (February 22), hosted by The Table Community Food Centre, in partnership with Foodcore LGL and Two Rivers Food Hub.
The Table CFC has since uploaded the many informative presentations from the day, including the presentation made by Carolyn Webb, Sustain Ontario’s Edible Education Network Coordinator, on “Good Food in Schools Across Ontario”. Be sure to check out all the great presentations here.
Almost 100 people attended the full day event, including students, teachers, administrators, parents, public health workers, and representatives from various community organizations, all to explore how we can better improve school food environments, and set young people on a path for success with healthy eating habits.
The forum provided a valuable platform for school food advocates to learn from each other, sharing successes and challenges in incorporating healthy food and food literacy into students’ everyday lives.
Rich with spirited discussions, the well-attended event further demonstrates the significant interest in these sort of efforts—and it’s clear the interest is only growing!
Specific topics from the day included: indoor and outdoor gardening, the provincial Bright Bites program, transforming cafeterias, farm-to school programs, healthy food fundraisers, and how to create school environments that foster positive body image & self-esteem, healthy eating and physical activity.
Robert Patterson from the Growing Connection and Jennifer Owen with Tower Gardens also attended to share their innovative growing systems and projects.
The Table CFC shared that feedback from the Forum showed participant’s highlights included the many different stories and ideas shared, learnings about what is available, and the variety of presenters & presentations.
A desire to see more schools participating, along with more time to network and discuss these sort of topics in the future, was also evident among attendees.
Some participants even offered to discuss the event with their school administrators in an effort to build more support for future events, with a suggestion to seek out funding to compensate schools for substitute teachers when teachers attend!
If you would like to join in on these discussions or learn more, be sure to visit the Table CFC website for more information.