The Cabot Farm to School Team at the Farm to School Workshop

Thirty-five teachers, food service personnel, parents, farmers, school health staff, administrators and community members from elementary schools across the state gathered at Shelburne Farms in June for a three and a half day

Vermont Farm to School Cabot Farm to School Team

Summer Workshop. The objective of this pilot workshop was to support schools and communities in getting students to make healthy food choices that include eating lots of fresh Vermont-grown food. It was funded by the first-ever Farm to School grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, awarded to Shelburne Farms, as fiscal agent of Vermont Food Education Every Day (VT FEED), to identify and evaluate the most effective ways to get kids to eat healthy foods, an expression of the nation-wide concern about the epidemic of childhood obesity.

Workshop participants spent the three days learning together, sharing ideas and working with resource specialists to develop effective strategies to move their existing Farm to School programs to the next level. Building upon strong foundations, each school team spent the time planning how to integrate menus that children will eat, with produce local farmers can grow, which school food service can afford; with the goal of serving more fresh, healthy, local food in school cafeterias.

At the June workshop, there were lectures on budgeting, garden planning, reaching out to the community, engaging parents, and more. Many participants commented that the opportunity to talk to others in the same field were especially valuable. Linda Brown, a classroom teacher at Cornwall Elementary School, said, "This was the best three-day workshop that I've ever done. There was so much information, sharing and inspiration."

One productive session involved twosomes of a teacher and food service person setting a goal for themselves and then inviting another workshop participant with special expertise to help them. For example, a goal of creating a school garden found a valuable partner in a community banker who would help with sponsorship and volunteers. A team that wanted to expand their school garden partnered with a representative of a local emergency food shelf who can help with volunteers, and a farmer who will donate plowing.

At a final gathering of the group on Wednesday afternoon, teams were asked to post their personal plans for actions to support Farm to School, and to choose one word for the outcome of the experience. Pledges ranged from promising to cook a special Harvest Soup recipe, to telling everyone they meet about the power of Farm to School, to coming to the next workshop. Words for the three-and-a-half days of Farm to School immersion: fertilized, germinated, inspired, empowered.

The successful Vermont Farm to School Summer Workshop was presented by VT FEED in partnership with the Burlington School Food Project, Green Mountain Farm to School, Upper Valley Farm to School Network, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, Vermont Department of Education and the Vermont Department of Health.

Abbie Nelson and Megan Camp with Mike Dupee, Vice President for Social Responsibility for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in Boston at the "Revelation to Action" Celebration in Boston

We are thrilled to announce that Vermont FEED and Jr. Iron Chef Vermont both won grants, thanks to your votes, from Green Mountain Coffee^®and Ashoka's Changemakers in their Revelation to Action competition. Vermont FEED was competition winners, and Junior Iron Chef VT was winner of the Vermont State prize.

The winners, from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont,  were chosen from hundreds of creative ideas for strengthening and engaging communities across the Northeastern U.S.  Based on the Changemakers' theory: "We believe a simple idea can transform your street, your neighborhood, and your community," the awards were given based on an on-line voting process and decisions of a panel of judges.

The Revelation to Action winners were announced at a Celebration Event held July 14 at the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts in Boston. Each winner was awarded $5,000 and will be featured on www.Changemakers.com/Revelation as one of the best ideas for mobilizing citizens to build a better community.

A panel of five distinguished judges from the Northeastern business and academic community narrowed the diverse pool of applicants to 15 finalists based on the innovation, social impact and sustainability of each entry. The Changemakers online community then voted for the best entries, and the three finalists with the most votes were selected as overall competition winners. Green Mountain Coffee selected seven additional state winners - one from each of the participating states.

"We believe a simple idea can transform your street, your neighborhood, and your community," said Michael Dupee, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., who also served as a competition judge. "The range of pragmatic and innovative ideas we learned about through the Revelation to Action competition will hopefully serve as a catalyst for other communities to consider and adapt to their local circumstances."

"The solutions submitted to this competition are powerful initiatives for grassroots change, whether they address homelessness in Vermont, prisoner reform in Massachusetts, or better parenting programs for fathers in urban New York," said Diana Wells, Ashoka's president. "The Changemakers community is sharing practical solutions that inspire people to pitch in to build on the strengths of their communities."

Danielle Pipher, VT FEED Educator teamed up with Cat Buxton from Cedar Circle Farm to prepare and Organize a Rainbow Roots taste test at Thetford Elementary last fall.

• the National Farm to Caferteria Conference in Detroit,
• our new Professional Development courses,
  
• the USDA tactical team visit in Burlington, and more.