California Farm to School Program

An Effective Practice

Description

The goal of California Farm to School is to teach students about the path that food takes from the farm to their forks while instilling healthy eating habits. In addition, the program stresses the use of local produce in school meals and provides educational activities for students to participate in. Students participate in cooking demonstrations and farm tours and are taught how to compost and plant gardens. Overall, the program aims to teach children about where their food comes from and how their food choices impact the environment, their communities, and their bodies.

Goal / Mission

The goal of California Farm to School is to teach students about the path that food takes from the farm to their forks while instilling healthy eating habits.

Results / Accomplishments

As of 2007, 85 school districts in California were operating Farm to School programs. These programs often results in increases in school meal participation rates. For example, one school in Riverside Unified reported a 9% increase in overall school meal participation after the program was implemented.

In addition, an analysis of students from Compton Unified School District found that students who ate lunches from the farm fresh salad bar took between 90% and 144% of recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables. However, students who ate hot lunches only took between 40% and 60% of recommended servings.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Center for Food & Justice
Primary Contact
Mindy Swanson
Center for Food and Justice
1600 Campus Road, MS M-1
Los Angeles, CA 90041
(323) 341-5099
swanson@oxy.edu
http://www.farmtoschool.org/state-home.php?id=4
Topics
Health / Physical Activity
Health / Children's Health
Organization(s)
Center for Food & Justice
Date of publication
Jun 2007
Date of implementation
1997
Location
California
For more details
http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/publications/a_gro...
Target Audience
Children

Related Promising Practices

  1. Farm 2 School Lunch Program
  2. Be a Local Hero, Buy Locally Grown
  3. Implementing a Coordinated School Health Program: One Local School's Success
  4. School Lunch Initiative
  5. Winning With Wellness
  6. Four Seasons Hotel Composting Partnership

More

Related Content for: California Farm to School Program

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success and/or promise in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures of improvement in outcome of interest (i.e. increase in voter registration, not just delivery of voter registration drive) and/ or the outcome measure is increased or improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant.