We support access to healthy food for the youngest members of our communities through farm to school initiatives. Farm to School programming is built upon three pillars: ag and nutrition education, school gardens, and procurement, or purchasing of locally produced foods for the cafeteria. Many schools in our region have added gardens or ag and nutrition education to their curriculum, and are interested in adding more local foods to their food service programs. 

Members of our team are engaged in all three pillars of farm to school work in our region, and are actively involved with the Indiana Grown for Schools Network.

Local Foods for Schools

We’re excited to share that our organization was one of two within Indiana to be awarded a Local Food for Schools grant from the Indiana Department of Health. This grant is providing funds to purchase local products from Indiana farmers/producers (vegetables, fruits, meats/eggs, dairy, grains) to then distribute for FREE to qualifying schools within our NWI Region. Qualifying schools/districts must:

1. Participate in the National School Lunch Program, and

2. Have 50% or more students participating in Free and Reduced Lunch or are considered a CEP school/district.

Through the council’s Region Roots Local Farm and Food Hub we are thrilled to work with our area schools and districts to be able to provide FREE LOCAL FOOD. We would love to connect with you and learn more about how your food service program is operated and your needs and interests for this coming year. We are already working with local farmers through forward contracting to ensure that we have fresh, seasonal options available year-round. We’d love to hear from you!