The school cafeteria is key to Farm to School!

Explore below for more resources on how to get local food into schools, tips and recipes for cooking whole, fresh food, keeping food safe on the farm and in the cafeteria, tips for promoting fresh items, and how to host taste tests of new foods.

Local Food Procurement

Bringing food from the farm to the school is the crux of farm to school!

Preparing Fresh Foods

It’s a myth that kids won’t eat healthy food. There are lots and lots of great recipes out there, and these are kid-tested and approved!

Food Safety

As school nutrition directors and staff know, food safety is paramount. Local food can be as safe or safer than food that travels hundreds of miles from farm to plate.

Promoting Healthy Foods

When you serve local, fresh, amazingly-delicious foods, you want kids to eat it! As one school nutrition director puts it, “We want healthy kids, not healthy trashcans.”

Taste Tests

Taste tests are small samples of food, served separately from lunch, that introduce a food’s flavor, texture, and smell.