Happy Farm to School Month!
It's October and we're thrilled to celebrate Farm to School Month and share celebrations around the state!
Farm to School Month Calendar, October 2023
Date: Throughout the Month
Location: Portland, Multnomah
Event: Grow Portland is partnering with 14 local schools to celebrate farm to school month with an abundance of local apples from Hood River! All of their 6,000 students will also be focusing on plant part lessons and eating plenty of fresh fruits and veggies from their gardens.
Date: October 5th
Location: Statewide!
Event: The Oregon Farm to School Crunch!
Date: October 5
Location: Central Point
Event: Farm Field Trip!
Students at Patrick Elementary in Central Point are taking a field trip to Hanley Farm!
Date: October 6, 9-10pm
Location: Virtual
Event: Tracking Oregon Purchases for Child Nutrition Programs
Are you unsure how to track your Oregon purchases for the farm to CNP grant reports? Wondering if there might be an easier way to track local purchases throughout the year so you can report accurately to ODE?
If we want to sustain and grow funding for farm to school in Oregon, we need accurate data to share with legislators that shows the full picture of local purchases.
We know Child Nutrition Programs don't have extra time for tracking so we're here to offer some tried and true methods to simplify keeping track of your local spending. Join us to learn from experienced school nutrition directors and staff about various ways to track Oregon and local purchases for the Farm to CNP grant program and other purchasing programs!
Date: October 17
Location: Willamina, OR
Event: From Apples to Zucchini: What Small Growers Need to Know to Sell to Schools
This October, The Oregon Department of Agriculture, along with partners Carrie Sendak, owner of Mama Tee's Farmstead, and Willamina School District Nutrition Services Director, Lynne Shore, are hosting a workshop series for the Farm to School Program. If you are a small diversified fruit or vegetable grower interested in selling directly to a school in your region you won't want to miss this opportunity.
Date: October 20th
Location: Virtual
Event: Northwest Youth Garden Network (NWYGN) Fall Virtual Gathering
The opportunity for networking, building relationships, and being in community with like minded peers is invaluable. There weren't — and to this day still aren’t — many networks for working with demographic of older youth (ages 14-21), until NWYGN!
Join us to learn about promising high school aged school garden programs from Kim Gaffi (she/her)—co-founder of GRuB—and the Jones Valley Teaching Farm. This webinar includes an open forum Q&A.
Date: October 7th, 2022
Location: Logos Public Charter School, Medford.
Event: Harvest Meal: Pizza Making!
October 7, 2-4pm. Logos Public Charter School will use homemade sauce from their garden tomatoes and herb toppings from around the garden to make personal pizzas for every student! Cooked on BBQ grills 🙂
Oregon Farm to School Month Events
Oregon's first ever CRUNCH event taking place on October 5th, 2023!
Over 28 schools and school districts throughout Oregon are signed up to participate. More than 30,000 students will be crunching on a local apple, carrot or other crunchy produce item for Oregon Farm to School Month!
Prairie City School, Prairie City
Jewell School, Seaside
Bend La Pine Schools
Sage Elementary School, Redmond
Luckiamute Valley Charter School, Dallas
Orchard Hill Elementary, Medford
Cesar Chavez, Portland
Willow Wind ClC, Ashland*
Klamath County Schools*
Willamette Primary School, West Linn*
Trillium Creek Primary, West Linn
Sunset Primary, West Linn*
*Indicates different Crunch date
Stafford Primary School, West Linn*
Lowrie Primary School, Wilsonville*
Cedaroak Park Primary School, West Linn*
Boones Ferry Primary, Wilsonville*
Bolton Primary School. West Linn*
Boeckman Creek Primary School, Wilsonville*
M.A. Lynch Elementary, Redmond
Knight Elementary, Canby
Head starts in Grants Pass, Medford, Merlin, Cave Junction, Phoenix, Ashland, Rogue River, Gold Hill
Elementary Schools in Roseburg, South Umpqua & Winston Dillard School Districts
Chenowith Elementary School, The Dalles
Athena Elementary School, Athena
Island City Elementary, La Grande
Phoenix Elementary, Phoenix*
Orchard Hill Elementary, Medford*
Talent Elementary, Talent*
Patrick Elementary, Gold Hill*
Central Point Elementary, Central Point*
Mae Richardson Elementary, Central Point*
Sams Valley Elementary, Central Point*
Jewett Elementary, Central Point*
Redmond School District Schools
Eugene School District Schools
Bend La Pine School District Schools
Looking for inspiration? Check out 2023's Farm to School Month lineup (below)!
Host a site visit!
Farm to School month is more than just a celebration, it's a showcase of the groundbreaking farm to school work happening in Oregon. Invite a Legislator or Administrator to the cafeteria, garden or farm!
Plan a local lunch week!
Celebrate Farm to School Month choosing a week to source over 50% of your ingredients from Oregon grown or produced products!