What Is Farm to School? A Guide to Local Food in Schools and Child Nutrition Programs

Farm to school programs connect students with fresh, local foods while teaching them about agriculture and nutrition. But what exactly does “farm to school” mean, and how do these programs work in practice? Oregon’s farm to school coordinators Rick Sherman and Michelle Markesteyn break down this growing movement in schools and child nutrition programs across the state.

Defining Farm to School

Simply put, farm to school means getting local food into school cafeterias and teaching kids about where that food comes from. However, as Sherman and Markesteyn explain after working together in the field for 15 years, “it’s really so much more. It’s an ever evolving concept.”

Farm to school and school garden programs encompass any combination of activities related to kids learning about and eating local foods. The term “farm” is actually broader than it might seem, referring to “all varieties and forms of foods that are grown, caught, harvested, raised, or processed locally.”

What Counts as Local Food?

Local foods served in child nutrition programs include much more than fresh produce. The category encompasses fresh apples and zucchini, frozen or dried produce, canned items, local dairy products like fluid milk, cheese and yogurt, whole grains, and even locally processed center-of-plate menu items.

Markesteyn offers specific examples: “things like Tamales, Yakisoba noodles, pink shrimp, smoked beef” all qualify as local foods when sourced from regional producers.

Beyond the School Building

While the term “farm to school” is widely used nationally, these programs extend far beyond traditional school settings. As Sherman explains, “we say farm to school because it’s a national term…but we have shied away from it in the past because we at the Department of Education and our Child Nutrition programs…offer meals in the schools, but we also offer meals…that aren’t anywhere near a school.”

Child nutrition programs operate in diverse settings including childcare centers, pre-K programs, after school programs like Boys and Girls Clubs, summer camps, and summer food service programs in parks. In Oregon, the term “farm to child nutrition” more accurately captures this breadth.

Real-World Success: Boat to School

One compelling example comes from Bend La Pine School District in central Oregon’s high desert, several hours from the coast. Despite the distance from ocean waters, the district used farm to school grant funding to feature local seafood including pink shrimp, locally caught sole, and fish tacos from a food truck at their high schools.

“The kids there don’t have a lot of opportunity for fresh seafood, but they just loved it because they were exposed to it,” Sherman recalls. The district cleverly branded their program “boat to school,” demonstrating the creative ways programs can connect students with regional foods.

Navigating Nutrition Requirements

Incorporating local foods requires expertise from nutrition service directors who navigate federal USDA requirements for meal content and quality. These professionals must ensure meals meet standards for fat content, saturated fat, sodium, protein, and whole grains while sourcing locally.

“That is why one of many reasons…school nutrition service folks are heroes,” Markesteyn emphasizes. “It takes so much to figure out how to do all that and layer in how to do that with locally produced and processed foods.”

The Education Connection

Procurement alone isn’t enough. “It’s not enough to put local foods on the lunch line,” Markesteyn notes. “Kids need to know where their food comes from and then they’re more willing to try it and eat it…If kids eat it, schools will buy it.”

This systems approach connects local food procurement with agriculture and food-based education, creating meaningful learning experiences that increase student acceptance of new foods.

What School Gardens Look Like

School gardens provide hands-on learning opportunities, but there’s no typical model. “There is no typical school garden. It could be almost anything,” Sherman explains. Examples range from “peas in a clay pot on a windowsill” to hydroponic systems, outdoor learning spaces accommodating whole classrooms, native pollinator gardens, and even full six-acre farms on school property.

Some school gardens include pizza ovens, outdoor kitchens, and spaces for harvesting and processing produce. Oregon programs have used grant funding to develop these diverse learning environments where students can grow, process, and prepare their own food.

Shared Values Across Communities

While farm to school and school garden programs look different in every community across the country, they’re all “grounded in shared values of community, health and well-being and prosperous local food systems,” Markesteyn concludes.

This foundation connects diverse approaches under one movement working to improve child nutrition, support local agriculture, and strengthen regional food systems.

Listen to the full podcast episode to hear more about what farm to school means and how these programs work in practice.