Quarterly Newsletter | Summer 2022

A Note from Our Director

Greetings OFSSGN Community,

We’re excited to offer our first OFSSGN quarterly newsletter and have the opportunity to share more about the projects OFSSGN is supporting as well as resources for your farm to school and school garden work. 

Summer is a time of bounty in Oregon with a great variety of fresh, delicious fruits and vegetables in season. Just because many schools may be on recess doesn’t mean the work of feeding students ends. We know food producers and child nutrition professionals are working hard to feed our children and communities through summer feeding programs across the state. We’re so grateful for the dedication and hard work of all the hands and hearts that bring nourishment to students and their families. 

We hope you’ll take the time to learn more about OFSSGN’s projects and partners, and perhaps even find a new way to get involved in our work! I hope this newsletter will bring you useful information and new inspiration. 

Melina
Table of Contents
I. Featured Partner
II. ODE Farm to Summer Week Challenge
III. Oregon Harvest for Schools Directory: Producer Spotlight
IV. Regional Farm to School Hub updates
V. Announcements: Funding, Webinars and Job Opportunities
VI. OFSSGN Staff updates
Featured Partner - Spring Alaska Schreiner
Spring Alaska Schreiner, also known as Upingaksraq (the time when the ice breaks), is the principal Indigenous agriculturalist and owner of Sakari Farms in Central Oregon. Sakari Farms is a tribally owned and operated business that grows Indigenous First Foods, implements research-based tribal seed production, teaches and educates, and does contract and wholesale growing.

She is an honored recipient of the 2022 Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Awards. 
Sakari Farms is creating a Pacific Northwest Tribal Food Guide with support and funding from the OFSSGN! The guide is focusing on those tribal members growing food, creating food products, growing school gardens, tribal chefs and seed keepers in the PNW. They are looking for individuals to sign up to be part of this FREE publication.

If you know of any producers that would like to showcase their tribal products/farming, etc. pass along this very quick survey.  Thank you so much!

*Note: the survey has some difficulty opening in Chrome. If you experience this, try opening it in another browser
Oregon Department of Education (ODE) Farm to Summer Week Challenge. 

Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) Sponsors are encouraged to pledge to do the following during Farm to Summer Week - July 11-15, 2022:

  • Serve a minimum of one local food
  • Provide a minimum of one food enrichment activity (in-person or virtually depending on local conditions)
  • Share Farm to Summer Celebration Week successes at least once through social media, website or another outlet
     

Awards (a pear trophy!) will go to the top three sponsors that meet all three requirements of the challenge. 

How do I take the Pledge? Contact FarmtoCNP@ode.oregon.gov to participate. 

Oregon Harvest for Schools Directory Spotlight! 
Well Rooted Farms
Newly added to the Directory!
At Well Rooted Farms in Central Oregon, Frank and Janelle Maricle's family run and operated farm is ready to supply produce and eggs for summer meal programs! Visit the Directory to see their availability of cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon, and more!
Photo credit: Well Rooted Farms
Kiyokawa Family Orchards
Kiyokawa Family Orchards is family-owned and operated in Parkdale. They have been growing in the Hood River Valley for over 100 years. They specialize in apples, pears, stone fruits and grapes and grow over 120 varieties! Visit the Directory to see their availability of summer fruits!

Photo credit: Oregonfresh.net 
Visit the Oregon Harvest for Schools Directory
 "What products are you looking to source for summer meals?" 
- Thoughts from Food Service Directors -
 
"We order a lot of apples and oranges. Grapes go over well when we can get them.
Would order more variety if it was available. Im sure melons, peaches, pears would go over great also" - Vale SD
 
Strawberries, Peaches, Watermelon, Cherries, Mini Peppers, Tomatoes (of any kind), Cucumbers, Melons, Snap Peas, Lettuce, Frozen berries or other frozen fruits!

Check out HealthySchoolRecipes.com's inspiration for 8 Fresh and Fruity Summer Recipes!  
This summer Corvallis School District will be providing a "Trail Pack" for summer lunches featuring Better Bean local hummus!
 Regional Roundup - Southern Oregon 
Regional Hub Coordinators in Southern Oregon share updates from their counties!
The OFSSGN coordinates and supports Regional Hubs around the state to provide assistance, training and networking opportunities to educators, child nutrition professionals, food producers and community members. To connect with the Regional Hub in your area click here.

Jackson & Josephine Counties

Regional Hub Coordinators Abigail Blinn (Procurement, on right) and Rebecca Slosberg (Education, on left) at Rogue Valley Farm to School continue to support local purchasing for school meals with weekly availability lists, summer harvest of the month recipes, nutritional information and resources. They are also supporting our schools to participate in the Farm to Summer Challenge.

Klamath & Lake Counties
In Klamath and Lake Counties Patty Case (Education and Procurement Hub Coordinator) is working with Integral Youth Services to develop a procurement system for summer lunch meals and assisting Klamath Kid Center and Lake District Hospital with procuring local/regional products for their meals this summer. Collaborated with Chiloquin Library to create a children’s garden bed and barrels—youth and community volunteers helped plant an apple tree, raspberries, carrots, potatoes, strawberries and flowers. We are also coordinating our Featured Foods calendar for next school year!
Douglas County
Douglas County has seen tremendous growth and interest in school gardens. Erin Maidlow (Education and Procurement Hub Coordinator) has been able to provide garden consultations at several schools who are now starting or restarting their garden programs! "Yoncalla Elementary, Days Creek Charter School, and Fullerton IV are just a few of the schools that we're excited to be working with to build their garden programs."
Coos/Curry Counties
In North Curry County, Cathy Boden (Education Hub Coordinator) is helping to build a new program where garden space helps Early Childhood students transition to the K-12 school system.  A new garden is being designed at the Port Orford library which will focus on ECE education.  When these young students graduate they will be introduced to their new Driftwood School starting in the school garden.  In Central Curry Cathy is helping the County Juvenile Department adopt and manage a community garden to help their clients.

In Coos County, Cathy and Kathleen Dickson (Procurement Hub Coordinator) are presenting the Farm to CNP program to a new group headed up by the Coos Head Food Co-op, called "The Beet Consortium." The Consortium is interested in finding ways to support the Farm to CNP program for the 2022-23 school year.
School Gardens in the Summer
Summer is an exciting time in school gardens - the sun is shining, pollinators are abound, and flowers, fruits and veggies are at their peak! But where are our students, volunteers and educators to enjoy the bounty?! Check out the Summer in the Garden section on our website to keep your garden flourishing through to the fall.

Watering your garden: The School Garden Support Organization (SGSO) has wonderful resources on installing drip irrigation! Or, consider engaging volunteers, a garden coordinator, or school staff to keep the garden irrigated! Remember to check in with custodial staff before going on vacation to make sure the water to the garden doesn't get shut off!

Using school gardens in summer school programs: Students and staff are on campus all summer! Offer up the garden as a space to play, eat, reflect, and care for. Consider starting a summer garden program for students. 

Preserving the harvest: Check with food service staff to see if they can include garden produce in summer meals! Also consider freezing, drying, or canning school garden produce for use in the fall. It's also a kind idea to offer garden goodies to your summer volunteers and workers!
Announcements!
Funding, Webinars, Job opportunities!
Every year, the School Garden Support Organization Leadership Institute provides an opportunity for school garden professionals from across the country to collaborate, learn from one another, and develop resources to share with a national audience. In this way, we all become able to better support school gardens in our regions, and also advance the national school garden movement.

Deadline to apply is August 1, 2022
Oregon Department of Education Farm to Child Nutrition Programs Competitive Education Grant 
The Oregon Farm to CNP Education Grant is a competitive grant which eligible participants can apply for to teach Oregon students about Oregon grown & processed food. Typical projects include activities such as tasting tables, classroom instruction, farm field trips, video lesson production, etc.
There are two tracks for this grant:
1. A mini grant with a simplified application for the range of $2,000-$10,000 for smaller or starter projects.
2. A full grant for the range of $10,001-$100,000 with the standard, in-depth application
The ODE CNP team will be hosting an informational webinar on July 8th. For that link, and more information, visit the ODE CNP website.

Deadline to apply is 8/12
 
ODE Virtual Culinary Training:
Oregon Cooks for Kids- Winner, Winner, USDA Chicken Dinner Culinary Training on August, 11 at 2:00pm

Please join us on August 11 at 2pm PST for a virtual culinary experience with Chef Jessica. School and child nutrition professionals across Oregon are invited to an hour of inspiration. Watch or cook along with Jessica as she prepares easy, tasty and fun recipes that meet Child Nutrition Program guidelines. Participants will receive recipes and lots of creative ideas for cooking with USDA chicken.
 
Grow Portland is Hiring!
Grow Portland is expanding to new schools next fall and hiring 3 full-time Garden Educator positions!

Check out their website for the full job posting and Google Form application. Work includes: Teaching Pre-K through 5th grade students garden education at 3-4 schools, tending gardens, community engagement, professional development, and basic admin tasks.

Deadline to apply is July 13
Newman’s Own Foundation, with equity and strategic support from FoodCorps, is requesting proposals that support statewide and district-reaching organizations working toward every student having access to food education and/or nourishing meals in school.

Grants will support 501(c)(3) organizations in various stages of their systems change work.

Newman’s Own Foundation has a pool of up to $450,000 set aside for this request for proposals. Grants will be in the range of $10,000–$50,000. Funding can be used for general operations or program support—whichever is identified as the higher priority for your organization.
Deadline to apply is August 15
The GRuB Institute returns! Aug. 24-25
The 2-day training on facilitation and practices supporting healthy youth and adult relationships in programming is back! Taking place at the GRuB Farm in Olympia, the Institute will be led by GRuB’s co-founder Kim Gaffi, and youth alum and Director of Youth Programs, Wade Uyeda. Combined, they have over 38 years of land-based youth empowerment programming experience, and are excited to share their wisdom. An electronic copy of the GRuB manual as well as many other resources will be included. Delicious snacks and lunch provided.
Cost: $275/person through July 30; price goes up to $300/person on August 1st. Registration closes 8/18.
 
For Oregon-based groups, financial support to attend is available through OFSSGN. Contact Melina Barker for more information.
OFSSGN Staff Updates - What is the staff up to?
Meet our new Steering Committee!
The OFSSGN is a small organization with a big mission. Our two staff members couldn’t do this work without the guidance and partnership of our Steering Committee members and committee chairs. Take a moment to check out our new and returning committee members

OFSSGN Working Groups!
*New Working Group forming: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion + Justice in Farm to School Garden Curriculum. We’ll be working on applying a DEIJ (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice) lens to frequently used Farm to School & School Garden Curriculum. We’ll look at ways to integrate and lift up SB13 Tribal History, Shared History curriculum that speaks to first foods and aligns with farm to school and school garden activities. We’ll be working with Cheyanne Heidt, Curriculum Specialist at the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. If you are interested in participating, email Melina 
 
Do you have a working group in mind that you’d like to coordinate?
OFSSGN can support stakeholders interested in forming project- specific working groups. Contact Melina for more information or to discuss your idea. 

Thank You Nadia!
We’ve been so lucky to have Nadia Kelem serve as our FoodCorps service member for the past two years. Nadia was instrumental in the creation of our new website last year. She continues to curate resources and manage our social media. This past year Nadia coordinated the virtual Oregon Farm to School & School Garden Conference, leading the way to schedule workshops and manage logistics. We’re thrilled to announce that Nadia is transitioning from FoodCorps Service Member to OFSSGN Communications Chair. In this role, Nadia will be working with our staff and steering committee to support our newsletter, website, social media and other communications. Nadia will balance this work with her new position as Outreach Associate at the Deschutes Land Trust in Bend, OR.

Bon Voyage Kelso!
Our incredible Finance Chair, Kelso Brasunas is off on a new adventure to pursue a Masters degree in Public Affairs at Princeton University. While she’ll be in a different timezone for the next couple of years, we’re overjoyed that Kelso has agreed to continue serving as Finance Chair for OFSSGN bringing her brilliant mind and committed spirit to supporting our work. Safe travels Kelso, see you soon!
 
Native Farm to School Project
OFSSGN is launching a year-long project to learn about and support Native Farm to School programs in Oregon. We’ll be collaborating with Nora Frank-Buckner and Valerie Segrest of Tahoma Peak Solutions as we work to better understand farm to school programs in tribal communities. We look forward to deeper engagement in the important work that is happening on tribal lands and the schools serving these students. We hope to find ways to support these programs and assist in any challenges identified or technical assistance needs. Also, keep an eye out for a First Foods Cooking Institute for Child Nutrition Programs led by Nora and Valerie next summer- June 2023!

2022 OFSSGN Conference recordings and resources are available!
Thank you to everyone who attended the 2022 Virtual Conference! The session recordings and resources are now available on the OFSSGN website to view and enjoy!

OFSSGN Listservs - Your tool for communication
Did you know? You can send out questions, resources, discussion topics and more to Oregon's Farm to School Network with just an email! Check out this guide to find out how!

*New Resource! Youth Farming Program Guide
Are you interested in starting up a youth farming program? Check out this new guide for inspiration creating your program and in engaging youth grades 7-12! 

Connect with the OFSSGN

Do you have school garden content you want featured in the next quarterly newsletter? Send it to Nadia at nadia@oregonfarmtoschool.org

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Cascade Pacific RC&D
PO Box 2630
Corvallis, OR 97339
541-714-3070

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