The Dirt: Farm to School e-Newsletter

The Dirt is the monthly e-newsletter of the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program. Stay up to date with the latest information on webinars, program related news, grant funding announcements, and farm to school activity going on near you.

Be sure to subscribe to receive future editions!

Volume 10

• Advancing Racial Equity in Farm to School Programs (7/30/24)
• Special Edition: $14.3 Million in Farm to School Grants Awarded! (7/19/24)
• Farm to School CACFP Learning Collaborative (6/25/24)
• Special Edition–USDA Announces New Flexibility for Geographic Preference (5/30/24)
• Celebrating Summer with Local Foods (5/28/24)
• April is National Garden Month! (4/23/24)
• Bringing the Farm to School Producer Trainings in the Mountain Plains Region (3/26/24)
• Farm to School in Rural Communities (2/27/24)
  Serving Up Local Foods at After School and Summer Meal Sites (1/23/24)
• Food Hubs and Farm to School: Expanding Local Food Access and Building Resilient Food Systems (12/19/23)
• Special Edition – Congratulations to the FY 2024 Farm to School Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreement Awardees (12/5/23)
• Celebrate Native Culture and Traditions with Farm to School (11/28/23)
• Let's Celebrate Farm to School Month! (10/24/23)
• The Dirt! SPECIAL EDITION: 2024 Farm to School Grant Request for Applications is Now Open! (10/12/23)

Volume 9

• Local Counts: Respond to the Farm to School Census (9/26/23)
• Back to School Essentials: Farm to School Edition! (8/22/23)
• Equity in Farm to School (7/25/2023)
• Special Edition - Congratulations to the FY 2023 Farm to School Grantees (7/21/23)
• Incorporating Agriculture into Summer Learning Programs (6/27/23)
• Healthy Habits Take Root Early in the Western Region (5/23/23)
• Growing a School Garden with Perseverance and Community (4/25/23)
• Training Producers to Bring the Farm to School: Two States' Approach (3/28/23)
• Incorporating Garden Produce into Healthy School Meal Recipes (2/28/23)
• Special Edition – New Program Name: Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program (2/23/23)
• Urban and Innovative Agriculture (1/31/23)
• Local Procurement is About Partnership (12/27/22)
• Celebrating Tribal Farm to School (11/29/22)
• Celebrating National Farm to School Month (10/25/22)
• The Dirt: SPECIAL EDITION 2023 Farm to School Grant Request for Applications (10/6/22)

Volume 8

• Farm to School Year in Review (9/27/22)
• Back to School: Agriculture Education (8/31/22)
• Congratulations to the FY 2022 Farm to School Grant Awardees! (7/25/22)
• Farm to Child and Adult Care Food Program (6/28/22)
• Edible Gardens (5/24/22)
• Reducing Food Waste Through Composting (4/26/22)
• Teaching Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with Farm to School (3/29/22)
• Farm to Summer (2/22/22)
• Urban School Gardens (1/25/22)
• Procure Local! (12/28/21)
• Celebrating Farm to School In Tribal Nations (11/30/21)
• Special Edition: 2022 Farm to School Request for Applications (10/25/21)

Volume 7

• Issue 13: Workshops Connecting School Nutrition Professionals and Local Farmers (9/28/21)
• Issue 12: Community Partnerships are Growing in Massachusetts (8/25/21)
• Issue 11: Winning Strategies for Farm to School (7/27/21)
• Special Edition (7/15/21)
• Issue 10: Farm to Summer Resources! (6/29/21)
• Issue 9: Spilling the Beans on Local Food in Schools (5/25/21)
• Issue 8: Get the Dirt on Celebrating School Gardening Month (4/27/21)
• Issue 7: Celebrating Ag Day With Farm to School (3/23/21)
• Issue 6: Farm to School Supports Local Through Winter Weather (2/23/21)
• Issue 5: Partnership and Collaboration Help Grow Farm to School (1/26/21)
• Issue 4: Farm to School: A Year in Review (12/29/20)
• Issue 3: Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with Farm to School (11/24/20)
• Issue 2: 2020 Farm to School Grantee Gathering Kicks Off Farm to School Month! (10/27/20)
• Issue 1: The 2021 Farm to School Grant Request for Applications is Now Open! (10/16/20)

Volume 6

• Issue 9: Gearing Up for Farm to School Month (9/29/20)
• Issue 8: Farm to School STAY IN-stitute and More! (8/26/20)
• Issue 7: Congratulations 2020 Farm to School Grantees (7/1/20)
• Special Edition: COVID-19 (5/14/20)
• Issue 6: Dig Into Farm to School Grantee Successes, RFAs, Resources, and More! (2/13/20)
• Issue 5: Warm Up this Winter and Plan for a Bountiful Summer (1/22/20)
• Issue 4: Looking Back on a Year of Growth in 2019 (12/19/19)
• Issue 3: Help Make Every School Count (11/21/19)
• Issue 2: Everyone is Excited About Farm to School Month (10/23/19)
• Issue 1: 2020 Farm to School Grant Request for Application is Here (10/10/19)

Volume 5

• Issue 13: The Farm to School Census is Happening Now! (9/30/19)
• Issue 12: Congratulations 2019 Farm to School Grantees (8/6/19)
• Issue 11: Growing Summer with Local Foods! (7/1/19)
• Issue 10: The Census is Coming! (5/30/19)
• Issue 9: State Agencies Work Together to Grow Farm to School (5/21/19)
• Issue 8: Celebrating Spring with School Gardens (4/24/19)
• Issue 7: Farm to School Networks Take Root (3/19/19)
• Issue 6: Employment Blooms with Farm to School (2/20/19)
• Issue 5: Looking Forward to 2019 (12/19/18)
• Issue 4: Farm to School Celebrates Native American Culture and History (11/14/18)
• Issue 3: Farm to School Month Culminates with an Apple Crunch and a New Report (10/30/18)
• Issue 2: It's Farm to School Month! Time to Get Involved! (10/16/18)
• Issue 1: Farm to School Month Kicks-Off with FY 2019 Farm to School Grant RFA Release (10/2/18)

Volume 4

• Issue 16: Class is in Session this September for Food Safety (9/3/18)
• Issue 15: Back to Farm to School (8/15/18)
• Issue 14: Partner Grows Farm to School (7/24/18)
• Issue 13: Congratulations to the 2018 Farm to School Grantees (6/21/18)
• Issue 12: Challenging Summer Sponsors to Serve More Texas Grown Foods (6/5/18)
• Issue 11: Upcoming webinars, funding opportunities, and new resources! (5/22/18)
• Issue 10: SPECIAL EDITION: Happy 50th Birthday, CACFP! (5/8/18)
• Issue 9: Farm to Summer is heating up! (5/1/18)
• Issue 8: Celebrate National Garden Month (4/17/18)
• Issue 7: Gardening programs get kids to eat their veggies! (4/3/18)
• Issue 6: Today is National Ag Day! (3/20/18)
• Issue 5: Go Further with Food for National Nutrition Month (3/6/18)
• Issue 4: Fall in love with Farm to School (2/21/18)
• Issue 3: Shedding some light on farm to summer (2/6/18)
• Issue 2: Farm to School Serves Up Protein Power! (1/23/18)
• Issue 1: Ring in the New Year with Farm to School (1/9/18)

Volume 3

• Issue 34: USDA Farm to School Census coming in 2019 (12/26/17)
• Issue 33: Plate waste study shows farm to school works! (12/12/17)
• Issue 32: Time is running out! Only 3 days remain until the Farm to School RFA closes (12/5/17)
• Issue 31: 1.5 million crunched during Farm to School Month in the Midwest (11/28/17)
• Issue 30: Less than four weeks remain until the FY 2018 Farm to School Grant RFA closes (11/14/17)
• Issue 29: Farm to school promotes partnerships and cultural connections to the land (10/31/17)
• Issue 28: Fresh from the farm is what it's all about! (10/24/17)
• Issue 27: Take a Local Bite! (10/17/17)
• Issue 26: Farm to School Supports National School Lunch Week (10/11/17)
• Issue 25: FY2018 Farm to School Grant RFA Now Available! (10/5/17)
• Issue 24: Prepare for the FY2018 Farm to School RFA NOW! (9/27/17)
• Issue 23: Keep local food safe to eat (9/13/17)
• Issue 22: Summer is ending, but local foods are here to stay! (8/22/17)
• Issue 21: National Farmers Market Week! (8/8/17)
• Issue 20: August is Kids Eat Right Month! (8/1/17)
• Issue 19: Celebrate the Summer! (7/18/17)
• Issue 18: Heat up the Summer with the Farm to Child Nutrition Programs Planning Guide (7/5/17)
• Issue 17: June is National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month (6/20/17)
• Issue 16: Special Edition: Congratulations to the 2017 Farm to School Grantees! (6/13/17)
• Issue 15: Summer is Heating Up with the Summer Food Service Program (6/6/17)
• Issue 14: Bringing Local Foods to Summer Meals (5/23/17)
• Issue 13: Hawai'i Joins the Farm to School Movement (5/10/17)
• Issue 12: Dig into Procurement and Buy Local (4/25/17)
• Issue 11: What makes your farm to school program successful? We want to know! (4/11/17)
• Issue 10: Jump into Spring and put the "Fun" in Funding! (3/28/17)
• Issue 9: March Madness is Growing on Us! (3/21/17)
• Issue 8: National CACFP Week (3/14/17)
• Issue 7: Celebrate National School Breakfast Week (3/7/17)
• Issue 6: March is National Nutrition Month (2/28/17)
• Issue 5: Meet the NEW Director of USDA's Office of Community Food Systems (February 14, 2017)
• Issue 4: New Farm to Early Child Care Resources (2/1/17)
• Issue 3: $27M available to support local food systems (1/17/17)
• Issue 2: A Last High Five from Deborah (1/5/17)
• Issue 1: Plan for success in 2017 (1/3/17)

Volume 2

• Issue 37: Which region has the most school gardens? Read to find out! (12/20/16)
• Issue 36: Grant applications are due Dec. 8 (11/30/16)
• Issue 35: Monterey, CA Celebrates native American heritage (11/15/16)
• Issue 34: Special Edition: Seeking new director (11/3/16)
• Issue 33: Three ways to dig into the Census (11/1/16)
• Issue 32: It's grant season (10/25/16)
• Issue 31: Six ways for state agencies to dig in (10/18/16)
• Issue 30: Think local with MyPlate, MyState (10/12/16)
• Issue 29: Watch now - new Farm to School Census video (10/7/16)
• Issue 28: Five steps to help YOU learn about USDA Farm to School Grants (9/20/16)
• Issue 27: Special Edition: Farm to School Grant RFA is live! (9/13/16)
• Issue 26: Special Edition: We're hiring a Farm to School Lead in CA (9/12/16)
• Issue 25: Minneapolis hosts a back to school BBQ (9/6/16)
• Issue 24: Andrea Northup + Rachel Spencer join USDA (8/23/16)
• Issue 23: Celebrate National Farmers Market Week with Summer Meals (8/9/16)
• Issue 22: New rules, new fact sheets, and a Census webinar (7/26/16)
• Issue 21: Join us for Farm to School Census Webinar (7/12/16)
• Issue 20: Summer is the Perfect Time for Training (6/28/16)
• Issue 19: Dig into the Farm to School Census data (6/21/16)
• Issue 18: Research shows farm to school works (6/14/16)
• Issue 17: It's official - Summer has started! (5/31/16)
• Issue 16: Special Edition: Who's One in a Melon? (5/24/16)
• Issue 15: Local lunches are taking root in the midwest (5/17/16)
• Issue 14: Special Edition: We're hiring! (5/6/16)
• Issue 13: Do you know your farmer? (5/3/16)
• Issue 12: Plan now for farm to school success (4/19/16)
• Issue 11: Is your district One in a Melon? (4/4/16)
• Issue 10: Funding Opportunities: Increasing Access to Local and Healthy Food (3/22/16)
• Issue 9: Results from the 2015 USDA Farm to School Census (3/15/16)
• Issue 8: School Garden Fact Sheet (3/8/16)
• Issue 7: New Application Link: We're Hiring Farm to School Regional Leads! (2/29/16)
• Issue 6: Special Edition: We're Hiring Farm to School Regional Leads! (2/25/16)
• Issue 5: Fresh, Local Food in a South Dakota Winter (2/23/16)
• Issue 4: USDA Farm to School Grant Program Update (2/9/16)
• Issue 3: Farm to School Success Grows in Maryland (1/16/16)
• Issue 2: New Links for Webinar Series: Planning for Farm to School Success (1/12/16)
• Issue 1: New Year's Resolution: Plan for Farm to School Success (1/5/16)

Volume 1

• Issue 8: Happy Holidays from the Office of Community Food Systems! (12/22/15)
• Issue 7: Farm to School Makes Headlines! (12/8/15)
• Issue 5: Special Edition Farm to School Grant Awards for FY2016 Announced! (11/19/15)
• Issue 4: Celebrating Native American Heritage Month with Local Food (11/10/15)
• Issue 3: Celebrating Farm to School Month Success! (10/27/15)
• Issue 2: 2015 Farm to School Census: Early Results are In! (10/20/15)