Farm and Sea to School Institute moves into new phase with upcoming academy
August workshop academy for selected school districts to kick-off the 2022-2023 school year!
ME Farm & Sea to School Institute organizers--Falmouth Schools Nutrition Director Martha Poliquin and UMaine School of Food & Ag's Dr. McNamara and graduate student Amelia Sullivan--onsite at the River Bend Farm workshop program location planning details for the August kickoff event.
Maine Farm and Sea to School Institute
The Institute supports Maine schools to increase healthy food access, create a culture of equity & wellness, and strengthen their local food systems.
The Institute brings school teams together to build relationships, skills, and a collaborative action plan for Farm & Sea to School (FSTS) programming, in a year-long professional program for school food systems change.
Team members leave ready to support one another and implement an FSTS action plan across their school or district—building shared leadership for the long haul.
With the support of a Coach, teams will spend the Institute year connecting Classroom, Cafeteria, and Community. ‘
Schools selected for the upcoming three-day intensive training academy:
RSU 22 (Hampden, Newburgh, Winterport, & Frankfort); Lead Contact: Kathy Kittridge, RSU 22 School Nutrition Director RSU 22
RSU 89 (Katahdin Schools); Lead Contact: Gabrielle Brown, FoodCorps Maine RSU 89
MSAD 17 (Oxford Hills); Lead Contact: Sarah Kearsley, Experiential STEM Teacher at Roberts Farm MSAD 17
North Haven Community School (K-12); Lead Contact: Shaun Johnson, School Principal North Haven Community School
Each team has 5-7 committed representatives from School Nutrition, Teaching Faculty, School Administration, and Community Partners - the key partners for building a sustainable, equitable Farm to School program.
The teams joined MFSN Leadership Council members for a virtual Orientation in early June and will begin their Farm to School Action Planning work at the August 16-18 workshop program at River Bend Farm — The Ecology School. More information on these all-star school district teams to follow!
Maine Farm to School Network has been fundraising to support this school nutrition-led initiative for the past three years, and secured four grants to support the program launch: USDA Food and Agriculture Service-Learning Program grant in partnership with UMaine; and Elmina B Sewall Foundation Healthy People Healthy Places grant on centering equity, inclusion, and justice in the programming; and an Onion Foundation grant to support communications works- such as designing the new, original logo. MFSN at HCCA will continue actively fundraising to maintain this new initiative. “These grants will help sustain the Maine Farm and Sea to School Institute as an annual program supporting six Maine school districts per year to reach their local purchasing goals,” said Stephanie Cesario-DeBiasi, Maine Farm to School Network Coordinator at HCCA. “This program funding benefits students, school nutrition professionals, and food producers across the state—bolstering the local food economy while providing delicious, fresh meals to Maine’s youth.”