Past Webinar Archive

You can access many of the previous webinars that we’ve featured on our website by clicking on the links below:

November 2024: Cafeteria Taste Testing 101

Have you always wanted to start taste testing but not sure where to start? Learn from three different districts who host regular taste tests in their school cafeterias utilizing different service styles, voting mechanisms, and methods for integrating student voice and choice in the menu. 

October 2024: Art, Social Studies, and Literature in the School Garden

School gardens are often thought of as assets to science education in schools only — but they can be so much more. In this workshop, we’ll explore how school gardens can be integrated into creative arts, social studies, and literature education through pedagogy & practice. We’ll go over concrete examples and opportunities for a school garden to bring multi-sensory, tactile & outdoor experiences to arts & humanities learning; and expand the reach and impact of garden education in your school community.

October 2024: Pollinator Garden Design

Curious about adding pollinators to your school garden? Join this webinar to learn why pollinators enhance our school gardens and how to incorporate them into a lesson plan with some great resources. We will include a sample plant list which incorporates some fun edible pollinators, how to start plants from seed with students and share our tips and tricks!

September 2024: Farm to School 101

Interested in starting Farm to School efforts in your school or early education center? Watch this webinar to learn about all the offerings Mass. Farm to School has for both educators and foodservice professionals!

September 2024: MA FRESH Info Session for Licensed Early Education Programs (CACFP)

September: 2024: MA FRESH Info Session for K-12 Schools & Districts (NSLP)

May 2024: School Garden Management in the Summer!

You have a school garden and it is overflowing and school is out for the summer… How can you plan for summer care and maintenance? Join us for this workshop to look at ways to engage the school-wide community in summer garden care and explore best practices to ensure that your school garden remains active in the summer months.

March 2024: Indoor Gardening Activities for the Classroom

How can you get your students excited to garden if you have no outdoor space? In this presentation, you will learn easy, affordable ways to introduce young people to seeds, plants, and gardening indoors. We will explore some fun and simple laboratory investigations that can be done in any classroom, as well as some simple ways you can create your own “green” space in a classroom setting.

March 2024: Worms: Vermicomposting in the Cafeteria

What kind of worms do you need in a worm bin? How do you care and feed them? How can you harvest worm castings to benefit plants? Watch this workshop on classroom vermicomposting, and leave with everything you need to know to set up and maintain a small scale worm composting system that can serve as a way to engage students in lessons on decomposition, soil science, and ecosystems!

March 2024: Hydroponics in the Cafeteria

Curious about growing and serving hydroponic produce in your school cafeteria?  In this workshop, participants will learn how hydroponics can be used in the School Cafeteria to grow food and engage students. See the whole process from assembly to seed planting to cultivating your crop to the program maintenance involved with a Flex Farm. Discover how to raise, harvest, and serve hydroponics all in the same space.

March 2024: Hydroponics for the Classroom Teacher

How can hydroponics work in the classroom setting? In this workshop, participants will learn how one high school classroom has been experimenting with different methods for growing plants using hydroponics, conventional raised beds and various permaculture techniques. Hear how students have been exploring how to get better yields from aquaponics plants and discussing the potential for aquaculture and hydroponics to help meet global food needs.

February 2024: Spring Menu Planning: Utilizing Local Produce & School Garden Harvests

This workshop highlights local foods school nutrition professionals can utilize in their menu planning, providing an overview of different approaches from several sized districts across Massachusetts, as they share their procurement objectives and strategy. Food safety considerations and proper procurement practices are covered.

February 2024: Farm to PreK: Gardens that Engage Young Children

Learn how to build and design a garden for young learners. Get inspired to create gardens and programs that engage young children in growing and enjoying the fruits of their joyful labor. Leave with the knowledge, confidence and resources  you need to start from the ground up, or to improve on what you already have!

January 2024: Sensory Garden Design for Schools

A sensory garden has a collection of plants that highlight the five senses, and sensory garden pedagogy integrates sensory experiences into learning. What are the five senses and what does it look like to think with them as we crop-plan in the spring? How does multisensory learning help adolescents process & integrate ideas; regulate & explore emotions; and what are some tools, practices & pedagogy of multisensory learning? How do we invite and encourage sensory exploration for students with sensory processing challenges? How do we remain inclusive of students with disabilities as we discuss and encourage multi-sensory exploration? We’ll explore these questions together through a broad evidence-based exploration of sensory learning, local examples of learning from the Mel King School Garden in the South End, and group reflection & discussion.

January 2024: Procurement Workshop: Meat, Seafood, and Dairy

This workshop is designed to highlight school nutrition professionals who are currently sourcing local meat, seafood and dairy products for their Northeast Food for Schools program. Learn about different products, cuts, and considerations to make when looking to procure meat, seafood or dairy products. Participants will also get connected to resources to find local products.

January 2024: Social Emotional Learning in the School Garden

What are practices and habits for young people that can support social-emotional growth in a school garden environment? What broader lessons about being and life can we derive from experiences in the outdoors, and how do we impart these lessons in inviting ways to young people? How do we explore emotionally-charged feelings, conflict and events, particularly while respecting student boundaries? What are tools for navigating conflict in the garden, including rough play? What are the ways we can establish boundaries and expectations around high-risk tools and experiences outdoors?

December 2023: Student Voice, Student Choice: Collaborative Methods for School Menu Change

How can you engage students and harness their voices in what is offered on the school menu? Join Homegrown Springfield as they share their farm to school efforts and their goal to incorporate local items into the menu rotation while highlighting the importance of educating our urban youth on the importance of local foods. Participants left with ideas to encourage student voice and student choice, and build exciting engagement opportunities for students.

December 2023: Procurement Workshop: Fresh & Frozen Produce

This workshop highlights local fresh and frozen produce school nutrition professionals have utilized for their Northeast Food for Schools program. Participants connected with school nutrition professionals utilizing different products, learned recipes they found successful with their students, and got connected to resources to find local products.

December 2023: The Tasting History Project: A Classroom and Cafeteria Collaboration

How can educators and cafeterias collaborate to engage students? Join us to learn about a highly successful collaboration between Lowell Public Schools Food Services and a high school history classroom! The Tasting History Project which started as a classroom culminating unit project to connect the stories and experiences of immigrants of the early 20th century with the stories and experiences of immigrant students in the 21st century has grown into a powerful connection between new immigrant students and Lowell Food Services to share delicious foods, and important history and traditions from around the globe with the community. The collaboration has created space for students to become leaders and teachers, and for the school community to  center and celebrate the vibrant diversity of their community.

November 2023: Minimally Processed, What Does it Mean? 

This workshop aims to clarify the USDA definition of minimally processed foods for Northeast Food for Schools reimbursements for participating school districts. Participants will learn examples of minimally processed foods being utilized in Massachusetts and connect with resources to find local products.

October 2023: Early Childhood Cooking in the Classroom

Cooking in the classroom is an empowering and exciting way to help children learn about food and nutrition, but many early childhood educators avoid it because they do not know where to begin or how to make it safe for their students. Join Worcester Head Start dietician, Catherine Champiney, to learn how to run a successful program in your school or classroom and get your kids cooking and learning!

October 2023: Procurement: Sourcing Local and Complying with Federal and State Regulations

With many districts working to spend their Northeast Food for Schools funding, this workshop aims to provide school nutrition professionals with technical assistance around local sourcing and proper procurement solicitations. Special attention will be given to reviewing the three-vendor request for quote (RFQ) small purchase process and additional resources for complying with federal, state and local regulations.

October 2023: MA FRESH Grant Program Info Session for CACFP

October 2023: MA FRESH Grant Program Info Session for NSLP

October 2023: Selling to Schools 101

MA School districts have an additional $3.5 million to spend on local food in school meals this year! Come learn more about the unique aspects of school sales, how to connect with school buyers, and additional support available to you to help you respond to requests for quotes and other inquiries from school buyers. This funding has a priority goal of increasing sales to historically underserved farmers, referred to by USDA as “socially disadvantaged farmers” including women and BIPOC farmers.

October 2023: Farm to School Grant Program Legislative Briefing

Hear from farm to school champions State Representative Smitty Pignatelli and Senator Jo Comerford at a Legislative Briefing on the Farm to School Grant Program. You’ll learn about the efforts underway to make the pilot farm to school grant program permanent, and hear from current grantees about the incredible impact this grant program has had on the students, teachers, and families in their schools. The panelists share their perspectives on the power of farm to school and let you know how you can support the continuation of this critical program.

October 2023: Composting Kitchen Scraps for the School Cafeteria

School composting programs can take many paths: from separating food waste from trash in the cafeteria, the school kitchen, classroom composting, classroom worm bins and more. In this online workshop, we’ll discuss composting options for school kitchens. Participants will learn the hows and whys of composting and leave with a variety of resources to help you establish or enhance your own programs.

March 2023: Hydroponics in the School Cafeteria

How can hydroponics work in the school cafeteria? In this workshop, participants will learn how hydroponics can be used in the School Cafeteria to grow food and engage students. You will learn the whole process from starting the hydros to cleaning them at the end of the school year. Jane will share some tricks she’s learned along the way since 2015. The possibilities are endless and the best part is… you don’t need a green thumb!

March 2023: Hydroponics in the Classroom

How can hydroponics work in the classroom setting? In this workshop, participants will learn how to build (and teach students to build) a simple, low-cost hydroponic growing system that can be set up in any school classroom. The workshop will explore how to build the system and how to empower and organize students to maintain, run and grow food in the classroom.

March 2023: Northeast Food for Schools Info Session for School Nutrition Staff

Are you wondering if the Northeast Food for Schools program is right for your district? This new, one-time program provides $3.5 million in funds for Massachusetts schools to purchase food from Northeast farmers, fishers and producers. Join us for an info session to learn about this new funding opportunity, the resources available to support schools that participate, and evaluate if it’s a good fit for your meal program.

January 2023: Pollinator School Garden Design

What are beneficial pollinators and how can you attract them to your school garden? How can you inspire your students to learn about pollinators and pollination? With an emphasis on native plants, this workshop will focus on ecologically beneficial ways to garden and maintain land, and explore how to create a pollinator garden that blooms from spring until fall.

January 2023: The Beecology Project

Bees and other pollinating insects are essential to both our food system and the health of our ecosystem. This virtual workshop will explore the importance of bees to our ecosystem and the threats to bees from climate change and other environmental and human impacts. Participants will learn about the Bio-CS Bridge Project which allows teachers to integrate real-world science with computer applications like data analysis and simulations. Through the use of the Beecology Website and Web App, students can learn how to contribute to citizen science and use the data to test hypotheses as well as analyze trends in bumble bee population data over the past century.

January 2023: New England Food for Schools Info Session for Farmers/Producers

Massachusetts schools will receive $3.5 million dollars to spend exclusively on local, unprocessed or lightly processed foods. This one-time USDA funding will be available to schools beginning in the spring of 2023 and schools will have 18 months to spend the funds. The funding is part of the USDA’s Local Food For Schools program. This is a great opportunity for MA producers, whether you’ve sold to schools before or not. Watch the recording to learn about the program, how to connect with schools in your area, and other assistance available to producers who want to get involved.

December 2022: MA FRESH Grant Information Session

Mass. Farm to School at the MA Dept. of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE) hosted an informational webinar to answer questions about the Massachusetts FRESH (Farming Reinforces Education and Student Health) grant program! This is a new statewide farm to school grant program.

Mass. Farm to School December 2022: Project-Based Learning with Harvest of the Month

This one-hour virtual workshop will focus on different ways to use the Harvest of the Month curriculum in the school garden, and to effectively procure and promote the featured crops in the cafeteria. Participants will leave with some tangible examples of how Backyard Growers and East Gloucester Elementary School have worked together to celebrate Harvest of the Month crops.

June 2022: Harvest of the Month 101

Are you interested in learning more about the Harvest of the Month program and how it can help you bring more local foods into your cafeteria meals and food education into your classrooms? Watch this recording for an introduction to the program to find out how to get involved.

Mass. Farm to School March 2022: Best Practices in the School Garden

Establishing and maintaining a successful school garden involves coordinating many moving parts. From student safety and engagement, educator and volunteer coordination, to funding for materials and seasonal maintenance, there is so much to think about. In this one hour virtual workshop you will learn best practices from garden coordinators with years of experience to make your school garden a success.

Mass. Farm to School March 2022: Farm to Breakfast Cooking Demonstration w. Project Bread & Brookline Public Schools

In this workshop, led by Project Bread’s Chef Educators, participants will learn how to create easy, cost-effective breakfast recipes that feature local ingredients and can be served in a variety of meal service settings, including cafeteria service, grab and go, and breakfast in the classroom. These creative, kid-friendly recipes are flexible enough to change with produce that is seasonally available and have been tested and approved by K-12 students across Massachusetts.

Mass. Farm to School March 2022: School Garden Food Safety

Students who grow food in a school garden should have the opportunity to eat and celebrate the end results of their labor, but many schools and cafeterias have questions around garden food safety. What are best practices around garden food safety that can minimize risks associated with serving food from school gardens? This workshop explores garden food safety and reviews materials that Massachusetts Farm to School and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) created establishing a standard framework and assessment for maintaining food safety in the school garden aligned with MDAR’s Commonwealth Quality Program for farms.

Mass. Farm to School February 2022: School Gardens 101

Does your school want to establish an outdoor or indoor garden program but you don’t know where to begin? Have you started a school garden but you need more support on planning, maintenance and instruction? This workshop explores how to get a garden program up and running successfully at your school and covers such topics as site location, collaboration, what to plant, and how to organize care.

Mass. Farm to School December 2021: Past, Present, and Future: School Lunch & Farm to School

Explore the last 100 years of school food, and watch how the history of school lunch can provide context for bringing Farm to School to life in your cafeterias. Review current policies in place to support Farm to School work and hear from Guy Koppe, a Massachusetts based food service director who has significant experience in the school food field, and has built robust farm to school programs within several different school food environments. Not a food service director? This workshop is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about school food and how to become an advocate for farm to school programs in their community.

Mass. Farm to School December 2021: Trauma & Nutrition from the Home to the Cafeteria

Explore how food and trauma are intertwined. Food can establish a strong sense of community, but can also be a point of stress and anxiety. Our presenters provide an overview of trauma and the skills and factors that promote resilience. Presenters: Tracy Roth, Sheila Humphreys (Food Connects), and Diona Williams (Out Back Learning).

Mass. Farm to School August 2021: Using Gardens and Outdoor Spaces for Safe & Engaging Learning

In this session we will discuss the ways in which providing garden-based and outdoor learning experiences can help you safely welcome back your whole student population this fall and provide unique opportunities to support your students’ social and emotional learning after such a challenging year. Hear from school principals who have championed gardens in their schools, including Sheila McAdams, Ipswich Public Schools and Sarah Madden, Northampton Public Schools. Learn best practices for designing engaging and impactful farm to school programs, upcoming professional development opportunities for teachers and other school staff, and how COVID-relief funds might be used to support these efforts.

Mass. Farm to School May 2021: Using A Simple 3-Quote Method to Increase Your Local Purchasing

Have you wondered how to increase your purchases from local farms and producers without breaking MA and Federal procurement regulations? Then this workshop is for you! In partnership with the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, we have developed a series of template Request for Quotes that you can use to solicit up to $50,000 annually from local producers. Join this session to learn how you can use these tools to significantly increase your local purchases.

Mass. Farm to School May 2021: Bringing USDA Summer Meals to Your Farmers Market

The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is a federally-funded, state-administered program which provides free healthy meals and snacks to children and teens during the summer months when school is out. Find out how your farmers market can get involved! Learn how the program works and hear from a farmers market who hosts a summer meal site. Learn about resources and opportunities for incorporating local foods and partnering with organizations in your community.

Mass. Farm to School April 2021: Community Farms: How They bring Farm to School to Life

Hear from community farms across Massachusetts on how they partner with schools in their district to bring Farm to School to life. We will look at different successful models that offer meaningful educational programming that compliments what is already happening in schools.

Mass. Farm to School October 2020: Mass. Farm to School Network Forum: Why Farm to School? Why Now?
We will explore why farm to school is as important as ever in the time of COVID. We will hear from individuals actively engaged in farm to school activities in their own communities here in Massachusetts and provide time for discussion and networking with your peers. This event will provide local perspectives on themes raised in the National Farm to School Network’s event, “Food Justice is Racial Justice,” and will address how COVID-19 is shaping the present and future of farm to school in Massachusetts.

Mass. Farm to School October 2020: How to Advocate for Access to Quality Food in Your School and Community
Make your voice heard to advocate for state and national policies that support strong school meal programs, vibrant farms, and healthy communities. Featured speakers Winton Pitcoff, Director of the MA Food System Collaborative, and Kumar Chandran, FoodCorps Policy Director, will discuss ongoing state and federal policy campaigns to bring relief to those most impacted by the pandemic. They will provide tips for how you can get involved and be an effective advocate in these challenging times.

National Farm to School Network October 2020: 2020 Movement Meeting // Food Justice is Racial Justice
How can we shift power in our communities to create a more just food system? What community capital and resources can help us create systemic change in the ways we grow, prepare and eat food? National Farm to School Network hosted a virtual Movement Meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, featuring Karen Washington, food justice activist, for deep conversation and action-oriented reflection on racial justice in the farm to school movement and wider food system.

Mass. Farm to School August 2020: Utilizing Outdoor Spaces for School Reopening 
Outdoor spaces can accommodate physical distancing while providing a variety of benefits to students’ social, emotional, and physical health. Whether using school garden areas or converting existing outdoor spaces within school grounds (i.e. green space, parking lots, playgrounds), the outdoors can serve a valuable role for your Fall Reopening plans as much-needed extra “classroom” space, additional seating for school meal service, or for other school functions.

Mass. Farm to School April 2020: Open Forum for School Nutrition Staff & Supply Chain Operators
This discussion was geared for all who are serving or supporting school meals up/down the supply chain during COVID-19 school closures, whether you’re a food service director, cafeteria worker, farmer, producer, or advocate/community ally. We especially encourage those who have maintained or developed new procurement relationships between schools and local farmers to share your stories and learnings.Watch/Listen to a recording of this session here.

Mass. Farm to School April 2020: 2nd Open Forum on Farm to School Education in a Virtual Classroom
A continued dialogue with classroom teachers, garden and farm educators, community members, and other Farm to School allies around the state during this unprecedented time. As a community we can learn from and support each other, sharing questions, concerns, success stories, and resources to continue to navigate a path forward. Watch/Listen to a recording of this session here.

Mass. Farm to School April 2020: School Garden 101 Series: Springtime Planning & Preparing for Planting in School Gardens 
Spring is the perfect time for school garden educators to think about (or revisit) your goals for your garden beds and how you want to use them. What you come up with can really inform your garden planning and planting. On this webinar, we’ll take a “backwards planning” approach and discuss how your plans can shift to support your goals.  Watch the recording here.

Mass. Farm to School Spring 2020: School Garden 101 Series
Mass. Farm to School Network’s Education Working Group, School Gardens 101, a 5 part series, covering seed selection, lesson planning, springtime garden preparations, food safety within school gardens, and summer garden care.

Mass. Farm to School December 2019: School Wide Composting & Curricular Tie-Ins
Welcome to the wonderful world of composting! Composting is a dynamic teaching tool you can use to introduce and explain concepts as far reaching as the life cycle, the importance of death and decomposition, soil, recycling, resource management, garbage and landfills, and biodegradable and non-biodegradable items. School composting programs can take many paths: from separating food waste from trash in the cafeteria, classroom worm bins, to garden yard scraps collection and recycling. In this webinar, we discuss on-site and off-site composting options for schools and how to model important classroom lessons through composting. Watch the recording here.

National Farm to School Network November 2018: Seed Change in Native Communities // In recognition of Native American Heritage Month, our November 2018 Trending Topics webinar featured partners from the National Farm to School Network’s Seed Change in Native Communities project. Since 2017, the Seed Change project has helped to create dozens of school gardens in Native communities, put local and indigenous foods on the plates of hundreds of children, and supported the inspiring work of five school communities dedicated to expanding and sustaining farm to school programming for the next generation of Native youth. This webinar was recorded on November 1, 2018. Watch the recording here.

National Farm to School Network April 2018: Farm to ECE – Family Engagement Through Farm to Early Care & Education. Parent and family engagement in the early years of life is vital to healthy development and healthy relationships. In this webinar the National Farm to School Network, the Farm to Family Project, and Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness share innovative programs that are leveraging farm to ECE as a key to family engagement and, in doing so, increasing healthy food access, healthy behaviors, and healthy relationships for children, families and communities. Watch a recording here.

National Farm to School Network March 2018: Engaging Farmers in Farm to School. In this webinar, hear from farm to school practitioners and farmers about innovative yet practical approaches to engaging farmers in a wide variety of farm to school activities and learn how this engagement contributes to kids, communities, and farmers winning through farm to school. Watch a recording here.

National Farm to School NetworkFebruary 2018: Reducing Food Waste through Farm to School. In this webinar, USDA, D.C. Greens, and the Natural Resources Council of Maine talk about best practices and initiatives to help reduce food waste through farm to school. Watch a recording here.

University of Florida January 2018: SNAP-Ed and Farm to School. Hear from practitioners from University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and other SNAP-Ed programs about the integration of farm to school in both direct education and policy, systems and environmental change SNAP-Ed initiatives. Watch a recording here.

National Farm to School Network December 2017: Youth Engagement in Farm to School. Farm to school initiatives across the country are changing the way young people view and consume fresh, local foods and interact with their community. This webinar focuses on youth engagement through farm to school and highlights unique approaches and initiatives to engage youth in their communities and food systems and empower youth to be leaders and active voices in the farm to school movement. Watch a recording here.

National Farm to School Network November 2017: Harvest of the Month – States across the country are developing Harvest of the Month programs including curriculum and resources to make it easier for schools, teachers, students and families to join in on farm to school fun. Hear from four different states about successful initiatives, best practices, and resources for developing or implementing Harvest of the Month in your school or across your state. Watch a recording here.

National Farm to School NetworkOctober 2017: Celebrating Farm to School Month State-By-State – October is National Farm to School Month, a time to celebrate the connections happening all over the country between children and local food. From taste tests in the cafeteria and nutrition education activities in the classroom, to farm visits and school garden harvest parties, school, early care and education sites, farms, communities and organizations in all 50 state and D.C. join in the celebrations. In this webinar, hear how states across the country are lifting up and celebrating National Farm to School Month this October. This webinar was generously supported by Co-Bank and is open to the public. Watch a recording here.

National Farm to School NetworkSeptember 2017: Farm to School for Children with Special Needs – While farm to school offers abundant benefits for all children, we have learned from our partners that the core elements of farm to school – including hands on education, spending time in gardens, and cooking and tasting local food – offers additional benefits to students with special needs, supporting their learning and growth in many different environments. Watch a recording here.

National Farm to School NetworkAugust 2017: Farm to School in Native Communities – In partnership with numerous community leaders, the National Farm to School Network has been exploring opportunities to expand farm to school activities in Native communities. We’ve learned from our partners that with a community-based and multi-generational framework, farm to school can be a nexus of economic development, food sovereignty, health and nutrition, and cultural revitalization. In this webinar, learn about unique opportunities and challenges of farm to school in Native communities, and hear several examples of success from Native community leaders. Watch a recording here.

July 2017: Farm to School Partnerships with Your School Nutrition Association

Hosted by National Farm to School Network
Hear examples and models from around the country of what partnership can look like at the state level. Guest speakers from the School Nutrition Association, Idaho State Dept. of Agriculture, New York School Nutrition Association, Northeast Organic Farmers Association Vermont, and the Mississippi Farm to School Network share their experiences.Watch a recording here.

April 20, 2016: Incorporating Traditional Foods in Child Nutrition Program Menus

Hosted by USDA

Where do traditional foods fit? In this webinar we’ll discuss best practices for incorporating traditional foods into child nutrition programs. Jo Dawson with Alaska’s Department Education and Early Development will share how Alaskan communities are integrating local foods. Jenny Montague, a nutritionist with FNS, will share some real life examples of districts that are substituting local foods into CNP meals.
Recording and Presentation slides.

January 2016: Planning Toolkit > Intro to Farm to School 

Hosted by USDA

Through this 11-part series, we’ll guide you through the USDA Farm to School Planning Toolkit. Served up in bite-sized 30 minute webinars, we’ll offer questions to consider and helpful resources to reference when starting or growing a farm to school program. Guest speakers will join the webinars to share their hands on farm to school experiences.

Click here to view a full list of National Farm to School Network Webinars.