11/28/2017 The Island Grown Initiative has launched a new monthly cooking show, Katie’s Harvest of the Month Kitchen, produced through Martha’s Vineyard Community Television. Each month on the show Island Grown Schools coordinator Katie Ruppel explores a locally available seasonal crop, and welcomes special guests to share knowledge and a favorite recipe. Crops so far […]

Earlier this month, we kicked off the 2017-18 Mass. Farm to School Institute with an incredible Fall Retreat at Appleton Farms in Ipswich, MA on November 3rd-4th. School teams from Essex Technical High School, Webster Public Schools, and Ipswich Public Schools were selected from a pool of applicants for the opportunity to participate in the […]

Farm to School advocates from across the Commonwealth gathered at the Massachusetts State House on Thursday, October 26th to share their stories of bringing healthy, locally grown foods and food education to students with each other and their legislators. They heard from one of the 2016 Kale Blazer award winners, Senator Anne Gobi as well […]

10/25/2017 By Sean Philip Cotter QUINCY – Last year, they grew garlic. This year, it’s spinach. The students at Lincoln-Hancock Community School in Quincy have gardening beds right outside, and they take field trips to Holly Hill Farm in Scituate through a grant the city receives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. On Wednesday, an […]

Our first ever Seafood Harvest of the Month was a big success thanks to all the great work done by our participating Harvest of the Month schools and institutions. There were seafood culinary workshops and seafood celebrations which resulted in new recipes learned and more seafood purchased locally and enjoyed in cafeterias around the state.  […]

We are very excited to announce the release of two new resources, a Sea to School Guide and “Sea to School: A Lunch Voyage” video (see below), to help expand the use of local seafood in school meals and seafood/marine education. These resources, developed collaboratively by Massachusetts Farm to School, Maine Farm to School Network, […]

Meet the Farm to School Network Leadership Team! For the last few years, we have heard from farm to school advocates and practitioners in Massachusetts that they are interested in forming a network to advance farm to school programs across the Commonwealth. Meetings with stakeholders, learning from farm to school partners in other states, and […]

Thank you to Senator Anne M. Gobi for shepherding the Farm to School funding amendment through the Massachusetts Senate budget process. We are also grateful to those Senators who signed on to co-sponsor the amendment: Sen. James Eldridge: James.Eldridge@masenate.gov Sen. Joan Lovely: Joan.Lovely@masenate.gov Sen. Michael Moore: Michael.Moore@masenate.gov Sen. Barbara L’Italien: barbara.l’italien@masenate.gov Sen. Eileen Donoghue: Eileen.Donoghue@masenate.gov […]

We are very excited to announce the release of our new report “The Impact of Institutional Sales on Massachusetts Farms.”  This report, authored by Melissa Adams, shares research conducted in 2015 with over 70 Massachusetts farms. Farmers were asked a number of questions about their involvement with institutional sales, including their perceptions of this market, […]

In this season of giving thanks, we have much to be thankful for at Mass. Farm to School. This season is also a time of transition, as farmers mark the end of the harvest season and look ahead to next year. Here at Mass. Farm to School we are also experiencing a time of transition. […]

The first ever Farm to School Day at the State House was held May 6, 2015. We had a packed room for the legislative briefing full of passionate farm to school advocates – legislators and aides, students, teachers, food service staff, non-profit leaders and more. You can access the Farm to School Day presentation here. […]