Did you know that cranberries are the largest agricultural crop in Massachusetts? Or that they bounce when ripe, earning them the nickname “bounce berries?” This November, students from Mass. Farm to School’s Worcester Kindergarten Initiative had the opportunity to learn about this local superfood as part of their classroom Thanksgiving activities. In true farm to […]

Throughout the past year, Mass. Farm to School Program Director Simca Horwitz has been working with partners from New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine to increase local foods procurement on college campuses and conduct research on barriers and opportunities for college food services in purchasing local foods. This regional project is being coordinated by our partner, […]

This week we bring you a guest post from an inspiring new project in the Boston Public Schools.   Located in the heart of the city of Boston, right down the street from Fenway Park, is a school pioneering the first farm-to-school project of its kind. On the back field of Boston Latin School’s campus […]

In late September, students from the Worcester Kindergarten Initiative (KI) delve into one of the most exciting parts of their farm to school program: cooking! As part of an activity about Johnny Appleseed, kindergartners prepare applesauce and apple chips in their classrooms using slow cookers and dehydrators. They carefully arrange sliced apples on the dehydrator […]

Where does our food come from? What kinds of foods can we find in Massachusetts during the fall? Why can we grow tomatoes, but not bananas, in our Central Massachusetts backyards? These are just a few of the questions the students in the Worcester Kindergarten Initiative (KI) ponder over the course of the school year. […]

The 2013 – 2014 school year was filled with farms, food, and healthy fun for the students of the Worcester Kindergarten Initiative (KI). The KI, a holistic food education program of Mass. Farm to School, has Worcester’s young students exploring the goodness of fresh fruits and vegetables through in-class cooking projects and taste-tests, taking a […]

Watertown’s Director of Food Services Stephen Menyhart, has been enthusiastic about promoting local foods and nutrition education with Watertown students since he started working in the district in 2013. He recently partnered with ChopChop Kids, the non-profit publisher of ChopChop Magazine (based in Watertown), and the school’s Wellness Committee to create a cooking class for […]

Each fall and spring, participants from farm to school programs across the nation walk, ride, and bus their way to the farms that they have been learning about all year. Here in the heart of Massachusetts, students from Mass. Farm to School’s Worcester Kindergarten Initiative enjoy their spring field trip at Community Harvest Project, a […]

On Monday, May 12, representatives from the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Services Washington DC headquarters traveled up to Gloucester for an event that showcased the unique flavor of school meals in coastal Massachusetts. The gathering took place at The Open Door Food Pantry which, in addition to running a number of community based anti-hunger initiatives, […]

Recently Mass. Farm to School’s Lisa Damon and Simca Horwitz, spent four action-packed days in Austin, TX at the National Farm to Cafeteria Conference. Hosted by the National Farm to School Network, the conference is a biennial event that brings together diverse stakeholders from across the country who are all working to source local food […]

On April 2nd, a group of approximately 20 Food Service Directors and school cafeteria staff gathered at the Maynard High School for a workshop of using local seafood in school meals. This workshop – the third in a series of local foods culinary workshops offered by Mass. Farm to School over the past year – […]

Even as the streets of Boston were covered in winter’s snow and ice, students at Boston University were enjoying farm fresh foods thanks to the creative chefs at BU Dining and Harvest of the Month, an initiative of Mass. Farm to School.  Harvest of the Month is a statewide local foods campaign encouraging schools and […]