Farm to School Institute

Farm to School is a comprehensive strategy with a goal of helping students establish lifelong positive relationships with food while supporting a more just food system. The strategies used to achieve this shift include: serving healthy local food in schools and early education programs, improving student nutrition, providing hands-on food systems learning opportunities, and developing meaningful relationships between community partners, schools and students. Farm to school supports youth in connecting the dots of where their food comes from and how their food choices impact their bodies, the environment, and their communities at large.

The Massachusetts Farm to School Institute is a year-long professional learning opportunity for a select number of early education programs and school/district teams from across Massachusetts.

The application for the 2025-26 Institute will be released in the spring of 2025.

Please watch the below video for a brief overview of the Mass. Farm to School Institute.

Benefits of Participation

Farm to School Program Development: during the Fall Retreat, participants will develop a comprehensive school-wide or early education program-wide Farm to School Action Plan that includes curriculum, local procurement, utilizing outdoor learning spaces, and cultivating family and community connections.
School-Year Coaching: teams will be paired with an experienced coach from the MA Farm to School network. You’ll have communication and meetings with this coach throughout the school year to assist you in implementing and adapting your action plan to meet the changing needs of the school.
Networking: Individuals and teams will have time to share innovations, join in dialogue, and practice experiential learning activities with other Farm to School practitioners.
Teacher & Nutrition Staff Professional Development: All team members receive certification of participation for the Fall Retreat. School nutrition staff receive continuing education/training hours for their time.

Timeline & Commitment

Spring Identify your farm to school team, that may include educators and other staff, school nutrition staff, coordinators, administrators, and family/community partners.
Fall Attend a professional development retreat (Thursday, Sept. 25th & Friday, Sept. 26th, 2025 at Wright-Locke Farm, Winchester, MA) where you will work on farm to school action planning and network with peers.
October–May Meet regularly as a team with your coach as you implement your action plan. Join the role-specific (educator, school nutrition staff, coordinator, student leaders) learning communities that will meet throughout the year.
End of Year Gathering Teams will gather virtually to present and share their work, successes, and challenges of the year. Program fee of $600 per accepted team will be due in full in order to secure the team’s spot. Scholarships available.

Application

The application for the 2025-26 Mass. Farm to School Institute will be released in Spring 2025.

Institute FAQ

Read frequently asked questions.

Learn More

View a past Fall Retreat Agenda to learn more about the typical offerings during the 2-day Institute kick-off fall retreat. Schedule and workshop topics in future years may vary.
Read about the exciting work of past Institute Teams here.

Not Quite Ready to Apply?

If you’re not ready to apply to the Mass. Farm to School Institute, “The Seeds: Building Your Farm to School Team,” is an introductory program designed for schools and early education programs that would like to build an integrated and thriving farm to school program. This program will help participants identify individuals across their school-wide community to support local foods sourcing and education efforts. Participants will finish the year well positioned to attend the Mass Farm to School Institute in the next school year.

Core components of the program are:

Monthly meetings as a cohort with a MFTS mentor
Dedicated program website with curated resources
Opportunity and invitations for professional learning throughout the year
Guest speakers on building an inclusive farm to school team
Individualized coaching for your FTS Institute application
Supportive cohort for peer learning and sharing

Learn more about the SEEDs program.

The Mass. Farm To School Institute is presented with generous support from the Henry P. Kendall Foundation.

The MA FTS Institute is held in partnership with the Northeast Farm to School Collaborative, which has hosted the Northeast FTS Institute since 2015 with Vermont FEED. The FTS Institute model was developed and refined by Vermont FEED using evidence-based best practices in professional learning.