School Garden to Cafeteria Guide (Michigan Farm to School)

Michigan Farm to School has published a step-by-step guide to creating a school garden to cafeteria program in your school.

Summary

A garden to cafeteria program can be developed to fit your school’s environment and needs. There can be one specific goal for having a garden to cafeteria program, or it can be a component of an educational garden project. Regardless of the objective, school gardens require planning, involvement and attention, but provide learning opportunities, enjoyment and delicious fresh food!

There is a learning curve for starting a garden to cafeteria program. If your school is new to this type of work, start small. Begin by assessing the interest and support your school food service staff members can provide. After that, set reasonable and measurable goals and begin by growing one crop to sell or donate to your cafeteria. If your school has just installed a new garden, the first one to two years may be used to prepare the garden itself, before starting an actual garden to cafeteria program. Building a strong foundation for a healthy garden and establishing and nurturing trusting relationships with food service staff members, school garden stakeholders and students increase your chances of success in developing a garden to cafeteria program.

Guide Contents

Step 1: Getting Started

• Garden to Cafeteria Self-Assessment
• Summary of Regulations
• Plan for Safe Food Practices
• Food Safety Training Checklist

Step 2: Build Community Connections

Step 3: Develop an Agreement

Step 4: Link to Garden Produce

Download the full guide.