Child Nutrition

A cook pours brown batter into a large industrial mixer
Photo: Kimberly Kaufman.

The Virtuous Cycle of Farm to School & Early Childhood

Every day, school nutrition professionals and early childhood providers connect children with nourishing meals, local food, and meaningful learning opportunities.

Whether it’s designing seasonal menus, sourcing ingredients from nearby farms, or engaging students in cafeteria tastings, these efforts strengthen our local food system and student wellbeing.

This work creates what we call the virtuous cycle of farm to school: when schools buy food from local farms, they serve fresher, more appealing meals. That leads to higher participation in meal programs, which increases revenue for school nutrition departments. With more resources, schools can buy even more local food — supporting local economies, improving student health, and deepening food education. Everyone benefits: students, schools, and farmers.

A graphic depicting the virtuous cycle of farm to school.

The Outcomes:

  • Engaged students ready to learn
  • Improved student health, attendance, and behavior
  • Strong local farms and food businesses
  • Stigma and lunch shaming eliminated
  • More scratch cooking with nourishing local foods

Get Connected

Join the Local Purchasing Action Team to connect with food hubs, agency partners, and school nutrition leaders working to grow local purchasing across Vermont. Help shape the strategies to grow local food purchasing in schools and early childhood settings in Vermont.

Join the Local Purchasing Action Team

Key Resources

Whether you’re just getting started or expanding a long-standing program, the Network is here to help you connect with peers, build new partnerships, and access tools and funding to support your work:

CACFP for Early Childhood Providers

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is the federal nutrition program supporting the early childhood years. And, “Farm to CACFP” is a growing movement supported by USDA and the National CACFP Association: find support for your nutrition programs, ways to integrate local food into your menus and learning environments, and network with others utilizing CACFP to further their farm to early childhood goals.

Technical Assistance for Local Purchasing

Vermont FEED offers free technical assistance to schools and early childhood programs, including help with sourcing local products, tracking local purchases, and working with food hubs and distributors. Learn more and contact NOFA-VT’s Farm to Institution team to get started at kayla@nofavt.org.

Vermont Local Foods Incentive Grant

The Local Foods Incentive Grant from the Agency of Education helps school food authorities increase local purchasing through a direct financial incentive to when local purchasing targets are met in school meal programs. The program also offers planning and implementation support.

Seasonal Menu Planning & Recipes

Find kid-tested recipes and seasonal menu templates from New School Cuisine, Vermont Harvest of the Month, Vermont Agency of Education’s Seasonal Cycle Menu Toolkit, and Recipes for Healthy Kids designed to meet nutrition standards and highlight Vermont-grown ingredients.

Jr Iron Chef VT

Jr Iron Chef VT is a statewide culinary competition challenging teams of middle and high school students to create nutritious, local dishes to inspire school meal programs. Support or coach a team to deepen youth food education and build school community.

Food Security & Community Resilience

School nutrition programs are vital to community food access, and farm to school and early childhood contribute to food security across Vermont. Learn more at Hunger Free VT.

Understanding the Virtuous Cycle

Investing in local food creates a ripple effect, improving student health, supporting local farms, and increasing meal program sustainability. Learn more.

For more resources, explore our library and filter for “Nutrition and Cooking”.

 

Stories to Inspire Your Work