1. Check out available resources on our Garden Based Learning Page.

2. Develop Community Partnerships

Your busy schedule may not allow you to devote all the time necessary to successfully oversee an entire new program. Enlist the help of the community by organizing a committee, task force or work group. Many parents and community members are willing to support efforts to improve child nutrition.

3. Make communication a centerpiece

• Communicate the benefits of locally grown foods to school nutrition staff, teachers, school administrators, students and community members.
• Ask for input from people who might be knowledgeable about local-food initiatives and monitor local media reports for news of organizations that might provide food or assistance.
• Build the Farm Fresh Initiative into the tapestry of your program to ensure long-term sustainability!

4. Start slowly and plan carefully

Talk to local producers or your distributor about supplying locally grown products.Begin planning several months before you expect to serve a food item. Check out our Farm Fresh Network to connect directly to a Texas producer. To gain a sense of the existing school market for Texas Farm Fresh, take a look at these Farm Fresh regional profiles. The following "to do" list will help you get started.

The objective of farm to child care activities is to connect children in early child care settings — preschools, Head Start, center-based programs, programs in K-12 schools and family child care programs — to local food and agriculture, by serving local products in meals and snacks, garden-based learning and agriculture and nutrition education and activities. 

Birth- to 4- years is a great time to start exposing children to new foods. This is a time many children are more apt to try new foods, especially if a peer or a teacher is modeling the behavior of eating the item. Farm to child care activities offer a great way to introduce children to foods available from Texas farmers and ranchers and ensuring that incorporating new ingredients into a child’s diet is not a chore.

5 tips to consider when starting a farm to child care program 
 

Child Care centers can use their unique qualities to their advantage:

• Local food procurement: child care settings tend to have lower food volume needs. Farmers and ranchers with smaller production capacity may be able to accommodate the needs of a preschool or family care site when they cannot accommodate an entire school district. 
• Class size: child care settings tend to have smaller class sizes; allowing greater flexibility in the types of curriculum an educator can offer.
• More flexible curriculum: Experiential education is the preferred learning model for child care centers. Garden-based learning and field trips to farms and farmers markets are great learning opportunities for children to connect with local food.
• Parent participation: Parent and family involvement can be a huge asset for farm to child care programming. Include upcoming farm to child care opportunities in your communication to see if parents would like to participate. 

Resources  

Many great farm to child care resources already exist and can help you get started. Visit our Map of Farm Fresh Activities to see if centers located near you are already implementing farm to child care activities.

USDA Farm to Preschool Fact Sheet
This USDA-developed fact sheet provides an overview of farm to child care and how it can be incorporated at a facility operating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).

Farm to Summer initiatives help bring local agriculture to meals in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO). Participating SFSP and SSO sites connect children with agriculture by purchasing local foods and offering activities such as garden-based learning, enrichment activities focused on nutrition or agriculture, or trips to a farm or farmers market. Farm to Summer activities enable SFSP and SSO program operators to enhance the quality of their programs. 

Benefits of Farm to Summer:

• Fruits and vegetables are served at their peak growing and harvesting season.
• Children taste fruits and vegetables that may not be available during the school year.
• Farmers and ranchers find new markets for products.
• Community members become engaged in agriculture-based activities.  
• Consistent, year-round farm to school programming increases enjoyment of school gardens.

 
Summer meal sites can introduce farm to site activities by using locally sourced ingredients in meals and snacks, creating garden-based learning environments, including nutrition education in enrichment activities, and connecting children with local farmers and ranchers.

Together, all these benefits of Farm to Summer activities establish lifelong healthy habits for children while building strong communities and enhancing local economies.

Some simple steps can help you launch a successful program at any time:

1. Start small and grow: Offer one or two locally grown items.
2. Highlight local food: Use posters, fliers or an educational lesson to introduce and educate children about local food. Send information home for parents too!
3. Connect with community partners: Partners are key to success and may have resources that will help create a sustainable project.
4. Share your success: Community members and partner organizations, including TDA, love to hear about successful farm to site activities.

USDA Fact Sheet 
This document provides an overview of the Summer Food Service Program, a list of benefits of farm to summer activities and ideas for engaging kids throughout the summer months.

Additional Resources to Take Advantage of the Great Summer Produce
Texas is ripe with fresh produce during summer months. Learn how to take advantage of the timing and serve fresh fruits, vegetables and other Texas agriculture products in summer meal programs. Bring the farm to your summer site to boost meal appeal and encourage increased participation.

Growing Farm to Site in Summer Meal Programs brochure 
Published by TDA

Fresh from the Farm: Using Local Foods in the Afterschool and Summer Nutrition Programs
Published by the Food Research and Action Center, August 2016