New York School Nutrition Association is the core state partner in the National Farm to School Network, with support of FINYS, NYS Department of Ag & Markets, NYS Education Department, and the Capital District Child Care Council.

Cornell Cooperative Extension's Farm to School website has tips and resources for food service, farmers, teachers, parents, community members, and extension educators.

The USDA Farm to School Planning Toolkit guides you through questions to consider and helpful resources to reference when starting or growing a farm to school program. Procuring Local Foods for Child Nutrition Programs focuses on menu planning and the solicitation of bids.

Boosting public spending on fresh foods grown on New York State farms and served in schools, childcare centers, older adult centers, food pantries and other institutions, has the potential to improve health for more than six million New Yorkers, while increasing economic opportunities across the state. The findings are part of a new report, The Public Plate in New York State: Growing Health, Farms and Jobs with Local Food, by The New York Academy of Medicine and American Farmland Trust. 

The Local Food System Toolkit was developed by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to help communities reliably evaluate the economic impact of investing in local and regional food systems. The Local Food System Toolkit provides detailed guidance in seven modules to measure and assess the expected economic impacts of local food investments. Using real-world projects, experiences, and applied research, it provides grounded, credible, and useable assessment methods. The Local Food System Toolkit can be used by policy makers, community leaders, private businesses or foundations to offer specific estimates that will help them decide whether to invest in initiatives that increase local food activity. 

Get ideas and inspiration watching this video from the Poughkeepsie Farm to School Project.

School leaders campaign developed by Vermont Farm to School Network with a goal to elevate district-level understanding and support of farm to school. Includes tools for the farm to school advocate and resources for school leaders. 

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released a new report, "Locally Grown: Farm to School Programs in New York State," an overview of farm to school in New York State, the challenges facing farm to school programs and suggestions for improving their success. 

This report by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future reviews the literature and key information resources regarding institutional food service procurement systems, presents the potential benefits of a largescale shift among institutional procurement policies, discusses some of the existing barriers to the adoption of policies that favor regionally and/or sustainably produced food, and provides recommendations and tools for influencing institutional food procurement practices.

Find ideas for great school projects that combine nutrition, local foods, and curriculum from the Healthy Schools New York report.

This report from American Farmland Trust reveals the incredible economic potential for the New York farm economy of recent farm to school initiatives, as well as their opportunity to increase access to healthy, local food for kids throughout the state.

Check out National Farm to School for how to get started on the right foot - building a team of key partners. Download Getting Started with Farm to School, Getting Started with Farm to Pre-K, and Starting a School Garden.

From the National Farm to School Network, Getting Started with Farm to School provides a concise framework for how to start a project in your school district.

On an annual basis, USDA awards up to $5 million in competitive grants for training, supporting operations, planning, purchasing equipment, developing school gardens, developing partnerships, and implementing farm to school programs.

In 2015-16, the New York State Farm to School grant program funded projects that help Pre-K through Grade 12 schools serve healthy, locally grown foods on school menus. You can read who was eligible to apply and the request for approvals for the last round here.

Look up School Districts who reported to the 2015 USDA Farm to School Census on their procurement and education activities in 2013-2014, and those who plan to start farm to school programs in the future. 

This resource developed by the Vermont Farm to School Network outlines the educational benefits of farm to school for students, teachers, and the whole school community. 

Sign up to learn about programs, events, trainings from New York Ag in the Classroom. Check out the Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix that contextualizes national education standards in science, social studies, and nutrition education with relevant instructional resources linked to Common Core Standards.