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Farm to Summer Meal Programs

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Farm to Summer Meals

Summer is a time of agricultural abundance. Using Washington grown foods in your summer meal program is a great way to take advantage of all of the produce our state has to offer! 

Some advantages of Farm to Summer: 

  • Serve fruits and vegetables in thier peak growing season. 
  • Introduce students to produce that may be unavailable during the school year.
  • Develop year-round farm to school programming that supports local growers.
  • Engage community members in activities that celebrate Washington Agriculture. 

The links below offer basic facts about Farm to Summer, a sample seasonal purchasing template, and activity resource kit.

  • USDA Farm to Summer Resources Check out summer farmers markets and school gardens as a potential source for delicious fruits and veggies! The summer harvest season offers an abundance of local produce that may not be available during the school year 
  • OSPI Child Nutrition Summer Meals Resources Helpful links, resources, and tools on farm to summer, food safety, grants, promotional materials, recipes, and more for summer meal program sponsors. Also download OSPI's 2018 Farm to Summer Week Sponsor Training slides - [PDF]
  • Sample Seasonal Request Sheet This is an example of a seasonal request sheet K-12 meal sponsors could use to procure local food farms and vendors. This could be easily adapted to work for a summer meal site!
  • Summer Food, Summer Moves Summer Food, Summer Moves is a fun, hands-on resource kit designed to get kids and families excited about healthy eating and physical activity during the summer months. The kit is designed for use by summer meal site operators and focuses on using music, games, art, and movement to motivate kids and families to choose more fruits and vegetables, choose water instead of sugary drinks, get enough physical activity every day, and to limit screen time.
  • Farm to Summer Planning Guide, from Center for Ecoliteracy distills tips and best practices for building community support, conducting grassroots outreach, planning farm-to-summer menus, and more