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1. |
What is
the connection between the Know Your
Farmer, Know Your Food initiative and
the Farm to School Team? |
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At a department level, the Know
Your Farmer, Know Your Food (KYF2)
Initiative was formed as a USDA-wide
effort to create new economic
opportunities by better connecting
consumers with local producers. One
of the goals for this initiative is
to break down barriers and support
policies that focus on the
connection between farmers and
consumers. Out of this goal, and in
response to the growing demand for
farm to school activities across our
nation, the "USDA Farm to School
Team" was established. The Farm to
School Team is one of the many
subcommittees under KYF2 focused on
the importance of understanding
where our food comes from and how it
gets to our plate. Both KYF2 and the
Farm to School Team have
representatives from the various
USDA agencies at the headquarters
office and within each of USDA’s
regions.
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2. |
How will the USDA Farm to School
Team work with Regional, State, and
local agencies, as well as non-profit
organizations such as the National Farm
to School Network? |
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The USDA Farm to School Team is
comprised of staff from both Food
and Nutrition Service (FNS) and
Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS).
In addition, the Farm to School Team
has resource members at each of
FNS’s seven Regional offices and
other headquarters staff within the
USDA agencies. The Regional
representatives have worked, and
will continue to work, with State
and local agencies on their farm to
school efforts. As early as 1997,
USDA has engaged and worked
collaboratively with the National
Farm to School Network and other
non-profit organizations supporting
farm to school efforts across the
nation. The Farm to School Team has
and will continue to involve these
organizations in the process of
developing resources for 1)
assisting schools in accessing local
markets, 2) enabling food producers
to effectively service their local
schools, and 3) facilitating
communication between interested
stakeholders.
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3. |
One of the goals for the Farm to
School Team is to identify
implementation obstacles for farm to
school activities and provide suggested
solutions. Do you envision these lessons
learned will change policies affecting
farm to school? |
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At this time, it is hard to tell
how current policy will be impacted
by the Team’s site visits. The
visits were a way for USDA to assess
what has worked and what challenges
still remain for farm to school
activities across the country. Best
practices and lessons learned will
be shared with interested parties
(including policy officials) through
conference/meeting presentations,
webinars and the
Farm to School
website.
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4. |
How can I stay informed on what
USDA is doing with relation to farm to
school? |
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You can visit the USDA
Farm to
School website, as well
as join the USDA Farm to
School listserv. If you
are interested in
receiving email updates
from the Farm to School
Team, please visit the
Farm to School
listserv sign-up.
Once you click on “sign-up to
receive free email updates,” you
will be moved to another page where
you will be able to choose “Farm to
School” under the main categories of
“Current Initiatives” and “School
Meals”. Your email address will be
placed into a listserv and you will
begin receiving periodic updates on
farm to school related information,
such as updates to the USDA Farm to
School website, farm to school
related policies and resources, USDA
funding opportunities, farm to
school guidance materials, upcoming
webinars and much more.
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