The Farm-to-School Program is a statewide program designed to use Connecticut Grown fresh fruits and vegetables in your schools’ cafeteria meals and snacks. This project is twofold:  to support local farms and to offer fresher, more nutritious produce in the school meals.  Getting locally grown products into school cafeterias is a win-win situation for you and your school kids! It will meet newest guidelines to improve children’s health and nutrition while also increasing marketing opportunities and income for our Connecticut farmers. The alarming upswing in childhood and adult obesity rates affect health care costs for us all as taxpayers in Connecticut. Eating healthier lunches and snacks at school is one way to improve the diets of our young people.

A connection to the food system through the promotion of local food and the people that grow it can be used to make kids more interested in learning and living a healthier lifestyle, including the consumption of more Connecticut Grown fresh fruits and vegetables!   We now have colorful Point of Sale signage for participating schools.

We continue to work with other state agencies such as Dept of Education, Dept of Administrative Services, Dept of  Public Health, as well as other organizations like the CT Food Policy Council, Ag in the Classroom, CT Dept of Environmental Protection, CT Apple Marketing Board, 5-3-1 for Healthy Kids, Food Land and People, among others.