When cafeterias buy from local farms, kids get fresher, healthier, better tasting food.  Local farmers, who may have limited markets, especially in rural areas, get a new source of income. And the school’s food dollars stay in the community.

Take advantage of our region’s wealth of family farms and get your school to buy local. To make it easy, ASAP is working within existing systems and involving food service distributors many schools already use.

Check out these resources, then contact us.

How It Started: Background on Farm to School and Local Food in Cafeterias

Resources

Best practices for using produce from school gardens (PDF)

Farm to School: From the Grassroots (workshop resource notebook 2008)

Get Local @ School Menu Templates

 Links

Bringing Local Food to Local Institutions (ATTRA)

Eat Smart:  Farm Fresh!  A Guide to Buying and Serving Locally Grown Produce in School Meals

Enhancing Commercial Food Service Sales by Small Meat Processing Firms

Food and Nutrition Services Small Farms/ School Meals Initiative

Healthy School Meals Resource System

How Local Schools and Food Service Buyers Are Building Alliances

The City Of Portland- Recommendations for integrating local produce into school meals