Farm to School Program Looking for Farms to Supply Local Foods to Schools
CCE Harvest NY's Regional Farm to School Coordinator Program is working with NYS Department of Education to support schools participating in the USDA Agriculture and Marketing Services Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program. Local Foods for Schools is a USDA funded program intended to help schools deal with the challenges of supply chain disruptions brought on by the pandemic. The program is designed to strengthen the food system for schools by helping to build a fair, competitive, and resilient local food chain, and expand local and regional markets with an emphasis on purchasing from historically underserved producers and processors. Schools must use funds received through this program to purchase unprocessed or minimally processed domestic, locally grown foods from local producers, small businesses, and socially disadvantaged farmers/producers for use in the school meals programs. In NY State the program is administered by NYS Department of Education. Cornell Cooperative Extension - Harvest NY is the technical assistance provider.
If you would like your farm or food business information shared with schools, please complete the survey linked below by Monday, November 14th. The survey asks about your business, the products you grow, raise, produce, or distribute, and what part(s) of the state your products are available, and should take about 5 minutes to complete.
Survey link: https://cornell.ca1.qualtrics....
Questions about the program can be directed to Cheryl Bilinski at cbt32@cornell.edu
Upcoming Events
2025 Winter NYCO Meetings
January 14, 2025
March 11, 2025
Class A CDL Training Course
January 18, 2025
February 22, 2025
March 22, 2025
NYS Certified Instructor: Todd Swimelar, "The CDL Guy"
Training required by NYS to take Class A CDL exam and driving test.
Permit not required for classroom time, but is required for driving time.
2025 NYBPA Annual Conference & Membership Meeting
January 24 - January 25, 2025
East Syracuse, NY
The 2025 Annual Conference starts Friday afternoon with a cash bar, registration, and annual membership meeting. Dinner to follow with keynote speaker Kevin Ochsner, Beef Farm of Excellence Awards Presentation, and Supreme Show Program Sponsorship auction. Trade show and silent auction to benefit the Jr Scholarship Fund all weekend long. Saturday starts with the trade show and breakfast at 8:00AM followed by speakers at 8:30AM. Lunch includes the Annual NYBPA Awards and Junior Awards Program. Hotel accommodations can be found below. Be sure to book your room today!
Announcements
No announcements at this time.