To celebrate National Farm to School Month this October, the PA Farm to School Network (PFSN) is hosting a Farm to School (FTS) Storytelling Contest to encourage FTS practitioners to share their stories with their community using a variety of media. This could include a photo series, poetry, video, testimonials, art and more. We encourage you to get creative! Your story can highlight your entire program or focus on one aspect, such as a farm field trip, or an event that you held.

 

Below are some questions and examples to help you brainstorm:

  • What farm to school programming are you doing? (e.g., educating students/kids about food and agriculture, engaging kids in gardening activities, procuring and serving local food products in school meals and snacks)
  • Who is involved? Students, parents, faculty/staff, community members? 
  • Why is it meaningful to your community? 

Check out the PFSN Success Stories webpage for more inspiration from people doing incredible farm to school work in Pennsylvania.

Check out this example of a story highlighting a producer-school connection:

 

Sharing with Community Members

We hope that by creating stories for this contest, you also have something you can share with members of your community to spread the word about your program and the importance of farm to school activities. Once you create your story, we encourage you to share it with community members, which could include getting published in your school newsletter or on social media, in  local newspaper and/or in emails to parents. For every additional share, your program will receive an additional submission into the raffle. (Ex. 1 additional submission for sharing it in a newsletter, on Class Dojo, with a local newspaper, or on your school/program’s social media account.) You will also receive an additional submission into the raffle for every community member who shares your submission. (Ex. Your partner organization shared the story with another partner, your principal shared it with the school board, or a partner shared it on their social media account.)

Please Note: To receive the additional raffle submission, you must show proof of sharing. You can screenshot an email, upload a news article, etc. You will find a section to do so in the submission form. You may receive up to 5 additional submissions. 

 

To assist you in reaching out to your community members and local media, check out this media toolkit, which includes sample social media posts to highlight your program and resources for contacting local media outlets. If you share your story on social media, you’re encouraged to include the hashtag #pafarmtoschool.

 

Submit your story by 11:59 pm on November 8, 2024, to be entered into a raffle to receive some excellent prizes. After a public voting process, winners will be announced and shared across the network.

 

If you have any questions, please reach out to Jamie Taylor, at jtaylor@thefoodtrust.org.

 

Submit Your Story

Name(Required)
Email(Required)
Which aspect of farm to school does your story highlight:(Required)
Please select one. If your story highlights multiple aspects, choose the category it best fits into.
Please upload your story here (PDF, images, etc.)
Drop files here or
Max. file size: 300 MB.
    You may include a link to your story here.
    For every community member you send your story to, your program will receive an additional submission into the raffle. Please provide the names of those community members and upload a photo/screenshot of any shares to be eligible for submission.
    Drop files here or
    Max. file size: 300 MB.
      Do you have consent to release the photo(s) above?
      In order to use photos that include people, we require that any individuals featured in the photos have given their consent.

      You can find a downloadable Photo Release Form here.

      • This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the view or policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.


      • © 2021 Pennsylvania Farm to School Network. All rights reserved.
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