As 2025 comes to a close, we invite you to take a moment and look back on a year filled with digging, cooking, learning, experimenting, advocating, celebrating, and growing.
Across Pennsylvania, students tasted new foods, schools forged new partnerships, farmers stepped into classrooms and cafeterias, and communities deepened their commitment to nourishing children. This was a year rooted in connection and strengthened by action.
Planting the Seeds
January brought renewed momentum as schools launched new wellness initiatives, dug into professional development, and explored ways to bring more Pennsylvania-grown food into classrooms and cafeterias. The PA Farm Show set the year off, reminding us of the richness of our agricultural system and everything that it has to offer.
Pasa hosted its 34th annual sustainable agriculture conference! The conference offered more than 80 educational sessions, social and networking events, and an expansive trade show. It was a weekend of learning, sharing, and community building.
Teachers, food service directors, and farmers attended winter workshops and trainings–from producer education sessions to procurement webinars–laying the foundation for spring planting and local purchasing later in the year. The early months also kicked off a busy funding season, with programs like the USDA Farm to School Grant inspiring schools and childcare sites to envision big possibilities.
Hands-on Learning Takes Root
As winter turned into spring, farm to school work burst into life. School gardens and early childhood programs emerged as hubs of curiosity. Students planted seeds, measured growth, composted food scraps, and learned firsthand where food comes from.
Field trips connected classrooms to the wider world, introducing children to farmers, greenhouses, dairy operations, and community gardens. Hands-on cooking activities and taste tests brought new flavors into cafeterias and sparked conversations about nutrition, culture, and local agriculture.
Throughout these months, educators tapped into statewide resources like Ag Literacy Week hosted by the PA Friends of Agriculture Foundation.
The PA Nutrition Network hosted their annual “Growing Together” Conference which brought hundreds of nutrition education champions together to strengthen partnerships and advance practices in PA SNAP-Ed and nutrition.
Growing Capacity, Growing Community
By summer, practitioners were planning ahead. Networks strengthened through virtual events, regional gatherings, and peer sharing. The PA Farm to School Network (PFSN) welcomed five Community Mentors to lead local gatherings, build partnerships, and co-create action plans to strengthen regional food systems.
The PFSN and The Food Trust coordinated the first Pennsylvania Farm to School Institute.
This event supported farm to school practitioners representing seven school and early care and education (ECE) teams from across the state in developing collaborative relationships, creating holistic action plans and implementing fun, educational and hands-on experiences that help children connect with their local food systems.
PA Friends of Agriculture brought together teachers from all across PA for their 2025 Educator’s Ag Institute to get a better understanding of the world of agriculture and how to implement it into their classrooms.
Throughout the Spring and Summer, Project PA and Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) held training sessions for school food service professionals, educators, and folks in CACFP (Child and Adult Care Food Program) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).
We also saw the PA Farm to School Grant Program reopen, offering up to $15,000 to support teacher training, local food purchasing, farm field trips, school gardens, and hands-on learning.
Gratitude and Resilience in a Challenging Moment
As November arrived, advocacy and action took on new urgency. The SNAP and WIC disruptions underscored how essential food access is, and how vulnerable many Pennsylvanians are when these systems are disrupted. In response, schools, food banks, local farms, urban growers, nonprofits, and families came together to support their communities.
Throughout the year, there was constant rallying for policy initiatives to better support local food systems. Many across the state came together, virtually and in person, in support of the Keystone Fresh Act (HB1768)–a pathway to bringing more Pennsylvania-grown foods into school meals.
As we step into 2026, we do so with a sense of possibility. New grants, new partnerships, new legislative opportunities, and new voices ready to shape what comes next. Here’s to a new year rooted in community, grown through partnership, and nourished with gratitude.