Join the Pennsylvania Farm to School Network (PFSN) and thousands of schools, early care and education (ECE) sites, farms, communities and organizations across the country as we celebrate National Farm to School (FTS) Month this October. “Farm to school” includes serving local food to kids in school settings, educational experiences about food and agriculture – including farm tours and taste tests – and school garden activities. If your community already engages in these activities, October is a perfect time to promote and celebrate!

This October, the PFSN is providing a variety of ways to help you celebrate: join the upcoming virtual open house on September 26th, participate in the multimedia story-telling contest, and encourage your legislators to support farm to school related policy. Learn more about these opportunities and others in this blog post!

Here are a few more ideas, resources and promotional materials for your celebrations: 

Activities for K-12 and Early Care and Education (ECE) Educators: 

• Visit a farm, orchard or pumpkin patch with your students. If you can’t get to the farm, ask the farmer to come to your classroom for a visit or share one of the PA Farm to School Network’s (PFSN) Farm Tour Videos

Farm Tour Video Farmers

• Invite your local legislators to see your farm to school programming using this resource, Inviting Legislators to Your Events. Building relationships with your legislators is a great way to support systemic changes that can further farm to school programs. If you plan to showcase how you procure and serve local food in your school meals or snacks, be sure to share this with your legislators and ask them to support PA House Bill 2420, the Keystone Fresh Act.
• Ask children and families to share their family food traditions and favorite recipes to create a class cookbook. Check out this example from Georgia, which highlights Harvest of the Month foods!
• Pennsylvania Harvest of the Month (PA HOM) is a program developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Project PA (Penn State University) to promote a local agricultural product each month. In addition to recipes, fact sheets and posters, use the PA HOM Activity Guides to support your educational activities in the classroom and cafeteria when celebrating the local agriculture product each month.
• If you have a middle or high school FFA program, consider creating a cross-age teaching program that allows the middle and/or high school students to teach farm to school lessons to the younger grades. 
• Contact your local county Extension office for gardening information and support at Penn State Extension.

For Farmers and Growers:

• Host a tour of your farm for students or visit a classroom to discuss your farming operation. Check out this example of students touring the farm where their school beef comes from.
• Meet a school food service director and start to build a working relationship. A great first question to ask is “What local foods would you be interested in purchasing and serving?” Check out the Bringing the Farm to School: Agriculture Producers Toolkit for resources and tips.
• If your products are already being served in schools/ECEs, this is a great time to plan a visit to the cafeteria and share about your partnership. Check out an example in this success story.
• Share Farm to School Month materials like stickers and bookmarks at your farmers market booth. Free downloads are available at farmtoschoolmonth.org. 

Activities for Child Nutrition Program Operators: 

• Purchase PA Preferred® produce and celebrate a locally sourced PA Preferred Day in the cafeteria. Find resources for sourcing local food in this blog post and on the USDA’s Procuring Local Foods webpage.
• Conduct a taste test featuring a new food or recipe. Find recipes, fact sheets, posters and more at paharvestofthemonth.org.
• Host an after-school cooking club in the cafeteria! Find inspiration for your cooking club in Erie School District’s success story.
• Invite a farmer or food producer to eat with students in the lunchroom or to host a farm stand. Check out this example from Welsh Elementary School in Philadelphia, which partnered with HayDay Farms to host a farm stand during Back to School Night.
• Submit photos of school meal trays to the SNAPA Tray of the Month Campaign highlighting local foods in October! Learn more here.

No matter what activities you have planned for October, National FTS Month is a great time to capture your program through photos and videos! These visuals can be shared on social media, in newsletters, with your local media and legislators or in your submission to the PFSN National FTS Month Storytelling Contest. When sharing on social media, be sure to use the hashtag #pafarmtoschool.

Find additional activities, promotional tips and resources to celebrate this October in this National Farm to School Month Resource Guide.