April 11-12, 2008
Download Resource Guide (740 KB pdf)
Resource Guide
This resource guide was prepared by Baum Forum for Schools, Food and Community, held on Friday and Saturday, April 11-12, 2008.
Resource Guide Contents:
> Wellness Policy: Legislation and
Tools for Development
> The Classroom/Curriculum
> The Lunchroom
> Outside the Lunchroom: Cooking, Gardening, and After School
> Funding Resources
Wellness Policy: Legislation and Tools for Development
Action for Healthy Kids
http://actionforhealthykids.org/resources_wp.php?page=goals
An excellent guide to the wellness policy of each state, as well as toolkits supporting the initiation of school wellness programs.
California Project Lean
http://www.californiaprojectlean.org/resourcelibrary/
Policy guides and community tool kits to help improve the school nutrition and physical activity environment. These resources were developed for use with adolescents, teachers, school administrators, and community members.
Center for Ecoliteracy: Model Wellness Policy Guide
http://www.ecoliteracy.org/programs/wellness_policy.html
In collaboration with the Chez Panisse Foundation and The Center for Ecoliteracy, Slow Food USA has written a Model Wellness Policy Guide to assist community members in writing school Wellness Policies. The Rethinking School Lunch guide provides the tools and creative solutions to improving school lunches.
Center for Science in the Public Interest: School Foods Toolkit
http://www.cspinet.org/schoolfoodkit
Center for Science in the Public Interest’s Nutrition Policy Project is working to strengthen national, state, and local policies and programs to promote healthy eating and physical activity. The School Foods Toolkit provides a guide to improving the nutritional quality of foods and beverages available in schools.
Connecticut State Department of Education
http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2626&Q=320670
Links and publications outlining policy and implementation guides to School Nutrition programs.
FamilyCook Productions
http://www.familycookproductions.com
For over 10 years, FamilyCook Productions (FCP) has supported community empowerment through nutrition, culinary, and food systems education. Our evidence-based “School Community Food Assessment” is a FREE wellness policy implementation tool available for download off our website.
Food Resource Action Center (FRAC)
http://www.frac.org
FRAC is a non-profit and nonpartisan research and public policy center working to eradicate hunger in the United States. This website provides information about school lunch policy as well as downloadable informational reports.
Food Resource Action Center: School Wellness Guide
http://www.frac.org/html/news/wellness_guide2006.html
FRAC has published the School Wellness Policy and Practice: Meeting the Needs of Low-Income Students, a guide for anti-hunger advocates, parents and school community leaders that addresses the special concerns of low-income students in local school wellness policies.
The National Farm to School Network
http://www.farmtoschool.org/policies.php
Provides up to date information on policies affecting school food, nutrition, and exercise.
New Jersey Department of Agriculture: Model School Nutrition Policy
http://www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/fn/childadult/school.html
The State of New Jersey’s school nutrition programs and policies.
New York City Department of Education: School Food
http://www.opt-osfns.org/osfns/default.aspx
School Food Programs and Policies of the New York City Department of Education.
The Prevention Institute
http://www.preventioninstitute.org/sa/fruit/
In 2007 the Prevention Institute published a report “Where’s the Fruit?” highlighting the misleading packaging and advertising of food products marketed to children, and making recommendations to the food and beverage industry for how to support healthier eating habits. Their 2008 report “When Will There be Fruit?” examines what of their recommendations were employed in the last year. The report finds that few changes have been made, and recommends increased government oversight in how foods marketed to children are packaged and advertised.
Public Health Advocacy Institute
www.phaionline.org/wpcontent/uploads/2007/11/mappingschoolfood.pdf
The Public Health Advocacy Institute has announced a new publication: "Mapping School Food: A Policy Guide." It was written to help anyone interested in navigating school food law and policy and provides tools for building community support.
Two Angry Moms
http://www.angrymoms.org/
Texas Agricultural Secretary Susan Coombs said that it will take 2 million angry moms to change the school lunch program. TWO ANGRY MOMS is a film that follows leaders in the fight for better school food. It’s a movie. It’s a movement. Join the two angry moms and sign up to have the film shown in your community.
United States Department of Agriculture: Local Wellness Policy
http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Healthy/wellnesspolicy.html
These website and web pages serve as a clearinghouse of information on Local Wellness Policy.
Agriculture in the Classroom
http://www.agclassroom.org
This USDA run webpage is an amazing resource for teachers, with extensive tools for agriculture in the classroom and K-8 educational materials as well as downloadable curriculum guides.
American Institute of Wine and Food: Days of Taste
http://www.aiwf.org/site/days-of-taste.html
AIWF Days of Taste is a discovery-based program for fourth and fifth grade children to learn about food and how it weaves its way through daily life from the farm to the table.
California School Garden Network
http://www.csgn.org
California School Garden Network’s website has resources such as curricula, fundraising, and research and policy.
Center for Environmental Education
http://www.ceeonline.org
CEE Online’s curriculum library offers lesson plans for classes of all ages.
Explore this comprehensive site on Healthy Food in Schools to discover why it is important for our children to have a healthy diet and how you can help redesign food experiences at your school.
FamilyCook Productions
http://www.familycookproductions.com
FamilyCook Productions offers three field-tested, school-based curricula teaching culinary skills and basic nutrition in the fun framework of international cultures and offer a training certificate program to certify educators in skills necessary to teach these curricula.
FoodPlay Productions
www.foodplay.com
FoodPlay Productions is an Emmy Award-winning nutrition media company which tours the nation's schools and special events using the power of live theater and interactive resources to turn kids on to healthy eating and exercise habits.
Food Studies Institute
http://www.foodstudies.org
A wonderful collection of curricula integrating academic disciplines with food, nutrition, culture and the arts. Home of award-winning Food is Elementary curriculum created by Dr. Antonia Demas that teaches children about food and nutrition through dynamic multi-cultural lessons that engage all the senses.
Greater Newark Conservancy
http://www.citybloom.org/education
Greater Newark Conservancy is a non-profit environmental, horticultural organization dedicated to empowering urban residents to improve their communities and their health through Environmental Education, Community Greening, Job Training and Environmental Justice Advocacy. We offer Nutrition Field Trips for students grades 4-12 as well as families where students learn not only to make healthy food choices but how to grow their own fresh food no matter what space they have to garden in.
Green Gourmet
http://www.greengourmetproductions.com/
Raising awareness about how our food choices affect our mind, body & spirit as well as the health of the planet using humor, wit and grits! Look for new videos, TV, poetry, cooking demos and more.
HealthCorps
www.healthcorps.net
HealthCorps educates American youth about the workings and wonders of their bodies through in school seminars on diet, nutrition, and exercise. HealthCorps empowers children to become educated consumers and to make shifts in behavior that can be measured by changes in rates of obesity and physical fitness as well as mental resilience and self esteem.
Healthy and Active Before 5
http://healthyandactivebefore5.org/
Created by Healthy and Active Before 5 in collaboration with the Prevention Institute, the Action Plan to Improve Children's Food and Activity Environments details strategies to create food and activity environments that will motivate and support children and families to adopt healthy behaviors.
Life Lab Science Program
http://www.lifelab.org
A popular, hands-on elementary school science curriculum from Life Lab Science Program. Website also includes workshops, events, and project models.
LightBox
www.lightboxtheatre.org
LightBox is a non-profit theatre company that creates bold, kinetic plays that speak to issues of our time, and engages communities with workshops and education programs. LightBox teaching artists work in collaboration with middle and high school teachers to develop a tailor-made curriculum that provides professional-level theater training paired with food education and media literacy.
Media that Matters: Good Food
www.mediathatmattersfest.org/goodfood
Media That Matters: Good Food is a DVD and online collection of independent shorts that explore food and sustainability through humor, dramatic documentary storytelling and cutting-edge animation. Individuals, community groups, activists and teachers who are inspired to bring the collection to their community can get the DVD and download free tools to promote, facilitate and evaluate their screening.
New York Agriculture in the Classroom
http://www.nyaged.org/aitc/
New York’s Agriculture in the Classroom program educates youth, teachers, and consumers about agriculture and the food system.
Practical Guide to Healthy Living
http://healthyliving.msn.com/default.aspx?section=main&contentType=video&contentId=
Pure%20Food%20Kids%20Workshop%3A%20Real%20Eating%20for%20Real%20Life&source
=email
Videos relating to healthier living and food literacy programs for children.
Project Food, Land, and People
http://www.foodlandpeople.org/
This website features science and social sciences-based curricula, resources for learning, and other tools.
Real Food New York
www.realfoodnewyork.org
Events and resources relating to increasing healthy local food in college and University dining hall tables.
Spoons Across America: The Dinner Party Project
http://spoonsacrossamerica.org/pg/7
The Dinner Party Project is a dynamic family-focused food education program involving children (10-12 years old) in the entire process of producing a dinner party for parents at a school or community center.
Sustainable Agriculture Resources for Teachers, K-12
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/AFSIC_pubs/k-12.htm
The US Dept of Agriculture site includes resources, contacts, books and articles for teachers.
Teacher’s College: Center for Food and the Environment
http://www.tc.edu/life/
Teacher’s College Linking Food and the Environment (LiFE) is an upper elementary and middle school inquiry-based science and nutrition program with four modules: Growing Food, Farm to Table & Beyond , Food & Health, and Choice, Control, & Change (C3). National Gardening Association is publishing LiFE modules during 2007 and 2008. When students participate in LiFE they learn to critically think about food, food system and personal health issues.
Better School Food
http://www.betterschoolfood.org/what_you_can_do/farm_to_school.cfm
Better School Food promotes resource tools facilitating the initiation of farm to school programs in your community.
Calhoun School Lunch Program
http://www.calhoun.org/page.cfm?p=48
In the fall of 2002, Calhoun hired Chef Bobo from the French Culinary Institute to revamp the school’s lunch program. The goal? To offer students, faculty and staff a nutritious alternative to the institutional food traditionally offered. The “experiment” has been a resounding success and has received national attention. Dubbed “Eat Right
Now,” Calhoun’s lunch program is aimed at providing students with healthier meals while building a deep understanding of the importance of a well-balanced diet.
Chef Ann’s Lunch Lessons
http://www.chefann.com
Chef Ann Cooper is a “renegade lunch lady” who helps schools restructure their meal programs to offer more locally grown, sustainable, healthy foods. Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children by Ann Cooper and Lisa Holmes (Harper Collins, September, 2006) offers inspiration and food for thought, plus over 100 delicious kid-friendly recipes. Her website contains links, information about her work and how to contact her.
Community Food Security Coalition
http://www.foodsecurity.org
A great resource providing support for establishing a farm to school program, and food policy resources. Includes a list of organizing tools as well as case studies and funding links.
Cornell University Farm to School Program
http://farmtoschool.cce.cornell.edu/
The Cornell Farm to School Program provides resources for extension educators, food service directors, farmers, parents and students to support efforts to forge and strengthen farm to cafeteria connections in New York K-12 schools, colleges and universities.
Eat Well Guide
www.eatwellguide.org
The Eat Well Guide is a free online directory of farms, stores, restaurants, bed & breakfasts and other outlets that offer local, fresh, sustainable food in the US and Canada.
FoodChange
http://www.foodchange.org/nutrition/schoolfood.html
The SchoolFood Plus Initiative is making significant institutional changes in NYC lunchrooms and classrooms: local foods are procured, food service staff are trained to prepare recipes using these foods, and students in classrooms learn the value and importance of these foods. FoodChange manages this Initiative, along with its partners:
NYC Department of Education, SchoolFood, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, and Teachers College, Columbia University.
Food for Life Partnership
http://www.soilassociation.org/foodforlife
The Food for Life Partnership works to transform school and community food culture across England, by harnessing the ideas and initiative of young people and community leaders.
Food Research and Action Center: School Breakfast in America’s Big Cities
http://www.frac.org/pdf/urbanbreakfast07.pdf
The Food Research and Action Center has put out a report examining the effectiveness of school breakfast programs intended to improve the nutrition and school achievement of low-income children in 23 large urban school districts. The report brings to light best practices that enable school breakfast programs to benefit their target populations, while also highlighting obstacles that prevent the breakfast programs from achieving their goals.
The Food Trust’s Healthy Beverage Toolkit http://thefoodtrust.lightsky.com/php/programs/school.food.beverage.reform.php
The Food Trust’s Healthy Beverage Toolkit is designed to help parents, teachers, food service professionals, school administrators and community leaders confront the epidemic of childhood obesity by promoting healthy beverage consumption.
Jamie Oliver: Feed me Better School Dinners
http://www.feedmebetter.com
The UK’s popular chef Jamie Oliver’s Feed Me Better Campaign is all about making radical changes to the school meals system and challenging the junk food culture by showing schools can serve fresh nutritious meals that kids enjoy eating.
National Farm to School Network
http://www.farmtoschool.org
This Website includes a resource pack, evaluation tools, links to established programs, events schedule, and funding opportunities. The publication, Going Local: Paths to Success for Farm to School Programs with case studies from eight states (California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Oregon), provides a snapshot of the diverse ways in which farm to school is making a difference nationwide.
New York City Department of Education
http://www.opt-osfns.org/osfns/default.aspx
New York City Department of Education, Office of School Food homepage.
New York Coalition for Healthy School Food
http://www.healthylunches.org/
New York Coalition for Healthy School Lunches works to promote optional plant-based entrees, healthy snack foods, farm to school programs, and nutrition education to encourage healthier choices.
New York Department of Agriculture and Markets: Farm to School
http://www.prideofny.com/farm_to_school.html
Information regarding New York Harvest for New York Kids Week 2008, as well as other Farm to School resources.
Organic Valley: School Lunch
http://www.organicvalley.coop/culture/school_lunch/
School Lunch is Organic Valley’s compendium of tips, articles, resources and other materials to support their School Lunch Lottery, an awareness raising educational tool for communities.
Stonyfield Farm
http://www.stonyfield.com/MenuForChange/HealthyVendingProgram/MFCHealthyVending
Machines.cfm
Stonyfield has created the country’s first organic and all-natural healthy vending machine program in schools, in partnership with nutrition educators, school administrators, parents, students, and other food companies.
University of Berkeley, California: Center of Weight and Health
http://nature.berkeley.edu/cwh/activities/LEAF.shtml
An evaluation of a school food reform pilot project implemented by Linking Education, Activity, and Food Program (LEAF) in California.
The University of California, Berkeley: The Center for Weight and Health
http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/cwh/PDFs/Dollars_and_Sense_FINAL_3.07.pdf
The Center for Weight and Health at the University of California, Berkeley presents Dollars and Sense: The Financial Impact of Selling Healthier School Foods. This report examines the financial impact of implementing nutrition standards for foods and beverages sold on school campus outside of the school meal program.
WHY: Farm to Cafeteria
http://www.worldhungeryear.org/fslc/faqs/ria_063.asp?section=6&click=1
World Hunger Year Farm to Cafeteria program was created to improve the nutritional status of America’s children while providing an important new sales outlet for small and medium sized farmers.
The Yale Sustainable Food Project
http://www.yale.edu/sustainablefood
The Yale Sustainable Food Project is on the cutting edge of bringing sustainable agriculture to Universities through education and farm to dining hall initiatives.
Outside the Lunchroom: Cooking, Gardening and After School
Added Value
http://www.added-value.org/index.php
Added Value is a non-profit organization promoting the sustainable development of Red Hook by nurturing a new generation of young leaders. They work towards this goal by creating opportunities for the youth of South Brooklyn to expand their knowledge base, develop new skills and positively engage with their community through the operation of a socially responsible urban farming enterprise.
American Horticultural Society: Youth Gardening
http://www.ahs.org/youth_gardening/index.htm
A national database of children’s gardens and gardening resources.
Bronx Green-Up
http://www.nybg.org/edu/
Bronx Green-Up, the community outreach program of The New York Botanical Garden, provides horticultural advice, technical assistance, and training to community gardeners, school groups, and other organizations interested in improving urban neighborhoods through greening projects.
California School Garden Network
http://www.csgn.org/
The California School Garden Network provides resources for garden educators and inspiration for all.
Cornell University Cooperative Extension
http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/new_york_city/
Cornell University Cooperative Extension educates New York City residents of all ages to make informed decisions related to food and nutrition, health, fitness, resource management, food safety, parenting and health care. It uses innovative, science-based, hands-on learning strategies that enable diverse audiences to take action on local environmental needs.
Cornell University: Department of Horticulture
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/gbl/
Resource for garden based learning, from seed to harvest, for youth and adults. Activities, lesson plans, publications, and evaluation resources.
The Edible Schoolyard
http://www.edibleschoolyard.org
The Edible Schoolyard involves students in all aspects of farming the garden – along with preparing, serving and eating the food – as a means of awakening their senses and encouraging awareness and appreciation of the transformative values of nourishment, community, and stewardship of the land. The website includes curricula, tool kits, supplies, grant information, and technical support.
Focus on Food Campaign: The Cooking Bus
http://www.food.gov.uk/healthiereating/nutritionschools/bus/
The Cooking Bus promotes practical food education in the schools. This mobile state of the art kitchen is the setting for hands-on cooking workshops in schools and community centers.
FoodChange: Cookshop
http://www.foodchange.org/nutrition/schoolfood.html
FoodChange provides CookShop® programming for persons from age 5 to 95, in schools, after-school programs, and community-based organizations throughout the city. The curricula focus on the hows and whys of cooking, the food system, and the benefits of nutritious eating.
Food for Thought Ojai
http://www.foodforthoughtojai.org
Food For Thought Ojai, created by parents, farmers, health and educational professionals, and environmentalists, works to bring healthier, fresh food to our school children, while raising awareness and support for local farms and the environment.
The Food Project:
"State of the Field: Youth in Sustainable Food Systems 2007"
http://blog.thefoodproject.org/2007/state-of-the-field-youth-in-sustainable-food-systems-2007/
In 2007, The Food Project sent surveys to 150 organizations that teach and empower youth to become leaders in sustainable agriculture in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The outcome is a report that pinpoints the movements' strengths, common challenges, and avenues for growth.
Gardening Mosaics
http://www.gardenmosaics.cornell.edu/
Garden Mosaics is a project that combines science education with gardening, intergenerational mentoring, multicultural understanding and community action. Science and action project resources as well as interactive components.
GreenThumb
http://www.greenthumbnyc.org/
Tools and resources for starting and supplying your school or community garden.
The Growing Connection
http://www.thegrowingconnection.org
The Growing Connection is a grassroots project which introduces low-cost, water efficient, and sustainable school and community gardening innovations hand in hand with wireless IT connectivity.
Growing Schools
http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/growingschools/
The Growing Schools website is designed to support teachers in using the ‘outdoor classroom’ as a resource across the curriculum for pupils of all ages.
Healthy School Meals Resource System
http://schoolmeals.nal.usda.gov/Cooking/index.html
This website offers recipes and menus, as well as links to expert chef’s ideas and chefs in your area who are interested in partnering with kids organizations.
How to Do Things
http://www.howtodothings.com/education/c1253-for-teachers.html
Provides practical information and resources on how to start school gardens.
National Gardening Association
http://www.kidsgardening.com
Information on youth garden grants, resource directory, garden registry, and urban school gardening tips and activities.
New York Agriculture in the Classroom
http://www.nyaged.org/aitc
NY AITC educates youth, teachers, and consumers about agriculture and the food and fiber system, through its Ag Literacy Day, Kids Growing Food, Orchard to Table program, and innovative classroom lesson plans.
Rodale Institute’s Youth Educational Program
http://www.kidsregen.org/
This interactive site is oriented to kids, families, and educators. The scope is broad- from gardening and farming to food and nutrition, fitness and health.
School Garden Wizard
http://www.schoolgardenwizard.org/
A solid how-to guide for school and community gardens. Created through a partnership between the US Botanic Garden and Chicago Botanic Garden. Oriented to teaching and planning.
Seattle Central Kitchen
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/335486_farmtoschool15.html
Tells the story of how one school district in Washington State overcame barriers to providing healthy school lunches.
Slow Food: Harvest Time in Harlem
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/education/harvest_in_harlem.html
The Harvest Time in Harlem project uses experiential learning to teach the benefits of fresh food and nutrition to inner city students. The program provides students with the tools and resources to be able to make quality food choices in their neighborhoods and nearby stores.
Slow Food in Schools
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/education
Slow Food in Schools is a national program that embraces, unifies, and promotes the efforts of school gardens, cooking classes, and taste education projects organized by Slow Food convivia (chapters) across the country.
The SouthSide Community Land Trust (SCLT)
http://www.southsideclt.org/about/
SCLT's community gardens produce food and the opportunity for better nutrition and greater self sufficiency. These gardens provide open and healthy urban space, transform blighted vacant lots, and offer recreation to individuals and to families. SCLT's educational programs work to link critical urban environmental issues, such as lead poisoning, water conservation, open space preservation, and community development, with agriculture.
The Sylvia Center
http://www.thesylviacenter.org/
The Sylvia Center brings the farm experience into the lives of children in neighboring towns and cities. Through hands-on activities at the farm, children learn about freshly grown food – its flavors, textures, seasons – and how it is farmed. The children plant, harvest and taste. They tend to the farm animals – chicken, rabbits, pigs and ducks.
Teich Garden Systems LLC
http://www.teichgardensystems.com/school_gardens_01.html
Gardening systems designed especially for school communities.
Urban Harvest
http://www.urbanharvest.org
Urban Harvest is a nonprofit organization in Houston, Texas dedicated to promoting school and community gardening. This site provides links to a primer on starting a school or community garden as well as profiles of several gardening projects.
Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/teachers/grants.htm
The Environmental Protection Agency offer excellent funding sources targeted at environmental education.
The Foundation Center
http://www.fdncenter.org/
The Foundation Center provides education and training on the grant-seeking process.
Healthy Sprouts Awards: Supporting Awareness of Nutrition and Hunger
http://www.kidsgardening.com/healthysprouts1.asp
As a way to encourage the growth of health-focused youth gardens, the Healthy Sprouts Awards support school and youth garden programs that teach about nutrition and the issue of hunger in the United States.
The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation
http://www.neefusa.org/resources/bartlett.htm
The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation’s Bartlett Award is awarded to an outstanding educator who has successfully integrated environmental education into his or her daily education programs.
The National Farm to School Network
http://www.farmtoschool.org/fundingopps.php
Extensive funding resource links for those interested in initiating farm to school relationships.
School Grants
http://www.k12grants.org/grant_opps.htm
Federal and State grant opportunities for schools as well as a connection to foundations around the country and grant-writing guidelines.
School Walk for Diabetes
www.diabetes.org/schoolwalk
School Walk for Diabetes is an educational school fund-raising program that promotes community service, school spirit, and healthy living to students.
USDA: Local Wellness Policy
http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Healthy/wellnesspolicy_funding.html
This website provides information on funding a Local Wellness Policy.
Youth Garden Grants
http://www.kidsgardening.com/YGG.asp
Youth Garden Grants are awarded to schools and community organizations with child-centered, outdoor garden programs.
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