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CHAPTER 02: BACKGROUND11Supplemental Elements of Farm to SchoolActivities described in the core elements of farm toschool significantly benefit from and are supported byadditional inputs, such as:• Training and professional development: developingschool foodservice staff capacity to prepareand serve local foods, understand food safetyrequirements for handling fresh produce grownin school gardens, and embracing their role inencouraging children to try new foods. Educatorsmay need training and support to teach subjectsusing hands-on activities with foods. Volunteersand visiting community members such as farmersmay benefit from training on how to presentfarming, ranching, processing and cookinginformation to different age groups in classroomsor on field trips 11–13 .• Promotion and media: increasing communityawareness and reinforcing the farm to schoolmessages. Regular promotion and marketing offarm to school activities in the school environmentensures continued support and excitement.• Planning, coordination and evaluation: monitoringand assessing progress toward program goals andoutcomes. Volunteers or site staff can play thisrole.• Outreach and community engagement: buildingrelationships in the community is a cornerstone offarm to school. These can be with and betweenfarmers, parents or community volunteers andleaders.• Policy alignment: removing barriers for localfarmers to supply school districts and to accelerateprogress towards institutionalization. Policies canbe at the local, state and national level.• Funding: supporting additional staff time,infrastructure, or specific program activity costs.Many of these also have a catalytic impact on eachother and on the core elements, and create a positivefeedback loop for program improvement. Forexample, the more foodservice workers are trained,the better they align with the program model andare buy into the farm to school approach, seeingthemselves as the gatekeepers of health in theschool 14 . Media and marketing efforts create a buzzabout farm to school in the community, which bringsattention to the farm to school activities conducted atschool, creates a demand for program expansion,and garners interest in policies to institutionalizefarm to school.Farm to School Touch PointsActivities within the three core elements of farm toschool can occur in various locations and includeone or more of the following intervention sites or“touch points,” where a program activity may “touch”participants. (see Figure 3). The description of eachtouch point includes just a sample of possibleactivities.1. Farms and other food production and processingfacilities: local food is produced or processed fordistribution to schools or early care centers. Thisis where farmers, processors and distributors canengage with students about local foods.2. Cafeterias: where local foods are served andpromoted to students, foodservice staff, teachersand other adults.3. Classrooms: where educators or early careproviders help students make curricularconnections with food, health, agriculture andnutrition.4. Outdoor learning spaces and school gardens:where teachers, volunteers and other adultsengage children in hands-on learning to reinforceclassroom lessons.5. Home and family: where children share materials,such as seeds and plant starts, and lessons fromschool. Children can try new recipes with familymembers and encourage healthier eating habits.6. Community: where schools or early care centersconnect with farmers, ranchers, processors,grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and chefs inactivities that engage students and families andpromote local foods.NATIONAL FARM TO SCHOOL NETWORK