REGISTER NOW for 2013 Farm to School Collaboration “Planting Seeds of Growth” to be held July 10th at the Lake Iowa Nature Center in Ladora, Iowa Registration / Agenda / Flyer
 2013 FFA – Growing Together
NEW in 2013! This initiative is being offered to Iowa FFA Chapters. By agreeing to plant a fruit or vegetable that can be included in a school meal, approved FFA chapters will receive a Brix Tek Hand-Held 0-32% Brix Refractometer with Automatic Temperature Compensation. A refractometer is a tool that refracts light through a prism to measure the density of a liquid placed on the surface of the prism. The density of liquid squeezed from the fruit or leaf of a plant represents the total sugars present in that plant. Refractometers give a good indication of the success of the methods used by the grower. Offering students the opportunity to make correlations between growing, harvesting and nutritional values will equate to stronger, more prepared future farmers. This tool comes in a hard case with instructions and a laminated Brix Chart – Refractive Index of Crop Juices for fruits and vegetables. In addition, we will provide your group with a sap extractor to aid in the collection of samples.
The interest in the “2012 A Garden is the Way to Grow” initiative was overwhelming. The data collected from the feedback, proved that this initiative exceeded expectations for student participation, student exposure to new fruits and vegetables, and the desire to continue school gardens.
This year, we are offering 25 schools the opportunity to apply for the 2013 A Garden is the Way to Grow initiative. The initiative will include a wheel barrow along with other garden tools, a reflective garden sign and $150 in funding to help you grow or start your garden. To be considered, complete the application and fax it or mail it to us by April 3, 2013.
Iowa Farm to School Chapter Initiative:
There are currently 16 active Iowa Farm to School Chapters throughout the state. Each chapter has developed and implemented a plan so as to uphold the objectives and mission of the Farm to School Program. Such activities in these chapters include; locally-grown Iowa food procurement, eating fresh fruit and vegetables from Iowa, school gardens, field trips to local farms and orchards, purchase of kitchen equipment to better serve needs of students, educational presentations and materials, food fairs, and classroom activities.
“A is for Apple” initiative:
This initiative was launched in the fall of 2008, in order to encourage the purchase of locally grown Iowa apples. Orchards and schools worked together with the Department of Agriculture to provide apples to school children. Since that first year, over 5700 students in more than 52 schools have benefitted from this initiative by receiving locally-grown fresh apples to educational resources and activities. Visit the "A is for Apple" Initiative page for all the information for 2011!
“Wrap Your Own-Iowa Grown” initiative was started in the fall of 2009. This initiative is a great opportunity for schools, students, teachers, parents and the communities to get involved and promote Iowa producers and the Iowa economy, not to mention to encourage healthy eating habits for our children and our future. The goal of this initiative is to promote the purchase of locally-grown vegetables and products to create wraps. This is also an opportunity for students to eat something healthy with great Iowa fixings!
Wrap Your Own- Iowa Grown 2011 was a great success! Eleven schools signed up to participate in this initiative and some of them went the extra mile to participate in our Recipe contest. All eleven schools received $200.00 to purchase local fruits and vegetables as well as Wrap papers and promotional items. Oelwein High School won the Wrap recipe contest (submitted by Barb Sanders- Food Service Director) with a mouth-watering Southwest Chicken Wrap. We (Tammy Stotts/Emily Wadle) went to Oelwein to host an assembly for one of Scott Smalley’s FFA classes that helped grow some of the food for the Oelwein Farm to School Chapter. Students were challenged and had some fun with the activities we planned and the school received an additional $300 to purchase local fruits and veggies! Also Congratulations to our Student Photo Contest winner Josh Thompson, from Price Lab schools in Cedar Falls, who submitted the photo “Growing Onions”.
Thank you to everyone that participated in this initiative and those that continue to support and enhance the Farm to School Program throughout the state!
Check our site often to see what is going and learn about upcoming events and initiatives. If you have any questions or comments about the Iowa Farm to School Program please contact Tammy Stotts at 515-281-7657 or by email tammy.stotts@iowaagriculture.gov or Emily Wadle at 515-725-2078 or by email at Emily.wadle@iowaagriculture.gov.
2011 offered a “Wrap Your Own-Iowa Grown” spring initiative. Spring offers a different array of vegetables, a chance to mix it up and try something NEW. The School with the best wrap recipe using the most local ingredients received $300 towards the purchase of more fruits/vegetables as well as an assembly with media coverage, 25 t-shirts, and promotional items delivered by a live vegetable!
Take a look at South Hamilton Elementary School's "Now That's a Wrap Video"
Check out the two videos from Oelwein Schools: Video 1, Video 2
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