Evaluation Framework

In 2014, the US National Farm to School Network undertook a collaborative process to develop a cross-sectoral Evaluation Framework for farm to school to guide practice, research and policy development for the growing field. The results of this process included the articulation of a series of priority outcomes, measures and indicators that could be tracked at the program, research and policy levels, as well as the development of the US Benefits of Farm to School fact sheet that shares the positive impacts of farm to school that have been documented through research. 

To date Canada has developed an emerging map of the Canadian farm to school landscape, released a handful of peer reviewed journal articles about various aspects of farm to school plus some grey literature as documented in Benefits of Farm to School: Evidence in Canada. We have also articulated emerging empirical evidence of how farm to school initiatives in Canada align with the new Canada’s Food Guide.  

Given Canada’s unique context, there would be great benefit from the development of an Evaluation Framework for Farm to School in Canada to enable practitioners, researchers and policy makers to better articulate, track, measure and communicate the impacts of the farm to school approach.

There is a huge opportunity for farm to school to expand and to thrive in Canada. We hope that the development of a Canadian evaluation framework for farm to school will make a strong contribution to the great momentum we’re seeing in this field.

A Farm to School Evaluation Framework for Canada will:

• Engage people in multiple sectors in committing to action and evaluation activity in this field.
• Guide how projects can consistently articulate and implement program elements, track and monitor program activities and report on outcomes.
• Provide agreed-upon research questions and priority outcomes worthy of consistent measurement along with related indicators and measures.

The framework PROCESS will also seek to:

• Further illuminate the landscape of activity underway across Canada designed to get more healthy, local foods on the minds and on the plates of students by:  
  • Identifying promising farm to school practices and evaluation activities that are underway. 
  • Identifying validated tools for measuring priority outcomes.
  • Sharing information and tools widely across Farm to Cafeteria Canada and partner e-platforms.
• Raise awareness about farm to school in Canada and strengthen Farm to Cafeteria Canada’s national F2S network.

Over the longer term we anticipate that the framework will allow stakeholders to:

• Better communicate farm to school programs and their impacts to their communities.
• Identify and conduct research on farm to school areas of impact that need further study.
• Identify farm to school practices and related policies that have demonstrated benefits.
• Recommend practices and policies for implementation and evaluation.
• Identify barriers and opportunities that decision makers can act upon. 

The process of developing a Farm to School Evaluation Framework for Canada will involve:

• Convening an Advisory Committee from different sectors and lenses who will help clarify project goals and outcomes, overarching principles, key audiences, key sectors to base the framework on, criteria for selecting indicators, and other guidelines to direct the project work.
• Involving a wide set of project advisors who can review documents and provide input into the process from their frame of reference as the process unfolds.
• Drafting a Theory of Change as well as evaluation matrices that will include priority outcomes and indicators, and potential evaluation tools for key sectors. These will build on those of the US as well as previous discussions to inform a framework for Canada.
• Holding a national process that includes virtual discussions to advance thinking on what priority outcomes and indicators should be included in an evaluation framework. 
• Developing a framework / toolkit as well as additional outputs based on the input of everyone involved.
• Gathering promising practices, evaluation reports, assessment strategies, and evaluation tools.

To inform the development of the evaluation framework and accompanying tools, Farm to Cafeteria Canada and its F2SCDI project partners are using a modified Delphi method consisting of 3 surveys and thematic virtual conversations to achieve agreement on what priority outcomes and indicators should be consistently measured to demonstrate the impacts of farm to school in Canada.  

We are inviting academics, government representatives, public health professionals, teachers and administrators, farmers, community partners, and other representatives that are involved in farm to school or related programs, policy, advocacy and research to participate in this process. Whatever your role, we want your input!

If you would like to participate we ask that you fill out a short (3 minute) registration survey where we will record your name, email and key areas of interest so that we can have an understanding of who is contributing to the process.

The information you provide in this registration form will be kept confidential at all times and will be used to distribute survey links to you. None of the information provided in this form will be linked to your later survey responses.

After completing this registration form, we will send you links to the surveys as they are made available, which you will be able to complete anonymously. We expect that each survey will take approximately 30-40 minutes to complete and that these will be available from August 7 – August 31 (Round 1), September 21 – October 9 (Round 2), and February 15 – March 5th (Round 3). We also plan to hold virtual conversations during the months of November and December for those who would like to discuss the progress of the framework. Once you register to participate in the process you can choose to participate in as few or as many of the surveys or conversations as you like.

Check out our 3.5 minute introduction video and our process summary document for a quick overview of our Evaluation Framework process including why we’re undertaking it.

• Round 1 Reference Guide
• Round 1 Report and Round 2 Reference Guide
• Round 2 Report
• Environment Discussion Guide (November 19, 2020 Virtual Discussion)
• Public Health Discussion Guide (November 26, 2020 Virtual Discussion)
• Education and Learning Discussion Guide (December 1, 2020 Virtual Discussion)
• Community Economic Development Discussion Guide (December 8, 2020 Virtual Discussion)
• Round 3 Reference Guide and Report on Virtual Discussions