Photo: Children at an elementary school in Toronto eat snacks in the cafeteria in 2004, the first year of the study. Since then, younger kids have continued to eat more nutritiously than teens. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have found that the diet quality of students (age 6 –...Read More

A look at how Farm to School initiatives in Canada align with the new Canada’s Food Guide  This resource was developed to look and feel like the new Canada’s Food Guide . Developed to be shared at the National Farm to School Conference held in May, this fact sheet showcases some preliminary results from the...Read More

Farm to School programs bring healthy, local food into schools, from pre-schools to campuses, providing opportunities for hands-on learning that enhances food literacy while strengthening local food systems and school and community connectedness. The Benefits of Farm to School: Evidence from Canada demonstrates the impacts of Farm to School activities, which include public health, education and learning,...Read More

October is national Farm-to-School Month in the United States. Thousands of schools, education sites, and organizations across the world, are embracing food education through school gardens, educational farms, and school meals filled with nutritious, local, and seasonal ingredients. It’s time to celebrate farm-to-school organizations from around the globe. Farm-to-school programs can help bring locally sourced and nutritious...Read More

2018 US National Farm to Early Care and Education Survey The National Farm to School Network, in partnership with Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems, launched the 2018 National Farm to Early Care and Education Survey in the spring of 2018. We heard from 2,030 respondents serving 255,257 children in 46 states about current farm to ECE initiatives, including...Read More

The question of what qualifies as “healthy” food is highly contested in health care and beyond. This conversation is alive and well in our leadership cohort, and we want to engage it publicly. At the Reframing Healthy Food in Heath Care webinar we brought together diverse perspectives from three thought-leaders to explore how hospitals and...Read More

A “farm-to-school” movement is growing fast across Canada. More than 40,000 students were eating local fruits and vegetables at 150 Ontario schools during 2017-18, via the Tasty Ontario Tuesdays program. Led by the southwest branch of the Ontario Student Nutrition Program (OSNP), supported by the Greenbelt Foundation and Foodland Ontario, this program has purchased and delivered over $55,000 of local...Read More

Research out of the US is suggesting that school gardens could lead to healthier lifestyles in students. Below are stories on two such studies. We here in Canada are starting to see the same evidence emerge but it’s going to be important to capture this in Canadian schools. Gardens at School Might Boost Availability of Vegetables...Read More

A look at the early impact of the Farm to School Canada Grant Program Throughout Canada and the United States, a momentum of activity is taking place to get fresh healthy foods from nearby farms, lands, and waters into the minds and onto the plates of students. Sparked by motivation to improve student nutrition, food...Read More

Food literacy is increasingly recognized as an important influence on eating patterns. (1, 2) Currently, there is no reliable tool to measure food literacy. The absence of a measurement tool along with a limited shared understanding of the comprehensive nature of food literacy makes it challenging for nutrition practitioners to assess the impact of food literacy...Read More