Community Food Systems

IATP's Community Food Systems program is helping revitalize local economies, give farmers stable and predictable income through the buying power of institutions, like school districts and hospitals, and get fresh and healthy local food to students and communities. We are currently developing a model project for Farm to Head Start purchasing to put good food into the hands of underserved young children, because lifelong learning requires lifelong healthy eating. 

Minnesota legislative session ends with little progress to show for agriculture

Minnesota’s legislative session closed this week, with little progress for agriculture. Though the Agriculture Committee has historically been able to make deals even in difficult partisan environments, this year they were unable to compromise on this issue and were unable to pass an agriculture omnibus bill this session.

MN’s Legislative Session Begins: Where things stand, and what we’re focusing on

Minnesota’s 2026 legislative session begins today. Though it is the second year of the biennium when major budget decisions are not typically made, there is a lot of pressure on this session. Lawmakers and advocates are returning to the Capitol in a time of enormous challenges for our state.

Introducing: New MN Ag Policy 101 Resources

The MinneAg Network is on a mission to lift up community members and highlight their solutions to nurture vibrant food systems that provide access to sufficient, safe, culturally appropriate, and nutritious food while developing local supply chains that allow small to mid-scale farmers access to markets.  As part of this vision, we aim to demys

Fresh Food for Tots: A Farm to Kids pilot program brings nutritious local food to early care settings

Farm to Early Care programs have been growing across Minnesota, with increasing numbers of early care providers talking about and sourcing local food for the kids they care for. Early care centers and now home-based providers are eligible recipients for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) Farm to School and Early Care grant dollars.

Putting together the puzzle of a successful Farm to School system

Sourcing, storing, preparing, and serving local products requires a complex network of partners to reach the scale of purchasing that can impact our local economies and build markets for local producers and businesses. Together, all these partners create the Farm to Kids network, ensuring that millions of dollars of local food makes its way to school and early care plates in Minnesota each year.

Minnesota Department of Agriculture Farm to School Grant Evaluation: 2023 Local Food for Schools

This report evaluates the FY2023 MDA Farm to School grants, which were unique due their support from federal funding received by MDA from the USDA’s Local Food for Schools (LFS) Cooperative Agreement Program. This report includes the purchasing patterns of grantees, including methods, products, successes, and challenges. It also documents the overall economic impact of this infusion of funds on the local economy.
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