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. 

Farm to Head Start at Reach Up in St. Cloud, Minnesota

Child care providers and early care settings often have a variety of reasons for participating in Farm to Early Care activities. For Haley Anderson, Nutrition Services Coordinator at Reach Up Head Start in St. Cloud, developing personal relationships with local fruit and vegetable growers was a primary motivator.

Minnesota Farm to School bill attracts widespread support at the Capitol

ST. PAUL – Today, advocates will launch their campaign to pass a statewide Farm to School bill in Minnesota. The Farm to School Coalition includes, farmers’ organizations, school nutrition advocates public health advocates, and businesses, who are all hoping to build on successful efforts around the state that are good for farmers, good for kids, and good for the local economy.

Farm to Head Start in Minnesota: Planting the Seeds for a Community-centered Food System

This case study looks at a marketing initiative in two counties in Minnesota (MN), USA, which connects the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA) with the Head Start Program run by the Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties (CAPRW) in Minnesota.

Celebrating National Farm to School Month

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) is celebrating because October is National Farm to School Month! For 30 years, IATP has been at the center of the local food movement, presenting an alternative vision to factory farming and industrial food. Nowhere is this work seen more profoundly than in our Farm to Institution Program.
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