Montana Farm to School Leadership Team
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About
The Office of Public Instruction sponsors the Montana Farm to School Leadership Team. The team is facilitated by the Montana Farm to School Coordinator at Montana Team Nutrition Program.
Mission
The Montana Farm to School Leadership Team works through partnerships across the state to build farm to school initiatives that help kids eat healthy, connect kids with agriculture and nutrition through education, support Montana farmers and food producers, foster economic vitality, and strengthen communities.
Purpose
Fostering a spirit of collaboration to support farm to school efforts in Montana. Through this collaboration we will:
- Build a strong foundation for innovative approaches to increase the use of locally grown products in our schools, prevalence and use of school gardens, and nutrition and agriculture educational opportunities thus contributing to healthier children and a stronger Montana economy.
- Facilitate a rich pooling of ideas and resources that can result in more effective communication and ultimately positive results that could not be done by any one partner, all while reducing the burden of leadership on any single entity.
- Build upon success of past collaborations that we anticipate will lead to successes that can be a model for other states.
- Optimize the current fiscal realities of our economy and the ever-evolving resource allocation priorities offering new opportunities that are best executed through strong partnerships.
- Support innovation at the local level and embrace respectful, transparent communication with Montana communities.
We believe Montana farm to school programs have a vibrant future ahead and we acknowledge that partner priorities may change and new partners and leaders will emerge as the work evolves. We recognize that by partnering, we provide a state level platform of collaboration to achieve shared goals.
The development of Montana's Farm to School Leadership Team including our mission and purpose were inspired and adapted from Minnesota's Farm to School Leadership Team.
Membership
This team is formed of agencies and organizations with statewide focus and influence that are key to the success of farm to school in Montana. Visit the Partners page for a list of Montana Farm to School Leadership Team member organizations.
Projects
Farm to School Leadership Team Strategic Plan 2020
Working Groups
The Montana Farm to School Leadership Team has working groups to achieve our specific goals. These working groups meet quarterly and are now open to public participation! See below for dates and times of the next quarterly working group conversations.
Interested in learning more about the working group projects? Contact the Working Group Chair below:
Farm to School Procurement
Early Care and Education
K-12 Education
Beef to School
Goal: The Montana Beef to School Coalition’s goal is to provide education and resources to make connections between beef to school stakeholders with the ultimate goal of increasing Montana beef served in Montana schools.
Working Group Chair Contact: Jay Stagg, jay.stagg@montana.edu
Service-Learning Program
Goal: Develop an internship or service-learning program that helps implement farm to school while building capacity at schools and communities in Montana.
Working Group Chair Contact: Jay Stagg, jay.stagg@montana.edu
Equity
Goal: Identify and address the inequities in our food systems to increase equitable food systems in Montana through farm to school efforts.
Working Group Chair Contact: Jay Stagg, jay.stagg@montana.edu
Communication
Working Group Quarterly Meetings
Local Procurement Working Group Meetings
Expand local food procurement and distribution to schools throughout Montana. Current projects include:
- Develop sample contracts or contract language for schools to work with local producers
- Host two Montana Farm to School Producer Trainings in Fall 2022 - Spring 2023.
- Support Montana Marinara project
Register for each virtual working group meeting you wish to attend (each meeting has its own registration). Upon registration you will automatically be sent an email with the Zoom connection instructions. If you do not see the email, please check your junk/spam folder and ensure the email you provided was correct.
Quarter 1
Date + Time: Jan 30, 2023 02:00 PM Mountain Time
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUkc-qvrTgqGtG3vPflAM4teNWbOr_vtW92
Quarter 2
Date + Time: Apr 6, 2023 02:00 PM Mountain Time
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0tcu2hpj8vGNQSAL2hjH5LMGkVyliDkheS
Quarter 3
Date + Time: Cancelled. Please join us next quarter.
Quarter 4
Date + Time: Oct 5, 2023 02:00 PM Mountain Time
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvf-ispz0uHtyXZ4yQk7TtAhyH5rqAXkTB
Farm to ECE Coalition Meeting
The Montana Farm to ECE Coalition is established with the aim of expanding farm to ECE opportunities to a greater number of Montana children, families, and communities and institutionalizing and embedding farm to ECE into state and local ECE programs and systems. Farm to ECE Coalition Charter
Register for each virtual working group meeting you wish to attend (each meeting has
its own registration). Upon registration you will automatically be sent an email with
the Zoom connection instructions. If you do not see the email, please check your junk/spam
folder and ensure the email you provided was correct.
Quarter 1
Date + Time: Jan 9, 2023 02:00 PM Mountain Time
Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ldO2orDIvHNTom-moz642wlCBcpHmzJgc
Quarter 2
Date + Time: Apr 10, 2023 02:00 PM Mountain Time
Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvcOGhqTkrEtSchaoRl8MmuxMrpdn5xnWT
Quarter 3
Date + Time: Cancelled. Please join us next quarter.
Quarter 4
Date + Time: Oct 9, 2023 02:00 PM Mountain Time
Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpf-GqqzksH9Yjf70iorvVI0O6tonBcAW7
K12 Farm to School Education Working Group Meeting
Increase stakeholder awareness of, access to, and participation in F2S education (K-12) initiatives across the state. Current projects include:
- Develop F2S courseon OPI Teacher Hub
- Add resources from FoodCorps to the MT F2S website
- Create a compendium including text, videos, and photos of how to incorporate F2S into existing standards.
Register for each virtual working group meeting you wish to attend (each meeting has its own registration). Upon registration you will automatically be sent an email with the Zoom connection instructions. If you do not see the email, please check your junk/spam folder and ensure the email you provided was correct.
Quarter 1
Date + Time: Jan 24, 2023 03:30 PM Mountain Time
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ocu2pqD0jEtJAXysyiyPWa9fQRVo2i3v2
Quarter 2
Date + Time: Apr 12, 2023 03:30 PM Mountain Time
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtfuioqjwsH9R8DgNnXQLgnjGsupCnnHzg
Quarter 3
Date + Time: Cancelled. Please join us next quarter.
Quarter 4
Date + Time: Oct 12, 2023 04:00 PM Mountain Time
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvf-qtrD0tHNXJzpFFo_KnMt16yPeOdTLd
Beef to School Working Group Meeting
The Montana Beef to School Coalition’s goal is to provide education and resources to make connections between beef to school stakeholders with the ultimate goal of increasing Montana beef served in Montana schools. Current projects include:
- Create updated beef/bison to school factsheet
- Host meeting to gather and share B2S successes and challenges
- Watch for opportunities for Montana producers
Register for each virtual working group meeting you wish to attend (each meeting has
its own registration). Upon registration you will automatically be sent an email with
the Zoom connection instructions. If you do not see the email, please check your junk/spam
folder and ensure the email you provided was correct.
Quarter 1
Date + Time: Jan 20, 2023 10:00 AM Mountain Time
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwucOuupzgoG9Zq0ujtro76JY5MEsEb4zhL
Quarter 2
Date + Time: Apr 18, 2023 02:00 PM Mountain Time
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMlfu6sqTsvHNfmgkONkT59f-zEsHQurEWk
Quarter 3
Date + Time: Cancelled. Please join us next quarter.
Quarter 4
Date + Time: Oct 18, 2023 10:00 AM Mountain Time
Register here:https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcocuqvqT8jEtDCUeKgc0axeGvpj0Ux8scy
Service-Learning Working Group Meeting
Develop an internship or service-learning program that helps implement farm to school while building capacity at schools and communities in Montana.
Register for each virtual working group meeting you wish to attend (each meeting has
its own registration). Upon registration you will automatically be sent an email with
the Zoom connection instructions. If you do not see the email, please check your junk/spam
folder and ensure the email you provided was correct.
Quarter 1
Date + Time: Jan 25, 2023 04:00 PM Mountain Time
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMucuivqzkoHNKMXocagUElMFDwlg7_Colu
Quarter 2
Date + Time: Apr 25, 2023 01:00 PM Mountain Time
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtd-qvrTwpEtb6c3dFEggebado2NJuSLa7
Quarter 3
Date + Time: Cancelled. Please join us next quarter.
Quarter 4
Date + Time: Oct 24, 2023 04:00 PM Mountain Time
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqdOioqTwsHNziX6LptnOdspWCld2X0UsP
