Weld County School District 6 Farm to School Program

  • farm to school banner

What is Farm to School?

  • Farm to School is a national movement that connects schools and local farms in order to serve healthy meals in school cafeterias; provide agricultural, health and nutrition education opportunities, and support local and regional farmers.

     

    Farm to school is a three-pillared system built on school gardens, education, and procurement. The D6 Farm to School program integrates the three pillars into classrooms, cafeterias, and the Greeley-Evans community. 

     

     

    School gardens icon  

     

    School gardens

     

     

     Education icon

     

    Education

     

     

    Procurement handshake icon 

     

    Procurement

     

     

  • By the numbers

    Farm to School began in Weld County School District 6 (WCSD6) in 2008, when the District purchased one crop of cherry tomatoes for $239. Since then, with the assistance of numerous grants, including the USDA's Farm to School Grant, the program has expanded to other fruits, vegetables, dairy, and meat and poultry items.

     

    Today, almost 100% of our meals are prepared from scratch in our Central Production Kitchen (CPK), and about 25% of our food purchases are local, with the rate of local food purchases increasing each year.

     

     

    Year 2008

     

    The year Farm to School started in WCSD6

     

     

    25 percent shaded pie graph

     

    The percent of food purchased from local producers including fruits, vegetables, dairy, and meat. 

    12 school gardens

     

    The number of current school gardens in WCSD6 teaching students and equipping teachers

     

    Currently, WCSD6 supports 12 school gardens at the following sites:

    • Ann K. Heiman Elementary School
    • Bella Romero Academy of Applied Technology K-3 Campus
    • Billie Martinez Elementary School
    • Centennial Elementary School
    • Dos Rios Elementary School
    • Fred Tjardes School of Innovation
    • Greeley West High School
    • Madison Elementary School 
    • Maplewood Elementary School
    • Monfort Elementary School
    • Northridge High School
    • Jefferson Senior High School

     

    Are you interested in starting a garden or growing your already established garden? Visit our School Gardens resource page. 

     

Our goals

  • Fresh fruits and vegetables

     

    Continuously expanding local produce offerings during breakfast and lunch and in Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program sites

     

    Classroom programs

     

    Expanding, increasing, and improving school garden, Farmer in the Classroom, and Culinary Classroom programs

     

    Teams and collaborators

     

    Collaborating with the Colorado Farm to School Task Force to gain knowledge, share successes and encourage growth of Farm to School programming.

     

    Milk carton

     

    Sourcing milk from local dairies

     

    Chicken and beef

     

    Integrating locally-raised beef and chicken into meals

     

    Partners

     

    Partnering with other Northern Colorado school districts to develop efficient and effective systems to work with local producers

     

     

The District 6 Food Hub

  • In 2012, WCSD6 Nutrition Services was awarded its first grant from the USDA to develop and implement a Food Hub. The Food Hub, based out of our Central Production Kitchen, focuses on aggregating as much local produce as possible during the Colorado harvest months and minimally processing and redistributing this produce to other school districts in Weld County. The produce is either (1) utilized immediately, or (2) washed, chopped, blanched and frozen for later use throughout the school year. Currently, WCSD6 Nutrition Services serves as a produce hub for the Windsor (Weld RE-4) School District and Denver Public Schools, and shares producer information with districts across Weld County.