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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

The F2SLT embarked on a one-year planning process to ensure that the objectives and activities of our team are rooted in priorities defined by our community. Read theStrategic Plan Activities Summary to review the activities the team will be prioritizing moving forward.

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

Goal: Expand local food procurement and distribution to schools throughout Montana.
Working Group Chair Contact: Aubree Roth, [email protected]

Communication

Goal: Relevant, timely communication to the team and to larger farm to school stakeholder community.
Working Group Chair Contact: Jamie Taylor, [email protected]

Early Care and Education

Goal: Increase stakeholder awareness of, access to, and participation in farm to early care and education initiatives across the state.
Working Group Chair Contact: Molly Kirkham, [email protected]

K-12 Education

Goal: Increase stakeholder awareness of, access to, and participation in farm to school education (K-12) initiatives across the state.
Working Group Chair Contact: Aubree Roth, [email protected]

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: Aubree Roth, [email protected], and Gary Hamel, [email protected]

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: Aubree Roth, [email protected]

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: Aubree Roth, [email protected]


Working Group Quarterly Meetings

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. F2ECE Coalition Charter

Quarter 3 Meeting: July 8, 2022 @ 10:00AM MST

Quarter 4 Meeting: October 14, 2022 @ 10:00AM MST

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.

Quarter 3 Meeting: July 11, 2022 @ 2:00PM MST

Register to attend this virtual working group meeting. 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 4 Meeting: October 13, 2022 @ 11:00AM MST

Register to attend this virtual working group meeting. 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.

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. 

Quarter 3 Meeting: July 12, 2022 @ 10:00AM MST

Register to attend this virtual working group meeting. 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 4 Meeting: October 11, 2022 @ 1:00PM MST

Register to attend this virtual working group meeting. 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.

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  

Quarter 3 Meeting: July 13, 2022 @ 11:00AM MST 

Register to attend this virtual working group meeting. 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 4 Meeting: October 11, 2022 @ 2:00PM MST

Local Procurement Working Group Meeting

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  
  • Support Montana Marinara project  

Quarter 3 Meeting: July 14, 2022 @ 1:00PM MST

Register to attend this virtual working group meeting. 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 4 Meeting: October 12, 2022 @ 11:00AM MST

Register to attend this virtual working group meeting. 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.