Resources
School Garden Food Safety Tips
The Institute of Child Nutrition has a collection of food safety tips for school garden produce, containing guidelines and procedure to avoid food-borne illness.
The Great Garden Detective Adventure
This USDA webpage has a sample school garden curriculum, as well as pre-made resources for food-based games and activities.
University of Arizona School Garden Workshop
The UA Community and School Garden Program connects students in public schools with Tucson’s 4,000-year agricultural legacy by planting, maintaining, and engaging in school gardens.
Bringing the Farm to School: Agricultural Producers Toolkit
This resource contains a workbook with tools and guidance to help agricultural producers explore and prepare for selling to school markets.
The Wonder of the Universe Starts with a Seed
Green Our Planet teaches students to love and care for our planet through comprehensive STEM school garden and hydroponics programs throughout the United States.
Buy Local, Buy Safely Checklist
The following six topic tables describe Guiding Principles and supporting Best Practices that growers may use to improve the safety of their produce.
Tool: Advocating Local Policy Change
This resource contains guidance in forming policies, laying the groundwork, and building awareness for policy change.
Is E-Commerce Right for my Farm?
The Small Farm Tech Hub at CAFF created this quiz and accompanying resource to help guide small farms in making a strategic decision on adopting e-commerce or online sales.
Small and Mid Size Farmers Resources
his is a list of USDA-curated resources for small and mid-sized producers, as well as additional programs and educational opportunities specifically for these groups.
Team Nutrition Garden Resources
Team Nutrition has several resources to connect nutrition education to school and childcare gardens, local farms, and farmers markets.
Native Seed Search
NSS has stewarded the seeds of the desert Southwest and Mexico since 1983. NSS is a commitment to conservation, education, and distribution of native and southwestern varieties.
Selling Local Foods to Schools
This USDA resource explains the different ways that farmers and administrators can procure and sell food for schools programs.
Wisconsin Wellness: Putting Policy into Practice
This resource is designed to assist districts with developing a comprehensive wellness policy that promotes childhood health, covering several programs and activities.
Food Corps Lesson Plans
The FoodCorps Lessons include hands-on experiential activities to engage kids in learning about nourishing food. These lessons are for grades K-5, and are organized by grade, season, and theme.
Whole Farm/Micro Farm Agent List for 2024 Crop Year
A list of 1,135 crop insurance agents, in all 50 states, who have experience selling Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) and Micro Farm policies.
Bringing the Farm to School: Facilitator Resources
This resource contains facilitator tools designed to support the delivery of the "Bringing the Farm to School" curriculum for local producer trainings.
Cooking Matters: Community Resources
This resource contains a handbook of practical advice on how to turn the principles expressed in Slow Food’s education manifesto and policy into reality.
Tool: USDA Fact Sheet - Using DoD Fresh to Purchase Local Produce
The Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (DoD Fresh) allows schools to use their USDA Foods entitlement dollars to buy fresh produce.
Tool: Funding Farm to School
For those interested in starting or expanding their farm-to-school initiative, this FTS source has information on how to find funding to plan, build, and maintain the program.
USDA Certified Organic: Understanding the Basics
This resource is a toolkit of consumer-focused, educational resources to highlight the unique value of the organic label, designed for retailers to use in stores and online to educate consumers on what the organic label means and how USDA protects the label.
Changing the Way We Feed Our Kids
Whole Kids is dedicated to improving children’s health and wellness through their nutrition. Whole Kids is a project of Whole Foods Market Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit.
The Edible Schoolyard Project
The Edible Schoolyard Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the transformation of public education by using organic school gardens, kitchens, and cafeterias to teach both academic subjects and the values of nourishment, stewardship, and community.
National Farm to School Network
National Farm to School Network is an information, advocacy and networking hub for communities working to bring local food sourcing and food and agriculture education into school systems.
Life Lab
Life Lab cultivates children's love of learning, nourishing food, and nature through garden-based education and outdoor-based activities.
AZ Planting Calendars
This drive contains curated information on recommended planting times for Yuma, Maricopa, and Yavapai county. The information is provided by the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.
The Sonoran Desert School Gardener's Almanac
The Sonoran Desert School Gardener's Almanac is designed to connect teachers and learners to the Sonoran Desert, its food systems, and communities.
Grant Opportunities from Western SARE
This resource outlines multiple grant programs that support sustainable agriculture through producer-led research, professional development, and local demonstration projects.
Kids Gardening: Helping Young Minds Grow
KidsGardening supports educators and caregivers bring benefits of gardening to kids through grants, resources, and community inspiration to get more kids in the garden.
Teaching in Nature's Classroom: Principles of Garden Based Education
This WI School Garden resource is an opportunity for educators new to outdoor and garden-based learning, as well as experienced educators, to consider and reflect on their teaching practice in outdoor learning environments, with a focus on school and community youth gardens.
ADHS School Garden Program
The School Garden Program provides a customizable Food Safety Plan template, guidance documents and assistance writing policies and procedures.
Sustainability via Active Garden Education (SAGE)
SAGE is a free, garden-based physical activity and nutrition program for early care and education centers that meet Arizona education and national standards.
AgPlan - Agritourism Planner
AgPlan is a free business planning tool that helps rural businesses develop a business plan by providing tips, resources, templates, and sample plans.
Educational Resources
The NAITC has tools to support state-level Agriculture in the Classroom programs by providing a network that seeks to improve agricultural literacy among preK-12 teachers and students.
Growing Food Changes Lives
Big Green has spent the last 12 years helping people grow their own food — with garden-based education, scalable, modular garden products and systems, and a community of support and collaboration.
Procuring Local Foods
The resources on this USDA page can help Child Nutrition Program (CNP) operators procure food, while also providing easy access to regulation information.
Blue Watermelon
A group of chefs, restaurateurs, and community advocates working with students, educators, and the community to assist in rethinking food.