Nourishing California’s Children
A student interview with Jennifer Siebel Newsom, First Partner of California
The California Farm to School grant program connects schools with local farmers and food producers to provide fresh, delicious school meals. The program is part of a broader movement to promote more nutritious eating habits while supporting local agriculture and mitigating climate impacts.
Penelope Oliver
One prominent advocate and leader in the Farm to School movement is Jennifer Siebel Newsom, California’s First Partner. She has been a vocal champion for the health and well-being of children through her California for ALL Kids initiative, through which she started California Farm to School in partnership with the California Department of Food and Agriculture. (Siebel Newsom is married to California Governor Gavin Newsom.)
The roots of Farm to Table efforts can be traced at least to 1916, when the US Department of Agriculture began experimenting with new ways to distribute fresh food in partnership with the US Postal Service. Over time, steady progress in food production, storage, and transport technologies have made it increasingly practical to distribute fresh food from farm to table at scale. That progress can include school meals.
I visited First Partner Siebel Newsom in Sacramento to learn more about the Farm to School program and how students can get involved in making it happen in their own schools.
Farm to School in your school
The 2023 California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program will distribute approximately $60 million to build momentum, accelerating progress begun with earlier grants in 2021 and 2022. To ensure you are in the loop when the grant application opens, sign up for the Farm To School Newsletter.
Many school leaders aren’t aware of this program. Consider advocating for your school district to apply for funds by writing to your district superintendent, making public comments, requesting meetings, and encouraging student and parent leaders to join efforts. You can also look up your school district’s representatives here to share this program with them.
Want to get involved? Here’s a sample message you can copy, paste, and personalize:
Penelope Oliver (She/Her/Hers) is a teen from Sacramento, California who has served as an Ed100 Outreach Ambassador and as a policy intern. Her main passions are activism, racial and gender equality, climate justice, immigration, and educational equity. She can often be found writing poetry, volunteering, or educating others about civic engagement. Follow her on Instagram at @penelopethepowerfulpoet.Tags on this post
Health Student voice NutritionAll Tags
A-G requirements Absences Accountability Accreditation Achievement gap Administrators After school Algebra API Arts Assessment At-risk students Attendance Beacon links Bilingual education Bonds Brain Brown Act Budgets Bullying Burbank Business Career Carol Dweck Categorical funds Certification CHAMP Change Character Education Chart Charter schools Civics Class size CMOs Collective bargaining College Common core Community schools Contest Continuous Improvement Cost of education Counselors Creativity Crossword CSBA CTA Dashboard Data Dialogue District boundaries Districts Diversity Drawing DREAM Act Dyslexia EACH Early childhood Economic growth EdPrezi EdSource EdTech Effort Election English learners Equity ESSA Ethnic studies Ethnic studies Evaluation rubric Expanded Learning Facilities Fake News Federal Federal policy Funding Gifted Graduation rates Grit Health Help Wanted History Home schools Homeless students Homework Hours of opportunity Humanities Independence Day Indignation Infrastructure Initiatives International Jargon Khan Academy Kindergarten LCAP LCFF Leaderboard Leadership Learning Litigation Lobbyists Local control Local funding Local governance Lottery Magnet schools Map Math Media Mental Health Mindfulness Mindset Myth Myths NAEP National comparisons NCLB Nutrition Pandemic Parcel taxes Parent Engagement Parent Leader Guide Parents peanut butter Pedagogy Pensions personalized Philanthropy PISA Planning Policy Politics population Poverty Preschool Prezi Private schools Prize Project-based learning Prop 13 Prop 98 Property taxes PTA Purpose of education puzzle Quality Race Rating Schools Reading Recruiting teachers Reform Religious schools Research Retaining teachers Rigor School board School choice School Climate School Closures Science Serrano vs Priest Sex Ed Site Map Sleep Social-emotional learning Song Special ed Spending SPSA Standards Strike STRS Student motivation Student voice Success Suicide Summer Superintendent Suspensions Talent Teacher pay Teacher shortage Teachers Technology Technology in education Template Test scores Tests Time in school Time on task Trump Undocumented Unions Universal education Vaccination Values Vaping Video Volunteering Volunteers Vote Vouchers Winners Year in ReviewSharing is caring!
Password Reset
Search all lesson and blog content here.
Login with Email
We will send your Login Link to your email
address. Click on the link and you will be
logged into Ed100. No more passwords to
remember!
Questions & Comments
To comment or reply, please sign in .