The Idaho State Department of Agriculture and the Idaho Department of Education are hosting a two-day statewide Farm-to-School conference today and tomorrow at the Riverside Hotel in Boise. Farmers, school foodservice directors and staff, educators and others interested in working collaboratively to bring more local foods to school cafeterias, increase nutrition and agriculture literacy, and establish school gardens will come together to share, learn and plan.

Farm-to-School is a national program that strives to connect local food and agriculture with schools, students, and teachers through a variety of methods including teacher curriculum, serving local foods in school cafeterias, school gardens, and more. Here is Leah Clark, manager of the Idaho Preferred program at the Idaho State Department of Agriculture  “We have schools across the state aggressively seeking local products for their cafeterias, many successful school gardens and producers interested in the market.  This conference will provide a lot of great information to help more schools get involved in the Farm-to-School movement.”