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The Food Trust Logo
The Food Trust is working to develop statewide strategies to encourage the advancement of sustained farm to early childhood programs and practices. Farm to ECE activities can include local food purchasing for meals and snacks, on-site gardening and agriculture and nutrition education. These strategies help sites meet their goals of providing quality care and educational experience while supporting the consumption of Pennsylvania-grown foods in early childhood settings.

The Food Trust incorporates farm to school into SNAP-Ed nutrition education with ECE sites in Pennsylvania through a farm to ECE train the trainer program, which includes resources and technical assistance to help sites build farm to ECE strategies into their operations. Additionally, the organization leads the Pennsylvania Farm to School Network along with the Pennsylvania Departments of Agriculture, Education and Health; Project PA; and the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council. This network is a collaborative partnership that advances and promotes farm to school/ECE by leveraging collective resources across the Commonwealth. The Food Trust also serves as the Pennsylvania Core Partner to the National Farm to School Network, an information, networking and advocacy hub that works on farm to school at the national level.

STAR 2, 3, and 4 programs that successfully implement farm to ECE initiatives are eligible to earn Keystone STARS bonus points. You can learn more about documentation and eligibility for these bonus points.
 
To learn more about farm to school/ECE, visit PA Ready, Set, Grow and sign up for their monthly newsletter.

General Resources
  • A Roadmap for Farm to Early Care and Education
  • National Farm to School Network
  • USDA’s Farm to Preschool Office of Community Food Systems (OCFS)
  • Farm to ECE and Head Start: A Natural Alignment
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Resources for Advocates
ECE Policy and Systems Resources:
  • Ready, Set, Grow Report
  • Farm to Early Care and Education in Pennsylvania: A Promising Start with Room for Growth
  • Farm to School in Early Childhood Builds Healthy Kids with Bright Futures: Results from a National Survey of Early Care and Education Providers
Resources for ECE Providers
Resources for Developing Farm to ECE Program
  • Getting Started with Farm to Preschool
  • Growing Head Start Success with Farm to Early Care and Education
  • A Guide to Using The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool to Support Farm to ECE Models

Resources for Hands-on Farm to ECE Activities
  • Grow It, Try It, Like It! Nutrition Education Kit Featuring MyPlate
  • Farm to ECE Curricula
  • Farmers Market Activity Ideas for Young Children

Resources for Procuring, Cooking, and Preparing Local and Seasonal Foods
  • Local Food for Little Eaters: A Purchasing Toolbox for the Child and Adult Care Food Program
  • Local Procurement for Child Care Centers: Fact Sheet, National Farm to School Network
  • Multicultural Child Care Recipes
  • Recipe Rainbow from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
Resources for Engaging Families in Farm to ECE Activities
  • Nibbles for Nutrition: Nutrition Newsletters for Parents of Young Children
  • Garden Activities
  • Whole Kids Book Club

Cultural Responsiveness in ECE Classrooms
  • The Food Trusts Multicultural Collection of Farm to ECE Books
  • Diversity Book Finder - Identify and Explore Multicultural Picture Books
  • Multicultural Principles for Early Childhood Leaders

​Cultural Relevance in ECE Kitchens
  • Local Food for Little Eaters: A Purchasing Toolbox for the Child and Adult Care Food Program - Supporting Culturally Relevant Programming Through Local Food Purchasing (page 9)
  • USDA: Child Nutrition Programs and Traditional Foods