Farm to School Roadshow: Connecting Local Producers and School Buyers

By Seley Nemish February 16, 2023
Person delivering fresh produce in a wooden crate to another person

Farm to School Roadshow: Connecting Local Producers and School Buyers

REGISTER

Description

This in-person training and networking event will bring together Washington school nutrition professionals and agricultural producers in an effort to promote and facilitate Farm to School purchasing relationships.

Morning sessions will feature two separate tracks for school nutrition professionals and agricultural producers: 1) school nutrition professionals will attend an interactive training session about procuring local foods and a culinary session focused on safely preparing various forms of meat from raw; and 2) local producers will participate in sessions focused on providing producers with concrete information regarding topics including selling to school markets, choosing the right products to sell to schools, and growing for school markets.

Both groups will come together for interactive afternoon sessions to hear from school nutrition leaders and local food producers about creating and maintaining successful relationships. The training will culminate in a facilitated producer-buyer networking session where new buyer-producer relationships will be formed.

Details

Locations & Dates:

  • Spokane | Tuesday, March 21
  • Mount Vernon | Tuesday, March 28
  • Tumwater | Thursday, March 30

Agenda

8:15 am – 8:30 am: Registration

FOOD PRODUCERS TRACK
8:30 am – 12:00 pm: Bringing the Farm to School Producer Training
Interactive sessions will cover topics including selling to school markets, choosing the right products to sell to schools, and growing for school markets. These sessions will be interactive, led by Cheryl Thornton

SCHOOL NUTRITION TRACK
8:30 am – 9:45 am: Local and Values-Based Procurement Training
This interactive session will cover the basic procurement principles and walk participants through strategies and tactics for procuring local foods.

10:00 am – 12:00 pm: Safe Preparation of Raw Meat
Learn current storage, handling, cooking, and reheating guidelines for raw meat from food safety experts in part one of this two-part session. In part two, Chef Kent Getzin will teach culinary techniques for safely cooking meat from raw in school food service. Several types of meat will be demonstrated in this comprehensive and interactive session.

12:00 pm – 1:30 pm: Lunch
On your own

COMBINED TRACK – FOOD PRODUCERS & SCHOOL NUTRITION
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm: Panel Presentation
Learn about successful Farm to School partnerships from school nutrition leaders and local food producers.

2:30 pm – 4:00 pm: School Buyer/Farmer Networking Session
Facilitated session for school buyers and food producers to make lasting connections.

4:00 pm – 4:15 pm: Wrap Up