Our Mission:
"To inspire healthy eating choices by promoting an understanding of agriculture through garden-based education and by linking local farms to school meals."

Background
The Monterey County Farm to School Partnership is a program of the Watershed Institute at California State University Monterey Bay. We have worked with K-12 schools and Universities to encourage healthy eating, sustainable local agriculture, and the linkage of local farms to school meals since 2003. We serve Monterey County K-12 schools, CSU Monterey Bay (CSUMB), school food providers, local farmers and partner organizations.

Our Goals
The Farm to School Partnership addresses the childhood obesity epidemic and environmental issues of local agriculture by:

• Teaching garden-based education and building school gardens to encourage healthy eating and foster an understanding of where our food comes from.
• Linking schools to local farms and farmers through classroom visits, Harvest of the Month activities, and fresh seasonal produce "tastings".
• Providing educational forums and professional development for students, teachers, food service providers and school garden coordinators.
• Advocating for policies and creating models that promote the use of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables in school and institutional food programs.
• Cultivating connections between local K-12 schools and the CSUMB Farm to School Partnership to develop University research projects and Service Learning opportunities.
• Facilitating the CSUMB Farm to College collaborative that has created a sustainable food service purchasing model for University food programs, and coordinates educational events around local agriculture and sustainable University practices.

Upcoming Events:

The Farm to School Champion Training October 18th 10-2pm