PLANTS PILOT PROGRAM

Our Partnerships for Local Agriculture and Nutrition Transformation in Schools (PLANTS) Grant program is focused on providing technical assistance to school nutrition directors and farmers to continue fostering relationships within the food system across the state. Due to a generous grant from the Chef Ann Foundation and the USDA and guidance from Kitchen Sync Strategies, Center for Nutrition and Health Impact, and the National Farm to School Network, we're partnering with Practical Farmers of Iowa and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach for a pilot program to expand scratch cooking with local food in Iowa schools. 

The pilot program will develop a local food cohort made of 4 school districts throughout the state. Each school will be partnered with a food hub to procure locally produced ingredients. Iowa Valley RC&D Program Manager Sophie Churchill, along with Iowa State Extension and Outreach will provide monthly networking calls and culinary training for school food directors to introduce new recipes and new menu items they can trial. Value Chain Manager Phil Janke Sauer, along with Practical Farmers of Iowa will help get farmers ready to sell at a wholesale level to schools. A statewide culinary conference will be held to increase the skills and knowledge of scratch cooking and build awareness of careers in school nutrition.

The goal for the program is to grow culinary training in scratch cooking and to increase the amount of healthy, nutritious and locally grown products in Iowa school cafeterias while supporting value chain relationships.

This project is part of the Partnerships for Local Agriculture & Nutrition Transformation in Schools (PLANTS) Grant program, which is funded by the USDA Food & Service Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative and is administered by Chef Ann Foundation in partnership with Kitchen Sync Strategies Collaborative, the Center for Nutrition and Health Impact, and National Farm to School Network. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the view or policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Chef Ann Foundation, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.