All people should have equal access to consume healthy and affordable food! Through a network of businesses and human service organizations, Farm to School Frederick is doing what it takes to connect our community to locally grown, highly nutritious, in season fruits and vegetables. Even if that means driving directly to the Frederick farm, loading up the fruits and vegetables by hand, and then taking them straight to the people that need it most.

Food is a sensory experience! Helping people explore food by engaging their senses - touch, smell, taste and sight - helps children and adults become more open to trying new foods. It’s important to connect people to their food and where it comes from. By providing hands-on workshops for cooking in-season whole foods, garden lessons for growing food, and field trips to local farms, we are increasing knowledge, awareness and connection to farmers and the local food system. Let’s help close the gap between communities and where their food comes from.

Food helps bring the community together and gives people the opportunity to make a difference! By creating pathways for purchasing, collecting, and donating wholesome local food that would otherwise have become waste, Farm to School is doing our part to set a positive example. It is not okay to throw away nutritious, perfectly safe, edible foods. We must help our children and community find ways to reduce food waste, protect the environment, improve health, and decrease food insecurity.

Locally grown food improves health and wellbeing! When you choose to buy, prepare and eat locally grown, whole foods you decrease rates of diet related disease that are associated with processed, packaged foods with low nutrient content. Did you know that the more steps between you and your food supply, the greater the risk of food contamination? Buying directly from local farmers reduces the risk of eating unsafe food.

Buying locally grown food supports your local economy by keeping your money in the community! Small local farms create jobs, preserves agricultural land, support other local businesses such as restaurants, schools and hospitals, and reduces the distance that food travels. The more food miles accumulated during food transportation, the greater carbon emissions and negative impact on our planet. It’s time to make a shift, eat local food.

Sustainable farms encourage biodiversity, conserves water resources, and builds healthy soil through techniques like composting and planting cover crops. Our planet needs people to understand the importance of making changes, big and small, that are meaningful and help to improve our planet’s health for our children and the future generations.