Regional Agricultural Workshops and Conferences
Follow the link for a listing of upcoming agricultural and Farm to School-related workshops and conferences in the area.
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SHELBURNE FARMS DIGGING DEEPER INTO FARM EDUCATION
Spring Workshop: April 20 & 21, 2008
Do you already offer agriculture education on your farm? Would you like more ideas from other farmers like you, who teach on their farms? This workshop will bring you fresh ideas and the opportunity to share the successes and challenges of teaching on your farm with fellow agriculture educators. Shelburne Farms will be your environment to discover new ideas and hands-on activities for educating groups.
Visit www.shelburnefarms.org for more information!
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FARM TO SCHOOL SUPPORT FROM MASS. FARM TO SCHOOL
Demand for local foods in school cafeterias continues to grow. Partial data suggests that gross sales of produce to schools (kindergarten through college) by Mass. farms doubled, and gross sales by Mass.dairy farms to colleges grew thirty percent, during the last school year. About 50 farms made direct sales to schools in 2007.
Recently, seventy-seven public school districts and colleges have written to say they served and promoted local products during the first statewide Mass. Harvest for Students Week last September. Many of the school food service directors reported they would like help finding locally grown products to use over the course of the school year (and some have substantial summer feeding programs too).
* Are you a small farm operator who might be interested in selling to just one or two smaller schools nearby?
* Are you a large farm operator who would like help establishing a roster of larger school customers?
* Are you disinterested in making deliveries, but would like your products to be preferentially purchased by food distributors for re-sale to motivated school customers?
Please contact the Project for individualized sales assistance or general information; to find out more about the upcoming farm to school meeting in April; or to discuss plans for Mass. Harvest for Students Week 2008. They can be reached at 413-253-3844 or kelerwin@localnet.com. Check out the website at www.mass.gov/agr/markets/Farm_to_school/.