Progress report for ENE22-178
Project Information
Problem or Opportunity and Justification:
West Virginia farmers have the opportunity to increase market opportunities within their own communities. The passage of legislation in 2019, requiring 5% of institutional food purchasing to be locally sourced, creates a tremendous opportunity. Farm to School legislation and rollout in West Virginia has not adequately supported education and outreach to farmers.
The 2019 Farm to School legislation has created greater challenges and confusion. The rollout approach that has been to separate Farm to School’s three main activities—improving nutrition education, increasing youth agriculture knowledge—into discrete and isolated goals for school systems. This has failed to acknowledge the interconnectedness of these three goals. Sprout School will present farmers, teachers, and community volunteers with an integrated approach that will advance all three.
Agricultural service providers need additional support helping to serve as local liaisons between farmers and school systems. Farmers need additional training and coaching on production planning and packaging requirements. Local procurement policies are often complicated and differ from county to county and sometimes even within the same district. Farmers are left to navigate this process themselves. Child nutrition directors often have many responsibilities outside of basic procurement. The result is frustration from all involved parties.
Solution and Approach:
Future Generations University will create a tool kit and training program aimed at agricultural service providers to establish Farm to School programming with farmers, school system personnel, and community volunteers. Sprout School will train 80 service providers, across two cohorts of students, using a multi-faceted curriculum of Farm to School best practices. Each cohort will consist of 40 service providers. Out of these, 30 will successfully implement at least one Farm to School project with their teams. Attendees will receive a nominal stipend to encourage continued attendance.
Each cohort of students will complete 9-month virtual training program. Additionally, participants will have mandatory learning lab assignments that they complete in their communities. These real-world lab assignments will guide participants through the steps of creating a successful Farm to School program. Attendees to the training will also be given access to monetary resources to execute the school production space and child nutrition education portions of Sprout School curriculum.
Agricultural service providers will be also invited to join a network of Farm to School practitioners across the state. This network will meet four times annually, to share successes, troubleshoot challenges, and learn from one another. These quarterly peer network gatherings will also provide opportunity to introduce experts in the field and help connect to existing resources. This peer-learning network will form the basis for continued engagement and ensure that relationships drive continued Farm to School development in West Virginia.
Sprout School trains educators, nutrition personnel, and traditional service providers in a framework to build the impact of West Virginia Farm-to-School operations through delivery of multi-media lessons, in-person workshops, best practice-based field trips, and applicable project implementation.
Educational Approach
Sprout School is a comprehensive toolkit for agricultural service providers to increase access to markets. It will support community leaders, teachers, and farmers who want to be engaged with school garden components as well as education personnel who are responsible for child nutrition. Many of the current barriers to getting local food into local schools revolve around the missing link(s) between farmers and school personnel. Engaging youth in garden activities increases the likelihood that they will eat locally sourced menu items. Project activities, for the first six months, will consist of developing the Sprout School curriculum to train service providers by utilizing support from key team leaders and advisory members.
Engagement:
Sprout School relies on engaging both traditional agricultural service providers as well as leadership from within school systems. Both are key to building potential Farm to School linkages for local farmers. Agricultural service providers must be able to provide traditional support to farmers such as production planning and post-harvest handling while educational personnel must provide support for farmers around building relationships and youth educational opportunities within school systems.
Service providers will be recruited from the existing nascent Farm to School network hosted by the WV Department of Agriculture, relationships with extension, and school system personnel. The historic WV School and Youth Garden support network relationships will also be utilized. Additionally, Future Generations University will seek approval from the WV Department of Education for professional development credit for those who are working in school systems, which will be an additional recruitment tool. A stipend will be offered to participating service providers and education personnel to cover a portion of their time in class.
Two cohorts of service providers will be recruited after the initial curriculum development. Sprout School will run from August-May of each year to line up with the majority of school calendars in West Virginia. Service providers will implement components of training with their recruited farmers and education staff at appropriate times during the school year.
Service providers will be placed into a peer learning network, meeting 4 times per year in person, with additional virtual opportunities, to ensure support at the conclusion of each cohort. This network will allow providers to support one another with intervention by Sprout School leadership if necessary.
Learning:
Sprout School will consist of a toolkit for Farm to School programs, bi-weekly virtual class instruction, and learning labs where service providers get to put into practice the material from virtual classes. Additionally, Future Generations will create and facilitate an active peer network among service providers to support one another.
The created toolkit will highlight all 6 components of a comprehensive Farm to School program, consisting of:
1) Local Sourcing
2) Local Foods Marketing
3) Local Food Policy
4) Nutrition Education
5) School Garden Education
6) Entrepreneurial Experiences for Youth
The toolkit will guide service providers through the entire process of building Farm to School programs in their home communities. It will utilize the convenience of online instruction to support participants with direct instruction, while they put concepts into practice. Service providers will meet once every two weeks for roughly an hour in a virtual classroom setting to take part in lectures and multi-media presentations. During this time, service providers will also be given time to ask questions about learning lab assignments and work together on challenges they are facing.
Central to this entire process is the act of assisting farmers with developing strong relationships with schools through more than simply providing food for the cafeteria. Learning labs will guide service providers through the implementation of working with farmers and educators to implement Farm to School practices in their own home communities. Service providers will also be invited to network meetings and in person trainings four times annually.
Evaluation: Service providers will keep a record of reflection on those implementation practices during the virtual course and learning labs. Completion of the learning labs will show that providers have gained knowledge and skills during the course. A pre and post survey will be delivered to each cohort of providers to show comprehensive gain in knowledge and skills.
The Sprout School toolkit itself will include an evaluation and measurement tool for each component of Farm to School, which service providers will assess as they guide individuals through the process. Individual pre and post gain in knowledge surveys will be distributed to show gain in knowledge related to specific training topics and/or field visits for the network itself during network meetings and activities.
Milestones
Engagement: Advisory council meets monthly during the first six months of the project period and quarterly afterwards to ensure that toolkit and virtual class creation as well as service provider outreach and engagement are on target. The advisory team will provide guidance on initial toolkit and class creation as well as continual feedback as the course is implemented.
Status: In Progress
Accomplishments:
2022: The PI had a series of 1-1 meetings with advisory council members during the first 3 months of the project- to build stronger relationships with the council. During the following 9 months, the council has been meeting monthly (skipping June, November, and December 2022) to ensure that progress on the toolkit and class structure is progressing. It is anticipated that meetings will switch to quarterly in the 2023 year.
2023: The statewide Farm to School steering committee was revitalized and this advisory committee and it have merged. This is the steering committee and stakeholder group that will drive Farm to School based work in West Virginia forward, including Sprout School.
Learning: Sprout School toolkit and virtual class created within the first 6 months of the project period. The creation of these two tools form the basis for service provider education. The toolkit itself will be what service providers utilize in their home communities to work with farmers, volunteers, students, and educators to implement Farm to School activities, while the virtual class will be the training created to teach service providers how to utilize the toolkit.
Status: In Progress
Accomplishments:
2022: Because it took more time than intended to build full relationships with the advisory council and to have them build relationships with one another, this milestone is still in progress. A curriculum and toolkit map has been created, illustrating what each module of the online system will encompass and its mapping back to the toolkit. Several modules are in draft form, for when the online training begins.
2023: Modules have been created for the first 9-month cohort and will be adjusted as the class continues. These are being hosted on Moodle as a course management system, and will be available to all participants.
Engagement: First cohort of 40 service providers will be recruited to attend Sprout School training in months 5-8 of the project. This cohort will be largely recruited based on relationships of project key personnel and the advisory committee. In addition to signing a formal agreement to fully participate in the training, a small stipend of $200 will be offered at completion of the training to ensure that service providers are engaged throughout the 9-month period.
Status: Complete 12/31/23
Accomplishments:
2022: Marketing materials have been created and will be utilized to recruit a cohort of service providers in February, 2023.
2023: This was delayed due to staff capacity; however the first cohort of service providers has been recruited and will begin January 23, 2024.
Learning and Evaluation: The first cohort of 40 service providers will take part in bi-weekly virtual classes focused on Farm to School concepts. These classes will provide guidance for service providers who are working with farmers and school personnel in their communities to implement Farm to School programs. Service providers will provide feedback on the virtual classes related to both knowledge gain and implementation plans.
Status: In Progress
Accomplishments:
2022: Not begun
2023: The first cohort of service providers has attended orientation and information sessions, with formal class beginning January 23, 2024.
Learning and Evaluation: The first cohort of 40 service providers execute learning labs with their communities to implement Farm to School practices with farmers, educators, youth, and nonprofit partners. These learning labs are designed to step the service provider through everything from recruiting farmers to sell to local school systems to assisting farmers with developing classroom relationships for visits and hands-on activities. Service providers will self-evaluate their efforts during this implementation process.
Status: Not Begun
Accomplishments: None.
Evaluation: Based on feedback from the first cohort and input from the advisory committee, the second iteration of the Sprout School toolkit and class will be developed during months 15-18 of the project. This will include updates related to pacing, content, and the learning lab experience overall. For example, if it is found that service providers have a hard time engaging farmers during September or October because of harvest season, that portion of the lab series will be moved until winter to reflect this.
Status: Not Begun
Accomplishments: None.
Engagement: After one complete cohort, Future Generations University staff will work with the WV Department of Education to develop Sprout School as an official professional development opportunity for teachers and other school personnel. This will make engaging service providers and educators much easier once the project period has concluded.
Status: Not Begun
Accomplishments: None.
Engagement: Second cohort of 40 service providers will be recruited to attend Sprout School training in months 15-18 of the project. This cohort will be largely recruited based on relationships of project key personnel and the advisory committee. In addition to signing a formal agreement to fully participate in the training, a small stipend will be offered at completion of the training to ensure that service providers are engaged throughout the 9-month period.
Status: Not Begun
Accomplishments: None.
Learning and Evaluation: The second cohort of 40 service providers will take part in bi-weekly virtual classes focused on Farm to School concepts. These classes will provide guidance for service providers who are working with farmers and school personnel in their communities to implement Farm to School programs. Service providers will provide feedback on the virtual classes related to both knowledge gain and implementation plans.
Status: Not Begun
Accomplishments: None.
Learning and Evaluation: The second cohort of 40 service providers execute learning labs with their communities to implement Farm to School practices with farmers, educators, youth, and nonprofit partners. These learning labs are designed to step the service provider through everything from recruiting farmers to sell to local school systems to assisting farmers with developing classroom relationships for visits and hands-on activities. Service providers will self-evaluate their efforts during this implementation process.
Status: Not Begun
Accomplishments: None.
Learning: The 80 service provider participants will become part of a learning exchange network which meets in person 4 times per year after year 1- resulting in 8 total network meetings during this project period. At these networking events, service providers will be able to build relationships with one another, learn from each another, and receive targeted technical assistance related to Farm to School activities.
Status: In Progress
Accomplishments:
2022: Working with partners at the WV Food and Farm Coalition, WVU Extension, and High Rocks Educational Corporation, planning is underway for the first network meeting to be held in Spring 2023.
2023: Because of system capacity, this milestone has been adjusted. The first meeting will occur April 20, 2024 at Future Generations University in Franklin, WV.
Learning and Evaluation: Of the 80 total service provider participants, 60 will secure relationships with farmers and educators, build a team, and work to advance Farm to School activities within their local communities during their cohort year. These will most likely consist of activities like 1-2 local procurements from farmers, a raised bed, meet the farmer events, or other simple interventions.
Status: Not Begun
Accomplishments: None
Milestone Activities and Participation Summary
Educational activities and events conducted by the project team:
Participants in the project’s educational activities:
Performance Target Outcomes
Performance Target Outcomes - Service Providers
Target #1
60
Sixty agricultural service providers will implement Sprout School programming in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland with teams of farmers, educators, and community volunteers. Each team will have one farmer, for a total of 60 engaged farmers.
60
2022: Year one’s primary objective was to set up for the classes and coaching of service providers- in year two it is expected that each service provider will form a relationship with at least one farmer and will have regular evaluation check ins related to their success in implementing Farm to School objectives.
2023: During year 2, staff capacity and turnover greatly limited progress on this project- a youth education associate was brought on board to the team in September to focus solely on this work. So far, 3 service providers have been working with 3 farmers to develop outreach activities with youth at 5 local schools through Maple in the Classroom curriculum.
Performance Target Outcomes - Farmers
Target #1
50
Coaching from service providers will result in 50 farmers reporting one institutional market relationship resulting in sales.
Additional Project Outcomes
An NRCS service provider attended a training for Maple in the Classroom curriculum and has been working with a local maple syrup producer to implement educational programming at Ruthlawn Elementary in Kanawha County, West Virginia. The farmer attended a “Meet the farmer” event last fall and conducted a taste testing of syrup with 3rd-5th grade students. This spring, the same producer is going to tap with the students on site and provide support for the NRCS service provider and educators as they go through the curriculum.