NE Indiana Farm to School Team launches Harvest of the Month Video

October is National Farm to School Month

2020 marks the 10th anniversary of this Farm to School celebration across our country. Congress designated National Farm to School Month in 2010 as a way to recognize and appreciate the valuable connections being created between kids, families and our local food system. This year, the Northeast Indiana Local Food Network is excited to be a part of the new team working to expand Farm to School programs here in our region.

In October 2019, the Northeast Indiana Local Food Network was asked to participate in the launch of the new Northeast Indiana Farm to School Team being led by Kylee Bennett, the Youth Well-being Coordinator for Parkview Health. Parkview received a U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm to School planning grant to bring together “school districts, state and local agencies, agricultural producers, and nonprofit organizations to increase local foods served through child nutrition programs, while also educating children and their families about food and agriculture through garden and classroom education.” Read more about the mission and goals of the Northeast Indiana Farm to School Team here.

Introducing the Harvest of the Month Program

Over the last 10 years, many schools across the country have created Harvest of the Month programs to help students learn about foods that grow seasonally in their region. Through identifying specific Harvest of the Month products, teachers, school food service directors and local farmers can jointly focus their efforts to educate students about where food in their region comes from and supply fresh, locally sourced products into the school cafeterias.

With input from regional educators, school food service directors and local growers, the Northeast Indiana Farm to School Team has recently unveiled their Northeast Indiana Harvest of the Month program. This program identifies locally-available produce items for each month. Through educational videos and suggestions for classroom activities, the Harvest of the Month program will help students and families learn where food comes from in our region and connect them with the wide variety of farms and farmers in Northeast Indiana.

Over the coming year, the Northeast Indiana Local Food Network will work with staff from Parkview Health and Purdue Extension to create a series of Harvest of the Month videos. Each of these short video will feature a different farm in Northeast Indiana and will give students a behind the scenes look at how the Harvest of the Month fruits and vegetables are grown and harvested in our region.

Harvest of the Month Video featuring Apples at Orchard Hill Farms

We are proud to share our first Harvest of the Month video recorded at Orchard Hill Farms over the last few weeks. We are grateful to both Hertha and Rick Meyer for opening their orchard and apple packing facility to our cameras. This video was released just in time to help promote Northeast Indiana’s kickoff participation in the Great Apple Crunch at schools, businesses and local orchards across our region all using the hashtag #NEIAppleCrunch.

We look forward to recording many more Harvest of the Month videos on our local produce farms over the coming year.

Northeast Indiana Harvest of the Month Produce Selections

January: Salad Greens
February: Radishes
March: Beets
April: Kale
May: Peas
June: Strawberries
July: Brambles
August: Tomatoes
September: Peppers
October: Apples
November: Cabbage
December: Carrots