Food Safety
Food safety is very important when participating in Farm to School (F2S). It can be one of the largest concerns school nutrition professionals have when serving school-aged children. As with the School Meals Programs, proper planning and training can set schools up to serve local food safely in their cafeterias and classrooms.
Food Safety Considerations
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) must be in place when using school garden produce and other fresh, minimally-processed foods in the child nutrition programs.
- Schools must follow local food procurement regulations to ensure the foods are purchased from licensed and inspected facilities with food safety certifications.
- Consider the food safety certification(s) your school may accept when purchasing from local producers. It is up to each school to decide the certification(s) it accepts.
- Reference the WI Food Code for specific food safety requirements.
Resources
Procurement
Procurement is the process for purchasing goods and services. Within F2S, procurement plays a big role in the incorporation of local foods. Similar to food safety, procurement has been a hurdle for some school nutrition professionals. With an understanding of procurement requirements, your farm to school work is sure go egg-cellently!
Please direct any specific procurement questions to a member of the SNT's Procurement team.
Resources
- SNT Procuring Local Foods webpage
- Finding, Buying, and Serving Local Foods Webinar Series
- 10 Facts About Purchasing Local Foods
- Decision Tree: How Will You Bring Local Foods into the Cafeteria with Your Next Food Purchase?
- Geographic Preference: What It Is and How To Use It
- USDA Foods: A Resource for Buying Local
- Using DoD Fresh to Buy Local
- Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food
Producers
This section contains resources to help locate and work with producers and growers. If you are a producer or grower, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has valuable F2S resources for you to reference.
Producers and Suppliers
- Farmers Markets Directory
- Wisconsin Farm Fresh Atlas
- Wisconsin Berry & Vegetable Growers Associations - find berry and vegetable growers and see what's in season!
Resources
- Verifying On-Farm Food Safety - prior to purchasing produce from a local farm, school nutrition operators should consider visiting the farm to observe key food safety practices and ask questions.
- Talk Farm to Me podcast - a podcast about farmers for non-farmers, featuring a new farmer every two weeks with stories from the farm about what they do