National Farm To School Network

The mission of the National Farm to School Network (NFSN) is to increase access to local food and nutrition education to improve children’s health, strengthen family farms, and cultivate vibrant communities. Farm to school and early childhood education (ECE) is a win for kids when they eat nourishing food in meals and snacks, participate in hands-on activities, and learn about where food comes from; a win for farmers when school market opportunities provide reliable and consistent sales and fair pay; and a win for communities when food is grown, distributed, prepared, and consumed for the benefit of every community member. To ensure all communities see the benefit of these wins, farm to school must be firmly grounded in equity.

NFSN has a vision of a racially just food system for all, and we work to achieve that vision through farm to school – the ways kids eat, grow, and learn about food in schools and early care and education settings. To do this, we develop a strong network of partnerships across sectors, build awareness about farm to school, and increase activities at the state and regional levels through training, capacity building, and policy advocacy. NFSN serves more than 200 national, state, and community partners in all 50 states, Washington D.C., the U.S. Territories, and sovereign nations as well as over 20,000 educators, school administrators, school nutrition directors, farmers and food producers, nonprofit and state agency staff, policymakers and advocates, children and parents, and many others from across the country.