Coupeville Farm to School

$3000 matching fund from our board members!

Your contribution will be matched dollar for dollar to help us reach our $6000 goal!

Mission

Coupeville Farm to School (CF2S) teaches our students to value the uniqueness of their agricultural community and food system. We aspire to prepare them with the knowledge and skills to participate in and contribute to its preservation and economic development. Our goals include increasing our students' interest in eating healthy foods, empowering students to participate in their local food system and providing a fresh approach to teaching with an outdoor classroom. We support learning in the gardens and on the school farm, inspire creativity, and promote the health of our community's students. We support students to become Courageous Eaters!

Description

Coupeville Farm to School began in early 2013 when a group of parents, teachers, school food service staff, and local food advocates met to identify ways local food and agriculture could be integrated into the Coupeville School District through garden based education. This organization serves children of all ages in the Coupeville School District.

CF2S has had great success, thanks to tremendous, ongoing support from our community and our schools. We have grown from one small educational garden by the elementary school to now serving every Coupeville Elementary student, staffed by a full time Program Manager and part-time Garden Educator and, in 2024, a School Farm Assistant. In partnership with the district, we added a 1 acre farm/outdoor classroom that produced 6000 pounds of food this year for our district’s cook-from-scratch kitchen that goes directly to feed our students.  We provide financial support for the Farm Manager position.                                                    

We began by renovating the garden at Coupeville Elementary School to use as an outdoor classroom and community space. Similar garden projects are underway at the Middle and High Schools. Teachers are being provided with resources to connect garden-based activities with educational standards, incorporating lessons in science, mathematics, and language arts. Cooking classes in the late fall and winter months encourage students to be courageous eaters and explore foods from many cultures.

The School Farm, in collaboration with the district's Connected Food Program, has produced thousands of pounds of healthy produce for the cafeteria in the past 3 years. Students spend class time at the farm helping to plant, harvest and sample a variety of vegetables like kale, broccoli raab, tomatoes, and cucumbers, further encouraging them to be curious eaters and appreciate the life cycle of their food.

Fundraising Goals

 Our goals for 2023-2025 include:

- Increase staffing - we have hired a part time Garden Educator to teach garden and farm based education classes, offer cooking classes in the winter, collaborate with the district’s Connected Food Program and begin to meet the ever expanding student interest at the middle and high school levels. We plan to increase this position to full time over the next 2 years.

- Curriculum development - with a successful elementary garden curriculum in place, we will be offering classes more consistently on the School Farm.

- Community engagement - having healthy kids benefits our entire community as we continue to build on our relationships with other organizations and local residents, who assist with projects like the completion of the Middle/High School Gardens, after school programming and summer programs.

- Cooking programs - we are focusing on culinary success with future programs in the middle and high schools to include mentoring and internships.

Our needs for this campaign are very specific:

• Rain ponchos for students attending garden class at the School Farm
• Supplies, ingredients and learning materials for winter cooking classes
• 2 new wheelbarrows

Can we count on you to get us over our $6000 goal?