Andrea's Leaving Arcadia :(

It is with both excitement and sadness that I share with you all that I will be leaving the D.C. Farm to School Network at Arcadia at the end of June. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working to connect local farms with DC schools over the past four years, but I am ready for something new. I am most likely off to Minneapolis, MN next to work on farm to school programs with Minneapolis Public Schools.

Things will look a little different for farm to school in Washington, DC in the coming months:

• There will be a Farm to School Specialist position created in the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to work alongside the School Garden Specialist and focus on local procurement in DC schools.
• DC Greens will be the new organizational home for the D.C. Farm to School Network's information sharing, community engagement, and outreach activities - the "network" part of the Network. DC Greens will oversee the farm to school newsletter, website, and community advocacy presence, and will convene the Network's Advisory Board.
• Arcadia will continue to conduct educational farm field trips, visits by its Mobile Market to DC schools, and a farm summer camp.

And finally, there are some other really exciting farm to school updates I'd like to share:

• I am honored to have won the NRDC Going Green "Young Food Leader" award! Check out this great video (start at 6 minutes).  Grist also wrote a really nice piece, and the Huffington Post is posting a series.
• The D.C. Farm to School Directory is complete! It lists local growers interested to sell to DC schools, and schools looking to buy local products. Download it here.
• We published a report called What's Local in D.C. Public School Meals, which looks at how much produce served by DCPS' vendors (Chartwells, DC Central Kitchen, and Revolution Foods) was local from September to December 2011. On average, it was a whopping 35%! Download it here.

Sincerely,

Andrea Northup, commonly seen in carrot costume, always enthusiastic about salad bars, and forever connecting farms and schools!