The Farm to School Podcast

From High Desert Beef, and 100 miles from town: the Alvord Beef Ranch story of Remote “Ranch to School” lunch.  Join us as we head to the remote high desert of Southeastern Oregon to meet Paul and Toni Davis of Alvord Ranch. With a herd of 2,500 cattle, no neighbors for miles, and a kitchen that feeds up to 25 ranch hands a day, the Davises share what life is really like on a working cattle ranch—...

What do farm-fresh veggies, kid-run farmers markets, and a runaway pig have in common? They're all part of the magic Lynne Shore brings to her school meals! Tune in “live” from the Oregon School Nutrition Conference for a fun, feel-good journey into farm to school awesomeness — where students shop, farmers cheer, and pancakes steal the show! We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.

Join Rick and Michelle as they (virtually) journey across the Atlantic to chat with Jennie Devine from England’s National Farmers Union. Discover how UK schools are connecting kids with farming through innovative STEM-based lessons, live farm broadcasts, and a nationwide ambassador program—without government funding! It’s a fresh take on farm to school that’s inspiring students, empowering teacher...

Join us as we sit down with Jade Davidson, Executive Director of Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom. Jade leads a small but mighty nonprofit dedicated to helping students understand where their food comes from and how Oregon’s diverse natural resources shape our lives. We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.

Born in Ireland, Jennie journeyed to the United States. Her passion for food and health set her on a career path that started as a hospital Clinical Dietitian, evolved into Nutrition Service Manager and Director at a school district, and currently as a state Child Nutrition Program staff. Join Rick & Michelle as they talk with Jennie Kolpak about how she literally defined what best-practice in...

Have you ever heard of a Food Forest?  It sounds something you can find in the woods outside Willy Wonka’s factory, right?  Join us as we explore the relationship with Fort Bragg, California’s school district Nutrition Services Director Pilar Gray and Director of Operations for the NOYO Food Forest, Beth Horkman. We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.

Often as we teach kids where their food comes from, even 11th graders sometimes think broccoli grows on trees because they're not exposed to growing food.  Join us as we explore School Garden Education in the Denver, Colorado area with SustainED Farms' Matt Supronowicz and Maya McDowell.  We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.

Our last episode was coined " Student Ecoliteracy, The Author " which explored Katherine Pryor's journey of writing children's books about nature and garden subjects.  In this companion episode, we talk to Katherine's first publisher, Philip Lee of Readers to Eaters.  They specialize in publishing kids books about nutrition and school gardens!   We would love to hear from...

Katherine Pryor first wrote a story when she was seven years old.  She's been chasing the feeling of how the story made her feel every day since then..  Fast forward to today, when she's published ten children's books, most of which are award winners.  Join Rick and Michelle as they talk to Katherine as she shares her journey of writing about kids' experiences with growing food...

What if you ran the Nutrition Service Department and you needed help..  someone to help to provide training, kitchen design, or "strategic solutions leadership?"  Join Rick and Michelle as they chat with Joshua Miller, the Founder and Principal Consultant with Remarkable Academic Foods, who tells his journey in his mission to help transform school meals.   We would love to hear from you!...

In our journey to explore the different methods of educating kids about their food and the environment, we bring you a new way we haven't explored yet on this program: Educating kids through music!  Join us as we talk to members of the Banana Slug String Band, a band that's celebrating their 40th Anniversary at the time of this posting and their journey through the years. This is part TW...

In our journey to explore the different methods of educating kids about their food and the environment, we bring you a new way we haven't explored yet on this program: Educating kids through music!  Join us as we talk to members of the Banana Slug String Band, a band that's celebrating their 40th Anniversary at the time of this posting and their journey through the years. This is part on...

Join us as we talk to Julie Burton of the award-winning Farm Lab DREAMS Campus (Design, Research, Engineering, Art, Math & Science). It's an amazing story of how they were able to establish a certified organic farm that feeds into their nationally recognized farm to school program in Encinitas, CA.  We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.

Many organizations provide educational programming for school gardens across the USA.  But what about the infrastructure of building the garden, how do you start? Join us as we talk with Sam Koentopp from Big Green.  They work with partner organizations to install their raised beds in schools, and also have a goal to start one million gardens with their home gardening kits!  Join us as we explore...

Most people Haven't heard of the term "Farm to School."  Once the concept is explained to them, usually the next thing to explain is.. what is a school garden?  Typically, folks assume that school gardens are a relatively new thing.  Join us as we talk with Rose Hayden-Smith about the very long and interesting history of school gardens in the USA and the world.  We would love to hea...

Often times we highlight very large school districts that has a meal program that offers food that is made from scratch whenever possible.  Because those places are large districts with many resources, there might be more opportunities to get local, fresh food into the cafeteria.  But what about a very small, rural school? How can they do the same thing with limited resources?  Join us as we inter...

Many School Gardens are able to produce an abundance of food.  Usually they are able to bring the produce right in to the cafeteria..  But what if you have an overabundance of something?  How can you save it? Can you can it SAFELY? What are the rules and regulations?   Join us as we have a discussion with a Master Food Preserver Jared Hibbard-Swanson from Oregon State University Extension, as we d...

Chef.  Innovator.  Leader... Cranky Parent?  There are many words to describe Bertrand Weber.  Join us as he shares his journey from an "angry parent" who was concerned about his kid's school meal to stepping up and doing something about it.. transforming the meal experience at Minneapolis Public Schools, and inspiring the country to rethink how they serve food to students.  We woul...

Today our special guests are Chef Asata Reid and Erin Croom of "Small Bites Adventure Club" from Atlanta, GA.  Listen to them as they share their journey and passion of how they developed a truly one-of-a-kind, innovative program to educate children about nutrition and where their food comes from. We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.

So you have a school garden.  You grow beautiful fruits and veggies.  Great!  Now what?  Once you've mastered your "green thumb" and want to try the one of the next steps in school gardens, many programs are having success with raising chickens (and other "critters") in the school garden.   We talk with Sam Ullery from Washington DC's Office of the State Superintenden...

Miguel Villareal is the Interim Director of the National Farm to School Network.  From humble beginnings in a farm worker's family, his journey led him to athletics, a software salesman, and finally as a Nutrition Services Director for a large school district in California.  A moment where he was forced to administer a soft drink contract to potentially thousands of students forced him to ret...

Often school garden programs and school cafeterias operate very independent and separately from each other.  Join us for a wonderful example of a program that works in harmony: West Linn-Wilsonville School District.  Our Guests include School Garden Coordinator Helena Killstrom and Nutrition Services Manager Lindsey  Flores. We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.

Join us as we interview Texas A&M University's Randy Seagraves.  Randy is the Program Specialist and Curriculum Director of the International Junior Master Gardener Program.  Find out how America's youth are inspired and transformed by this wonderful program.  We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.

Join us for our second part of our interview with the co-founders Ciara Byrne and Kim MacQuarrie of "Green Our Planet," a non-profit based in Las Vegas, Nevada that uses school garden and hydroponic STEM programs that teach students about sustainability and financial literacy.  They have an amazing story of how they transformed what did as successful videographers to end up creating this...

Join Rick as he visits with the co-founders Ciara Byrne and Kim MacQuarrie of "Green Our Planet," a non-profit based in Las Vegas, Nevada that uses school garden and hydroponic STEM programs that teach students about sustainability and financial literacy.  They have an amazing story of how they transformed what did as successful videographers to end up creating this nonprofit to better t...