NOTES

Regional Networking SessionsThursday June 27, 2013 3:15-4:15pm

Co-Facilitated by Wisconsin Local Food Network Representatives and Transform WI Grantees

North and West Regions

Things region has worked on / accomplishments/ barriers they have over-come to accomplish

- Collaboration and sustained farm to school in La Crosse County- Fifth Season- 89 local products in Reinhart- FFVP and Garden at Shell Lake, Washburn- Spooner- Changing perceptions, sustained gardens, Healthy vending options, Play 60- Twi Statewide - connecting grantees with resources, work with state level partners to pro-

vide TA- Senator Shilling - meeting and learning from others- Vernon County- Hillsboro Garden is going great, putting F2S pieces together and manag-

ing volunteers- La Crosse - Gardens, volunteers with gardens, sustaining efforts, building hoop house- Craford County- PEP grant, and large school gardens (needs to be maintained)- Menomonee- HOM calendar, education, - just getting off the ground- UW-Extension- Getting extension folks together statewide, producer education

- No F2S staff person- need to identify who is out there- Eau Claire- Local Potatoes and Apples thorugh Indianhead distributor, FFVP

- Have storage concerns, food safety concerns and how to use fresh local food- Networking in Galesville- looking for more organizations- School garden in tennis court in Galesville

- Garden club and $4000 grant

Things regions want to accomplish in the future

- Grade level specific curriculum (Use DPI nutritious delicious curriculum)- Utilize master gardeners- garden to cafeteria- move the food to the kids- ways to market the foods

Central Region

NOTES

Goals/ and help needed to accomplish these F2S goals

-Producers and product to purchase (Easy to find potatoes and apples, but looking for more)-would use regional food hubs but prefer local producers

- Hard to maintain garden in summer with not students- Need to network with other teachers to get resources and connections, lessons, etc- Need staff to support and staff communication about F2S programming- Need info on getting school garden produce into school lunch- Would like to work with Ag teacher to grow edibles for school - Marathon CO- Start HOM and Harvest Dinner/Festival using garden produce- Wood Co- Approach processors to see if they would work with F2S to help get more lo-

cal food in school lunch- Schools could work together as a central region for orders adn processing- F2S branding- T-shirts, posters, banners- More in school promotion

Keep Networking?

- No more meetings!- Wood and Marathon County will continue to support each other, helpful to meet at least a

few times per year

Top take-aways from Networking session

- There is help available, you just need to ask- It takes time ot make F2S work (Won’t just happen in one year)- Food service staff and teachers are key - keep them involved

South Region

Regional Successes

- Harvest of the Month

NOTES

- School Audit - Training/TA, School Garden- Meal Patterns- Local food once a week- Tasting events- Classroom Educational Activities- Snack Program- Garden Bars- Getting teachers on board- Helping Grantees-Food service directors on board

- web presence- ease of processing- knock out excuses and respond- start with small timeframe

- PTO involvement- freezing parties

- Local Initiative- Menu local food and health planning- Food Aggregation and distribution- Start talking about F2S

Regional Needs

- More food and gardens in regular meals- Connect F2S with community- Work with administrators- Create patience- Better Policies- Continued communication- Connections- form relationships- Policy- post grant sustainability

East Region

Regional Needs

- Understanding which farmers have insurance- How to engage/speak to parents- Involve other collaborators - How to make connections, what is the first step?

NOTES

- List of resources, Money, how state organizations can help- Having a dedicated F2S person - Distributors marking local items

Regional opportunities

-Staff training that DPI and Monique are doing- more of these (invite one staff member per dis-trict)- Anyone can utilize TransformWi evaluation tools- HOM is a great place to start- AmeriCorps is great- dedicated F2S person- Farm Fresh Atlas, Savor, SSfW, Local Harvest

Regional Goals

-Marketing tools- Kid friendly-Understanding what effect local food has on environment- Expand at least one new local item next year- Centralized F2S website - Unified food safety measures- Open sharing of farm locations

Tools and Technology

- Equipment and training staff needed (list of grants appropriate for those)- Knife skills, train the trainer, food waste information- Models for evaluation (someone else compiling the information, surveys, etc)

Next steps

- Networking- Statewide coordination- Statewide listserve- Strategic Plan for state- Map of initiatives South East Region

Opportunities/ Goals

- HOM - more education for teachers- How does building local markets impact farmers?- Ways to support farmers with interaction/ relationships with schools- School Gardens- Have wellness policies rewritten - Increase engagement of parents in Nutrition- Bigger Greenhouse

NOTES

- Keeping and Establishing a Regional Group- WLFN as glue - Maybe a regional listserve for questions and events- Scheduling a Conference Call/ other meeting to stay in touch

Resources Needed/ Existing Technology that could be used

- Farm Logics- Liability Insurance- GAP certification-Names and contacts for food service directors

Other opportunities or needs

- How can wellness policies fit in with CHIP?- Regional CHIP meeting- Fitting nutrition standards into DPI- Planning and Nutrition in the curriculum