(Eureka)— The Humboldt County Office of Education’s (HCOE) Nutrition Programs and Services recently received a Farm to School grant totaling over $99,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). HCOE was one of 10 California awardees to win from nationwide entries. The USDA provides funding for planning, training, and implementation grants.

The USDA provides funding for planning grants, training grants, and implementation grants. The Farm to School Grants are awarded annually to help fund projects that increase the amount of local foods served through child nutrition programs, teach children about food and agriculture through garden and classroom education, and develop schools’ and farmers’ capacities to buy and sell local foods.

Erin Derden-Little, HCOE’s Farm to School Coordinator said, “We are extremely honored and excited to be a recipient of this competitive funding. Several factors have limited the number of educators and students we can serve directly with our Harvest of the Month (HOTM) program, as well as the number of months we are able to feature local produce. Our project addresses these challenges to make HOTM more accessible and localized. In addition, this project will help us critically examine how we design and deliver HOTM to ensure that our HOTM program is inclusive and respectful of the cultures and communities of the students we serve.”

These grants have proven to produce positive outcomes for schools and communities alike.

For Farm to School program information, please contact Erin Derden-Little at 441-2072 or ederdenlittle@hcoe.org