Resources for school gardens and farm education
Food grown in school gardens can be served in the cafeteria! Learn about best practices for food safety in the school garden and ways to integrate garden produce into school meals.
GET READY FOR TASTE WASHINGTON DAY!
October 8, 2025
WSDA Farm to School Program
Since its creation in 2008 by the Local Farms Healthy Kids Act, the WSDA Farm to School Program has been dedicated to fostering relationships between schools and agricultural producers in Washington State to support high-quality meals made from local ingredients. Our goal is to support expanding economic opportunities for farmers by increasing local food purchasing in schools, while educating students about the connections between food, farming, health, and the environment.Continue scrolling on this page for information and resources to help schools, farmers, and supporters get started with farm to school.
Farm to School Purchasing Grants
📢 2025-2027 Awards Announced
About the Farm to School Purchasing Grant Program
Since 2008, WSDA's Farm to School Program has worked with schools, farms, and supporters to increase procurement of local food. Purchasing Grants help achieve this goal by addressing the budget barrier that many schools face to sourcing Washington-grown food.
WSDA has invested over $8.5 million in grants to schools and childcare programs resulting in over 140 types of local foods purchased from over 360 unique Washington farms and food businesses. Grant funds also support other common farm-to-school barriers, such as equipment and staff training, to maximize the use of local food in school meals.
Purchasing Grants represent direct investment in Washington's local food economy while making it possible for more schools to purchase local foods as part of high-quality, nutritious, scratch-made meals for students. Learn more about Grant Impacts in this 2022-2023 Annual Report Infographic.
Taste Washington Day
Taste Washington Day is an annual celebration of Washington-grown foods served in school meals during the fall harvest season. Schools connect with local farms to make the most of our state’s bountiful fall harvest and use Taste Washington Day to highlight Farm to School Month in October.
Farm to School Toolkit
This toolkit is designed to provide farms, schools, preschools, childcare providers, students, families, and communities with resources to help them meet their farm to school goals. Through tools, templates, resources, stories, successes, documents and more, the toolkit draws together best practices and farm to school tips from in-state and national network partners.
For Schools: Resources for Local Food in Schools
School nutrition staff can find planning tools, publications, factsheets, templates, farm listings, and much more here to support Washington grown purchasing in school meal programs.
For Farmers: Resources for Selling to Schools
Schools around the state are interested in connecting with and purchasing from local farms. Learn more about this opportunity, how it works, and get some resources for selling to schools.
Washington Grown Food & Recipe Toolkit
Find recipes, educational and promotional materials, general info, and nutrition facts for serving Washington grown foods in schools and other meal programs.
Washington Grown Food & Recipe Kit
Join Our E-mail List
Hear about and share news and information on farm-to-school and school gardens, including seasonal newsletters, funding opportunities, job postings, and other updates. Subscribe by sending an email to f2sconnections-join@lists.wsu.edu. Reply to the subscription confirmation email to confirm your membership.
Need Help? Contact Us!
Please contact us with questions, comments, and farm to school successes of your own so we can continue to learn and share with each other. We'd love to hear from you!