The Farm to Institution Center
The Center’s Mission
To promote healthy local communities and build a vibrant agricultural scene through facilitation, collaboration, and education.
Vision
A San Diego where local food access serves as a pathway of better health, economic development, and community connectedness.
Goals
What do we do?
Reimaging School Food
- Networking around farm to school activities through the Farm to School Taskforce
- District-wide strategic planning for growth in school gardens, nutrition education, and healthy school meals
- Healthy school meal promotion through a county-wide marketing campaign
- Nationally-recognized farm to school research reports
Supporting Farm Sustainability
- Farmer business training in collaboration with experts to promote sustainability
- Local food tradeshow events for regional networking between farmers and buyers
- Brokering sales connections between local farmers and buyers
- Research on the impact of local farm to institution connections
Promoting Healthy Communities
- Collaboration and resource sharing among hospital food service staff
- Hospital chef culinary workshops and competitions
- Training on plant-based recipes and reduced food waste for hospital nutrition service teams
- Food is Medicine webinars and roundtable discussions
A resource developed by Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) and Community Health Improvement Partner’s (CHIP) Farm to Institution Center. Read it here.
The Farm to School Student Curriculum was created to educate students on Farm to School and to assist educators with collecting information on students’ school meal preferences and perceptions. Read it here.
Contact Us
Sandra Avila
Manager
The Farm to Institution Center
858-609-7966
Email Sandra
Our Funders Include:
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
