Farm to School Efforts: Innovations and Insights

In this article we review the benefits and challenges of Farm to School efforts, and describe some of the innovative ways that Food Service Directors (FSDs) on California’s Central Coast are working to over- come several of those challenges by forming effective partnerships with food banks, produce distributors, and other school districts. We also describe how efforts to formalize a regional school food alliance as well as share innovations via California- wide FTS trainings have further contributed to advancing FTS pro- grams. We close with suggestions for “next steps” to consider in develop- ing effective FTS efforts