F2S Frederick has expanded their scope serving families and students in Frederick County.
FREDERICK, MD. (PRWEB) FEBRUARY 07, 2023
After 4 successful years of increasing the availability of locally grown, highly nutritious fruits and vegetables served as part of the FCPS Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, Farm to School (F2S) Frederick has expanded their scope serving families and students in Frederick County through recent collaborations with FCPS Judy Centers, the FCPS SUCCESS Program and the FCPS Culinary Arts Program.
When Farm to School Frederick serves as the intermediary between Frederick growers and community organizations, businesses, and schools, it helps create new markets for Frederick farmers to sustain Frederick’s position in Maryland as an agriculture leader. In the 2021 – 2022 school year, F2S Frederick assisted FCPS Food and Nutrition Services department to scale up local purchasing of fruits and vegetables to $81,109.00. This past summer, F2S Frederick organized and facilitated the distribution of over 2,000 pounds of fresh local produce to the Frederick Rescue Mission, the City of Frederick Food Bank, and FCPS Market Days. Literally, one ton of produce was delivered to students and families facing food insecurity that would have otherwise gone to waste.
F2S programs have far reaching influence on several critical issues surrounding food production and distribution.
Critical Issues:
- Food Insecurity
- Food Waste
- Environmental degradation
- Public health/Nutrition
- Lack of markets for local farmers
- Competition with national food distributors
F2S Impact:
- Fostering partnerships with FCPS, local non-profit organizations and other institutions to distribute food and educate consumers
- Creating pathways to collect and donate produce that would otherwise go to waste
- Decreasing CO2 emissions through reduced transportation and storage energy costs
- Providing fresh, nutritious unprocessed foods and educating students and parents about their preparation
- Connecting farmers with local institutional food purchasers, educating consumers
- Helping County plan infrastructure such as cold storage, processing, and packaging facilities to enable aggregation of multiple farms to supply large quantities of produce to local institutions
Farm to School Frederick is on a mission to make locally grown, highly nutritious fruits and vegetables available to all Frederick residents. This good work is accomplished through a network of community members, organizations, farmers, businesses, and institutions with a common goal of improving the health and well-being of all people and the planet. To find out more information or support F2S through sponsorships, donations, and/or volunteering, please visit http://www.f2sfrederick.org.