1. Making the Most of Farm to School Produce: Safe Purchasing, Storage, Handling & Preservation Practices Food Safety/Preservation Workshop Farm to Community Conference| 5.2.14

2. About The Food Trust “Ensuring everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food and the information to make healthy decisions”

3. Farm to School Program The Food Trust serves as the Mid-Atlantic Regional Lead Agency for the National Farm to School Network.

4. What is Farm to School?

5. Benefits of farm to school purchasing Fresh, nutritious food that students enjoy Longer shelf life Farmers WIN Kids WIN Communities WIN Why Farm to School?

6. Transparency Traceability Attribution Pillars of Good Suppliers

7. Purchasing Directly from Local Farmers GAP certification, while not mandatory, ensures minimal food safety risks VISIT the farm if possible ASK questions about food safety Are food grade packaging materials used and stored away from possible contaminants? Is water tested and are records on file?

8. Purchasing from Wholesalers Ask distributors about food safety plans Ask distributors about local food and request it Food service directors can write food safety requirements into bids

9. Storage Washing Prep Preservation/Season Extension Making the Most

10. Storage Back to front of a walk-in cooler: Highly perishable & needs cold temperatures: Greens, herbs, crucifers/brassicas Somewhat perishable & needs cold temperatures: Root vegetables, tree fruit Highly perishable & needs cool temperatures: Cucurbits, some nightshade crops (eggplant, peppers)

11. Storage Kept around 65 degrees: tomatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash Kept cool & dry: onions, garlic Produce should be stored in ventilated bags, containers Store things like greens with moist towel to retain moisture

12. Washing Scrub, wash before preparation Scrub, wash before storage if necessary (sometimes the case with local products)

13. Prep Knife skills TRIM waste NFSMI

14. Preservation/Season Extension Opportunity to capture summer’s bounty Educational opportunities for students Preservation can be very low-maintenance or more involved, depending on equipment & capacity USDA equipment grants

15. Preservation/Season Extension School District of Philadelphia USDA Farm to School grant for food preservation Collards Blueberries Possibly investing in flash freezers

16. Preservation/West Virginia Tucker County, West Virginia Specialty Crop Block Grant Freezing green beans and other fresh produce Value-Added Products

17. Resources Project PA: www.projectpa.orgwww.projectpa.org Penn State Extension: www.extension.psu.eduwww.extension.psu.edu National Farm to School Network: www.farmtoschool.orgwww.farmtoschool.org National Food Service Management Institute (NFSMI): www.nfsmi.org www.nfsmi.org Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE): www.sare.org www.sare.org USDA FNS Local experts Other schools

18. Thank You! Kelsey Porter kporter@thefoodtrust.org