Source Local Food

Farm to school programs connect schools with local producers to provide students with fresh, healthy food in school and summer meals. These programs promote healthy eating habits, support local agriculture and offer educational opportunities for students to learn about food systems, agriculture and nutrition through activities like school gardens and farm visits.

View the Colorado Local Food Program Guidebook developed by Nourish Colorado for tools and resources to launch, implement and sustain farm to school programs. This resource guides child nutrition program sponsors through purchasing, preparing and promoting local products and includes resources to involve communities in farm to school and set up school gardening programs.

Local Food Program Guidebook- Nourish CO

Farm to School Training Videos

Purchase Local Food

Local Food Program

The Local Food Program pilot is extended for SY 2024-25. The LFP offers funding to eligible sponsors for the purchase of Colorado grown, raised or processed products. Eligible sponsors include those operating the Healthy School Meals for All program as well as individual charter schools, residential childcare institutes and facility schools. This is a competitive award, and sponsors must apply for funding. Approximately $500,000 is available for the 2024-25 school year. The amount of funding a sponsor receives depends upon the number of school lunches served during SY 2023-24 multiplied by a minimum of $0.05 or a minimum of $1,000, whichever is greater. Sponsors are ineligible to participate in the program if more than 2,150,000 lunches were served in the 2023-24 school year.

School Year 24-25 applications are now closed.

Resources:

Local Food Program Grantees

A total of $500,000 was awarded to the following 32 sponsors for SY 2024-25:

Academy of Charter Schools	Boulder Valley RE-2	Calhan RJ-1	Campo RE-6	Charter School Institute - The STEAD School	Colorado Early Colleges - Fort Collins	Community Leadership Academy	Creede School District
Durango 9-R	Eagle County RE-50	Englewood 1	Frenchman RE-3	Greeley 6	Gunnison Watershed RE1J	Lamar RE-2	Mancos RE-6
Mapleton 1	Moffat County RE-1	Montrose County RE-1J	North Conejos RE-1J	Pueblo City 60	Roaring Fork RE-1	Salida R-32	South Routt RE-3
Swink 33	The Pinnacle Charter School	Thompson R2-J	Trinidad 1	Vilas RE-5	Weld RE-4	West End RE-2	Windsor Charter Academy

Find Local Products

Sponsor Procurement Resources:

USDA procurement handbook
CDE local procurement bid template (coming soon!)
USDA Farm to School Food Safety Tips
School Nutrition HACCP Plans

Producer Resources

Producers can complete this survey to be added to the list that child nutrition sponsors use to find local products
The National Farm to School Network’s Bringing the Farm to School training program offers resources to producers getting their start in Farm to School.

Connect with Partners

Connecting with partners helps strengthen community ties, support local economies and ensure the program's sustainability. Building strong relationships benefits students, schools and the community as a whole.

Resources

Nutrition Education

Farm to School nutrition education teaches students about healthy eating habits, the origins of their food and the benefits of eating fresh locally-grown foods. Use the resources below to get started.