1. Building Rural Health and Supporting
Small Scale Agriculture:
A Comparative Case study of
Farm‐to‐School Activity in
Maine and Nova Scotia
Chloe Kennedy
Rural Research Workshop
May 5th 2011
School Gardens Farm Visits
Direct Sale of Local
Food to Schools
3. NS Provincial Policy Response:
Food and Nutrition Policy for Nova Scotia Public Schools
http://www.ednet.ns.ca/healthy_eating/pdf/school_food_consultation_draft.pdf
5. Research Questions
• What are the barriers and opportunities which face Tatamagouche
elementary school in its efforts to procure greater amounts of
locally produced food?
• What resources (financial/infrastructural/human) are required for
the success of the Hancock County Farm-to-School program? What is
the role of the key stakeholders in facilitating the program?
• Does the Hancock County Farm-to-School program provide
insight for how to overcome the challenges faced in
Tatamagouche? If so, how?
The negative comparative method attempts to find
independent variables associated with divergent
outcomes (Kolberg, 2005).
6. Primary Barriers
• Budget Constraints
• Structural Constraints
• Lack of Knowledge and Communication
• School Food Policy Context
Community Assets
• Openness to Buying Local
• Interest in Third Party Involvement
• Connection Between Schools and Communities
• Proximity of Farms and Schools
7. “I have a farming background
anyway, so I’m biased...I think by
“...how does the farming having that connection [between
community in Tatamagouche farms and schools], it’s going to
link with the catering society give a greater sense of
and create that link and provide community... It’s always great to
[the school] with what [it] needs support your local folks as
all within the required food safety opposed to sending your money
standards. We need to make elsewhere. So I think that if people
that work”. saw that going into the schools, it
would definitely be a positive
thing”.
How the Program Works
FACILITATION HUMAN RESOURCES
• Contracts established between head • Student involvement in food preparation
food service staff and the local
farm/continued dialogue between farms • Community/parent volunteers
and schools
• Staff volunteer time
• Weekly deliveries from the farmers
FUNDS
Mount Desert Elementary School
• Creative purchasing practices
• Community food and time donations
• Grants through government and private
foundations
8. Policy Recommendations
• Third Party Involvement to:
- fund a public meeting to bring together stakeholders
- farm-to-school coordinator position to facilitate connections between
interested schools and farms
- better knowledge of what local food is available locally
• Government facilitation to help create regional resource guides for interested
parties
9. Policy Recommendations
• Third Party Involvement to:
- fund a public meeting to bring together stakeholders
- facilitate connections between interested schools and farms
- better knowledge of what local food is available locally
• Government and private facilitation to help create regional resource guides for
interested parties
• Increased student involvement in schools meals
- student cooking club
- taste testing
- farms visits