Farm to School

Background

In 1997, California was one of the first states to promote Farm to School. The CDE, in partnership with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) created the California Office of Farm to Fork (CDFA-F2F) . In 2017, the CDFA-F2F began to facilitate the California Farm to School Network (CFSN) as part of its statewide initiative to connect school districts and community members directly with California's farmers and ranchers, and to provide information and other resources. The CFSN aligns farm to school efforts, shares resources, and brings food producers, school nutrition services departments, educators, distributors, and advocates together to collaborate and engage in peer-to-peer learning.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) supports the use of fresh, local foods in meals and snacks served through its programs and encourages F2S. On December 13, 2010, former President Barack Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (PDF) reauthorizing the CNPs. Section 243 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act amended section 18 to create a F2S Program, which was renamed in 2023 the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program, which:

• Distributes grant funding to improve access to local foods in schools
  
  
• Provides training and technical assistance to improve access to local foods in schools
  
  
• Disseminates research and data on existing programs and opportunities for expansion

For information regarding USDA F2S Grants and other F2S funding sources, access the F2S Funding tab.

In 2016, the California-grown Fresh School Meals Grant was established by an appropriation from the General Fund to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction in the amount of $2.5 million for Fiscal Year 2017–18.

The purpose of the California-grown Fresh School Meals Grants was to encourage schools participating in the NSLP or SBP to purchase California-grown food, and to expand the number of freshly prepared school meals that use California-grown ingredients. Awardees were able to use grant funds to purchase California-grown foods, purchase equipment necessary to provide school meals to students, provide nutrition education to students, and provide professional development for relevant food service employees regarding the implementation of fresh and healthy school meals.

Funding Opportunities

The following funding opportunities may be available for your CNP to help expand the F2S program.

Link	Description
USDA Farm to School Grant Program	The USDA Community Food System’s F2S Grant web page describes the types of grants that are available each year and provides application instructions.
California F2S Incubator Grant Program	The California Budget Act of 2021 included a $60 million one-time General Fund allocation for the California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program, with $30 million allocated for fiscal year (FY) 2021–22 and $30 million to be allocated for FY 2022–23.
Get a Salad Bar	The Salad Bars to Schools web page provides an application for a free salad bar. The web page includes guidance for salad bars and frequently asked questions.
Pilot Project for the Procurement of Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables	California is one of eight states approved by the USDA to participate in the Pilot Project for the Procurement of Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables. The pilot allows an approved USDA Foods recipient agency to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from USDA approved vendors using entitlement dollars. The goal of the pilot is to provide additional opportunities for schools to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers while using pre-existing commercial distribution channels and school relationships with growers, produce wholesalers, and distributors. In 2017–18, 52 California SFAs participated in this pilot. At this time, approved state agencies allocate a set amount of entitlement to be used for this pilot. Due to a capped entitlement threshold established by the USDA, the CDE has not been able to increase funding or approve new participants. The duration of this pilot is unknown at this time.

• For more ongoing information on funding opportunities for program operators of the CNPs, visit the Nutrition What’s New web page and select the Funding Tab.

Local Control and Accountability Plan

The Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) is a school district’s three-year plan that describes the goals, actions, services, and expenditures to support positive student outcomes that address state and local priorities. School Districts can include F2S in their LCAP to gain support and funding.

Best Practices

General Best Practices
Local School Wellness Policy
F2S Celebrations
Sourcing Local Foods
Utilizing Local Foods
Nutrition and Agricultural - Based Education
Garden and Farm Activities
Marketing

General Best Practices

Getting Started

• Start small; starting small will encourage early buy-in among staff, producers, and partners, and help propel your program forward
  
  
• Work with what you have and grow your program from there
  
  
• Try implementing F2S in phases: observation phase, evaluation phase, testing and implementation phase
  
  
• Train staff on key topics like: food safety, grants, procurement, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and Good Handling Practices (GHPs), visit our F2S Training Tab to get started

Key Supports

• Connect, collaborate, and learn from other Food Services Directors (FSD) and staff
  
  
• Involve students, teachers, staff, and parents in creating or expanding your garden and F2S plan
  
  
• Find a F2S advocate or cheerleader in each school
  
  
• Apply for grant opportunities, visit the F2S Funding Tab
  
  
• Bring the farmers to the school kitchen where scratch cooking is done well, and bring the food service staff to the farms to see where the food comes from
  
  
• Subscribe to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) The Dirt: Farm to School e-Letter
  
  
• Subscribe to the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Office of Farm to Fork Newsletter
  

Story Telling

• Develop a communications plan
  
  
• Celebrate your successes; small, large, and everything in-between!
  
  
• Take plenty of photos and videos (Don’t forget student photo releases)
  
  
• Make note of memorable quotes from students, staff, and parents or guardians to share

Local School Wellness Policy

• Incorporate F2S in your Local School Wellness Policy
  
  
• Tie F2S in with your schools’ mission and vision
  
  
• Define what “local” means in your school district

F2S Celebrations

• Honor, celebrate, and expand on your F2S program’s accomplishments by participating in:
  
  
  • National F2S Month (The month of October each year)
    
    
  • California Farm to Summer Celebration Week, for visit the Farm to Summer Celebration Week web page to learn more.
    
    
  • California’s “Crunch It Munch It Week”, visit the Community Alliance with Family Farmers Crunch It Munch it Week web page for more information.
    
    
  • California’s Meet Your Farmer Day (October 12 each year)
    
    
• When participating in celebrations, contact your local farms, farmers, food hubs, and distributors ahead of time to determine their availability and facilitate their participation

Sourcing Local Foods

• Check invoices to see what you are already purchasing locally
  
  
• Talk to and utilize your existing distributors and vendors
  
  
• Start small; identify one or two local products that will fit into your menus
  
  
• Check with your local USDA DoD Fresh Program vendor or the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Order/ Receipt System (FFAVORS) web page ; to learn more about local and organic products available to your school(s)
  
  
• Learn more about Procurement regulations; for more information visit the Procurement in School Nutrition Programs web page
  
  
• Develop new partnerships
  
  
• Utilize the micro purchase option to test out new purchasing relationships; for more information regarding micro thresholds, visit the USDA’s Updates to the Federal Micro-Purchase Threshold policy memo.
  
  
• Ask your farmer partners if they can tailor their crops or products to your school needs
  
  
• Connect with Food Hubs
  
  
• Visit your local farmers market to connect with the farmers

Utilizing Local Foods

• Get kitchen staff onboard
  
  • Lead your kitchen staff by example
  • Stay consistent
  • Elect a team leader who will stay positive
  • Make it as easy as possible for them
  • Introduce your staff to the farmer and the farms
    
    
• Strengthen staff skills: (i.e.: scratch cooking and knife skills)
  
  
• Continuously develop and test new recipes or improve current recipes
  
  
• Pick one seasonal item to highlight each month. Feature special menu items, taste tests, or educational activities to showcase local products
  
  
• Look for ways to trade out items in recipes to highlight local foods when they are available in your area.
  
  
• Harvest foods from school gardens and feature them in the meals you serve or coordinate garden crops with what you are serving to help introduce children to new foods and understand where their food comes from.
  
  
• Feature local foods on salad bars in order to highlight local produce
  
  
• Visit the CDE California Culinary Centers Standardized Recipes to utilize garden produce, and other local and seasonal foods
  
  
• Utilize less than or imperfect produce from your garden, farm, or from a vendor in smoothies, soups, and sauces
  
  
• Offer taste testings in the classroom, garden, or cafeteria

Nutrition and Agricultural - Based Education

• Front load your breakfast and lunch local and seasonal offerings with Harvest of the Month lessons in the classrooms
  
  
• Encourage teachers to incorporate nutrition education into core subjects
  
  
• Get teachers into the garden for their input, help, and lessons
  
  
• Visit the CDE Resources Library for agricultural-based and nutrition education curriculum

Garden and Farm Activities

• Leverage help and assistance from parent volunteers, garden staff, F2S Coordinators, nutritionists, interns, and students
  
  
• Utilize all school spaces: Classrooms, multipurpose rooms, cafeteria, garden, grassy areas, or farm areas.

Marketing

• Post your commitment to F2S on your preferred social media platform
  
  
• Highlight menu items that are from your garden or purchased locally
  
  
• Share your successes and promote your efforts on social media
  
  
• Invite the CDE staff to your events, by emailing us at F2School@cde.ca.gov
  
  
• Share your F2S program photos, videos, and quotes with parents/guardians by:
  
  
  • Email or E-Newsletter
  • District or school website
  • Robo calls
  • Word of mouth
  • Text

Trainings

Below are training opportunities in the form of conferences, in-person workshops, and online trainings for program operators with a F2S program:

Conferences
In-person Workshops
Online Trainings and Videos
Additional Training Databases

Conferences

Link	Description
CDFA Office of Farm to Fork - CA Farm to School Program	The CA Farm to School Network hosts a biennial conference to bring together farm to school practitioners from across the school food and education spaces for professional development, networking, and the sharing of best practices.
California Ag in the Classroom Conference	California Ag in the Classroom hosts an annual conference to collaborate with educators who share a passion for agriculture. The conference is designed for K-12 educators, administrators, and volunteers to come together to learn and share how to incorporate food and fiber into all curricular areas.

In-Person Workshops

Link	Description
Produce Safety University (PSU)	USDA offers the PSU curriculum, which covers all aspects of the fresh produce supply chain including growing, harvesting, storage, and preparation. Through PSU, participants learn about the following topics: Understanding Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and Good Handling Practices (GHPs). Writing specifications for fresh and fresh-cut produce. Assessing produce upon receiving to ensure that it meets bid specifications. Storing fresh produce properly. Handling fresh produce during food preparation and service. PSU includes a combination of classroom training, laboratory instruction, and field trips. Previous classes have visited fresh-cut processing facilities, produce distributors, a terminal market, and farms.
Life Lab Workshops	Life Lab offers workshops and publications for educators that help them engage young people in gardens and on farms. At the Life Lab Garden Classroom educational center in Santa Cruz and the Blooming Classroom garden in Watsonville, experiential learning is offered for people of all ages through field trips, children's camps, and teacher workshops.
Soil Born Farms	Soil Born Farms offers a variety of in-person garden-based learning opportunities in Sacramento throughout the year in the Sacramento area.
Pie Ranch	An integral piece of Pie Ranch’s vision is to grow the next generation of food system leaders in their home communities. They seek to help students make cross-curricular connections that attempt to advance a comprehensive understanding of how the food we eat has economic, social, environmental and political implications—on the micro and macro level. Check their web site for food education and field trip opportunities for public schools.

Online Trainings and Videos

Link	Description
Straw Bale Gardening in Child Nutrition Programs	This 36-minute online training reviews the advantages of a straw bale garden over traditional gardening techniques, provides step-by-step instructions for creating a straw bale garden, and discusses what to do with the straw bales after two growing seasons.
USDA National Farm to School Month Promotional Video (VIDEO 1:15)	This one-minute video talks about how school meals offer a big opportunity to invest in local communities.

Additional Training Databases

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Community Food Systems Videos & Webinars has over 15 F2S webinars total. There is a four-part webinar series focused on integrating farm to school strategies in native communities. There are an additional 10 webinars focused on assisting schools with creating a F2S program. The webinars focus on planning and building a F2S team, setting goals, finding and buying local foods, school menu planning, food safety, and much more.
  
  
• The Institute of Child Nutrition iLearn web page has recorded webinars on tips and strategies on a variety of F2S topics.

For announcements for conferences, in-person and online training opportunities for program operators, visit the Nutrition What’s New web page and select the Training Tab.

Resources

Promoting F2S
Procurement and Local Foods
Toolkits and Guides
Additional Resource Databases

Promoting F2S

Resource	Description
National F2S Benefits of F2S (PDF)	F2S programs provide a variety of benefits to students, parents, schools, communities and farmers. This fact sheet  offers a research-based overview of the benefits of F2S and a list of sources.
USDA National Farm to School Month Promotional Video (VIDEO 1:15)	This one-minute video talks about how school meals offer a big opportunity to invest in local communities. This video is intended for school administration, staff, teachers or Local School Wellness Policy participants.

Procurement and Local Foods

Resource	Description
USDA Procuring Local Foods for CNPs (PDF)	An increasing number of program operators are sourcing local foods and providing complementary educational activities that emphasize food, agriculture, and nutrition. While interest for buying local foods has grown, uncertainty about the rules for purchasing locally grown products. persists. This resource covers many key topics to assist with this process, such as: Menu Planning, Procurement Principals and Regulations, Procurement Methods, Opportunities to Target Local Producer, Sections of a Solicitation, Geographic Preference, Buying Products from the School Garden, Supporting Local Foods in Tribal Schools, Beyond Lunch: Buying Local Foods for Summer, Using USDA Foods and DoD Fresh, Comparing Procurement Methods, and more.
CDFA Certified Farmers' Markets by County (PDF)	Do you need assistance finding local foods for your meal programs? The CDFA provides a Certified Farmers Market Locator by County and Certified Producers by County list in California to assist with locating these markets and producers.
USDA Integrating Local Foods into Child Nutrition Programs Fact Sheet	Defining local foods can vary from community to community and program to program. This fact sheet walks through the steps of starting a farm to school program; from developing a plan to tips for building sustainability into your program from the start.
USDA Local Meat in Schools Fact Sheet	From chicken legs in California, fresh seafood in Massachusetts, sloppy joes in Indiana, and wild salmon in Alaska, local meats, poultry, and seafood are becoming staples on school meal trays across the country. This fact sheet gives examples, tips, and information for putting local meat on school menus.
USDA Foods: A Resource for Maximizing Food Budgets To Buy Local Fact Sheet	USDA Foods has a dual mission of supporting domestic agriculture and providing nutritious foods to schools. Offerings include a wide variety of high-quality fruits, vegetables, dairy products, whole grains, lean meats, and other protein options. Learn how USDA Foods support the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the school meal pattern requirements to make it easier for schools to prepare healthy meals and snacks.
USDA Local Procurement Decision Tree Fact Sheet	This fact sheet features the various paths a school can take to bring local foods into the cafeteria with your next food purchase. While federal rules prohibit schools from using "local" as a required product specification in their formal solicitations, there are many other ways to focus purchases on local food products. This chart presents several options for including your desire for local foods in the procurement process.
USDA Selling Local Food to Schools: A Resource for Producers Fact Sheet	An increasing number of schools are sourcing locally grown foods for their school meals and snacks and providing complementary educational activities that emphasize food, farming, and nutrition. As a farmer, rancher, fisherman, or other food producer, large or small, this means that there are market opportunities in your own backyard and a chance for your farm’s bounty to nourish children in your community.

Toolkits and Guides

Resource	Description
USDA Planning Toolkit (PDF)	This planning toolkit guides you through questions to consider and helpful resources to reference when starting or growing a F2S program. It is designed for use by schools, school districts, and community partners.
USDA Farm to Child Nutrition Program (CNP) Planning Guide	This planning guide directs you through questions to consider when starting or growing a F2S, farm to child care, or farm to summer program. This planning guide should be used as a supplemental tool to the F2S Planning Toolkit. It follows the same steps as the F2S Planning Toolkit, but in a more concise and action-oriented manner.
Center for Ecoliteracy Preparing California Grown School Meals: A Professional Development Guide	The guide offers step-by-step visual instructions that engage food service staff and inspire the skills and confidence to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into school meal programs. It includes recipes that focus on fundamental knife skills and two culinary techniques: roasting and braising. Recipes are scaled for tasting portions so that food service staff have an opportunity to taste the results of their efforts, understand and practice essential skills, and experience how the same techniques can be used with a variety of foods.
Center for Ecoliteracy Understanding Food and Climate Change: An Interactive Guide	This guide uses video, photography, text, and interactive experiences to help educators, students, and advocates learn how food and climate systems interact and how personal choices can make a difference. Ideal for grades six through twelve and general audiences. With connections to Next Generation Science Standards and the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies themes, the guide offers activities for student research and resources for further investigation.
Center for Ecoliteracy Photographing School Food: A Practical Guide to Making School Meals Look Great	This free guide provides practical guidelines for making your food look delicious and inviting, including: Selecting the right lighting and angle Choosing the best background Highlighting fresh, local ingredients Avoiding common mistakes and more
The Western Growers Association’s Collective School Garden Network Steps to a School Garden web page	This resource provides detailed steps for creating a school garden. The steps are: (1) Why school gardens? (2) Plan and fund your garden (3) Plant an edible garden (4) Teach in the garden.
F2S Toolkit – East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District	This toolkit provides assistance in locating farmer, food service, and local garden agency contacts, resources to implement Harvest of The Month, general garden resources and more. It also provides information on the Junior Chef Program which brings local produce directly to children in afterschool programs through cooking classes. This resource is specific to Stanislaus county.

Additional Resource Databases

For agriculture-based nutrition education resources, visit the CDE Resource Library web page. Examples of resources are: Food Safety from Farm to Fork, as Harvest of the Month, Life Lab, Healthalicious Cooking, Nourish: Food and Community, Growing Healthy Kids and so much more!

Food Safety

In-Person Training
Online Trainings
Additional Training Courses Databases
Resources
Additional Resource Databases
Food Safety on Farms

In-Person Training

• The USDA Produce Safety University web page advertises their week-long training course designed to help school food service staff identify and manage food safety risks associated with fresh produce. PSU addresses produce purchased from traditional suppliers, direct from farmers, and through the Department of Defense (DoD) Fresh program.

Online Trainings

Course Provider	Course Name
The USDA	Produce Safety Videos
Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN)	Produce Safety Videos
ICN	Food Safety in Schools (formerly Serving It Safe)
The USDA	Food Safety Flashes
The USDA	Produce Safety University: Take Home Training Modules

Additional Training Course Databases

• The ICN Food Safety web page has a wide-range of online courses on food safety and food allergy topics including cooling food, employee health and personal hygiene, food safety basics, food safety in schools, and many more.

Resources

Resource	Description
USDA Implementing F2S Activities: Food Safety Training Materials	Food Safety is an element that must be addressed when implementing F2S efforts. School districts need to consider the farm where the food is produced and ensure that the appropriate practices are in place to help prevent potential foodborne illness. School food service professionals and farmers should familiarize themselves with Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Handling Practices (GHP). In addition, it is advisable for school districts and farmers to contact their state and/or County Health Department for information on local food safety requirements.
Kansas State University Food Safety Posters	Cafeteria posters on topics such as hand washing, food contamination, food borne illness, and more. Available in English and Spanish and in a variety of sizes.
USDA Produce Safety Fact Sheets	Fact sheets to help expand your knowledge about specific topics related to produce safety. Topics include storing fresh produce, conducting a mock recall of produce in SNP operation, preserving locally harvested produce in schools, handling fresh produce in classrooms, and more.
ICN Produce Safety Fact Sheets	Information sheets that contain purchasing specifications, United States grades, domestic harvest months, desirable characteristics, and product and defects for many commonly eaten fruits and vegetables.
USDA Food Safe Schools Action Guide (PDF)	A guide for school nutrition staff working to create an environment of best practices in food safety.
University of California, Davis Food Safety for CNPs Curriculum	This curriculum provides an instructor guide for teaching food safety, participant manual, PowerPoint slides, and Food Safety Jeopardy.

Additional Resource Databases

• USDA Food Safety web page provides food safety education, instruction, and technical assistance resources to support program operators. We rely on science-based food safety research and work closely with external food safety partners to make sure that our resources are useful and reflect current knowledge.
  
  
• CDE Food Safety web page provides information and links about food safety during food preparations and transfer, and California Uniform Retail Food Facility Law requirements.
  
  
• ICN Food Safety web page provides fact sheets, mini-posters, instructors manual, guide, assessments, and more.

Food Safety on Farms

Is purchasing produce directly from a farm safe? It all depends on the food safety practices in place at the farm. Smaller farms can become certified to follow Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) by an independent auditor to provide reassurance that the produce is grown with food safety in mind. Farms that are exempt from new laws, and do not have GAP certification should be able to provide you with their food safety plan.

Food Safety Modernization Act

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law in 2011 which gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate the way foods are grown, harvested, packed and processed. The Produce Safety rule , published in 2016, was a requirement of the FSMA and established, for the first time, science-based minimum standards for the safe growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of fruits and vegetables grown for human consumption.

The Produce Safety rule does not cover:

• Produce grown for personal or on-farm consumption
  
  
• Produce that is not a raw agricultural commodity. A raw agricultural commodity means any food in its raw or natural state, including all fruits that are washed, colored, or otherwise treated in their unpeeled natural form prior to marketing.
  
  
• Produce that receives commercial processing that adequately reduces the presence of microorganisms of public health significance (eligible for exemption)
  
  
• Small farms with gross sales less than $25,000 annually

Farms under $500,000 in annual gross sales that sell the majority of food directly to customers are partially exempt.

Good Agricultural Practices

Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), which includes Good Handling Practices (GHP), was formally implemented by the USDA and FDA in 2002. GAP is a voluntary audit program designed to verify that produce is grown, packed, handled, and stored as safely as possible. There are different GAP audit protocols such as harmonized GAP, Global GAP, and Group GAP that may have slightly different requirements. GAP auditors come from private companies, state departments of agriculture, and USDA. For more information about the USDA GAP and GHP, visit the USDA GAP-GHA web page .

Many school districts in California require GAP certification from their growers to reduce the risk of food-borne disease. However, for some farmers, GAP certification can be a barrier due to cost. The least expensive audit is approximately $800 and is labor intensive.

Food Safety Plan

Small farms that are not GAP certified should provide you with a food safety plan. If the grower does not have a food safety plan, they should develop one. The Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) Food Safety Plan Templates web page has a sample Food Safety Template that is easy to complete.

Food Safety Toolkit

The California Department of Food and Agriculture has a Farm to School Food Safety Toolkit (PDF) that includes food safety guidelines for farmers, distributors, and schools. Schools can find excellent guidance for food safety when produce is grown in a school garden. It also covers food safety guidelines to make sure produce is safe when grown in a school garden and served in after school programs, taste testing, and food service operations.

If you have questions regarding farms and food safety, contact CAFF by phone at 530-756-8518 or by email at info@caff.org.

Policy Guidance

USDA Policy Memoranda

The USDA has issued the following policy memoranda related to F2S activities for the CNPs.

Release Date	Subject	Reference number
11/12/2014	F2S and School Garden Expenses	SP 06-2015
7/29/2009	School Garden Q&As	SP 32-2009
11/12/2015	Local Foods and Related Activities in Summer Meal Programs	SP07, SFSP07-2016
10/22/2015	Procuring Local Meat, Poultry, Game, and Eggs for Child Nutrition Programs (PDF)	SP01, SFSP01-2016
7/15/2015	Child Nutrition Programs and Traditional Foods	TA01-2015
3/13/2015	Use of State Administrative Expense (SAE) Funds and State Administrative Funds (SAF) for Farm to School Related Expenses	SP28-2015
2/1/2011	Procurement Geographic Preference Q&As Part I	SP18-2011
10/9/2012	Procurement Geographic Preference Q&As Part II	SP03, SFSP02-2013
4/22/2011	Final Rule: Geographic Preference Option	Not Applicable
12/15/2021	Updates to the Federal Micro-Purchase Threshold in 2 CFR 200.320(a)(1)	SP 02-2022, SFSP 01-2022

Compliance

Procuring Local Foods

Procuring and serving local foods to children is an integral part of a F2S program. It is important to remember, however, that no matter where you purchase your food, whether from a local farmer, food hub, vendor, at a farmers market, or through a distributor, all procurement procedures must comply with federal, state, and local procurement standards.

This means:

• Micropurchases must be distributed equally among qualified suppliers or farmers. Micropurchases are typically under $10,000. Program operators may self-certify a threshold up to $50,000 on an annual basis and must maintain documentation of such self-certification. For more information visit the USDA’s Updates to the Federal Micro-Purchase Threshold policy memo.
  
  
• Small purchases require competitive quotes, which can be obtained informally. Small purchases are between $10,000–$250,000).
  
  
• Purchases over $250,000 (the small purchase threshold) require the formal purchase process using an invitation for bids or request for proposals.

A variety of resources are available to help you follow the correct procedures, including the following web pages: 

• Procurement in CNPs
  This California Department of Education web page includes links to federal procurement regulations, California state laws, and answers to frequently asked questions. The USDA policy memos related to local procurement can be accessed in the Policy tab of this F2S web page.
  
  
• Procuring Local Foods
  This USDA Community Food Systems web page includes the comprehensive guide, Procuring Local Foods in CNPs, a series of 12 local procurement videos, seven Fact Sheets, and USDA procurement policy memos.
  
  
• CNP Course Catalog
  The NSD provides a catalog of online training courses for program operators participating in the SNP, ASP, FDP, and SFSP. The online courses are grouped by program and organized by the key areas of nutrition, operations, administration, and communication and marketing. Procurement courses are listed under the key area, operations.

Contacts

California Department of Education F2S Contact

Farm to School

For questions about F2S, contact the F2S Team by email at Farm2School@cde.ca.gov.

Procurement

For questions related to procurement and procurement resources, email NSDProcurementReview@cde.ca.gov.

California F2S Network

For assistance locating farms to procure local foods, contact the Farm to School Network Team at the California Department of Food and Agriculture by email at cafarmtoschool@cdfa.ca.gov.

Tab 10 (Web Team - The level 2 headings should match the corresponding tab label.)

This section to be edited by the Web Contributor.