By Blake Jackson
The 2024 New York Farm to School Summit, held in Syracuse, brought together over 500 stakeholders, including educators, farmers, food service professionals, and government officials.
Co-hosted by the New York State Department of Education and Cornell Cooperative Extension's Harvest New York team, the summit aimed to strengthen local food systems and enhance connections between schools and farms.
"The New York Farm to School Summit marked a critical step in advancing farm to school initiatives across New York, strengthening the ties between our state’s dynamic food and farm sector and the K-12 educational ecosystem,” said Cheryl Bilinski, Harvest New York’s Farm to School program lead.
“Our objectives were to provide high-quality educational workshops, foster meaningful business-to-business partnerships, and deepen the connection between the classroom and the cafeteria.”
The three-day event featured workshops, field trips to farms and food processing facilities, and a local food trade show. Dr. Jennifer Gaddis, author of "The Labor of Lunch," delivered a keynote address, highlighting the historical significance of school food programs.
"“The wide array of communities coming together - from municipal, state and federal agencies, schools near and far, local farmers and food distributors, was a true illustration of the power of fierce collaboration to make the food system - and our children's future - a bit better through local, healthy, nutritional foods," said Julie Suarez, associate dean for land-grant affairs at Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The success of the 2024 summit has paved the way for the 2026 event, demonstrating the growing importance of farm-to-school initiatives in New York.
Photo Credit: farm-to-school
Categories: New York, Education