The annual Louisiana Farm to School Conference will gather participants from across the state for an opportunity to learn, celebrate, share and inspire the movement of bringing healthy, local, sustainably grown foods to the minds and plates of students in Louisiana and beyond! Attendees will experience in-person sessions guided by farm to school champions from across the state. In addition, the gathering will feature a venue for networking in a relaxed, face-to-face environment, allowing participants to grow lasting connections.
View the "Schedule at a Glance"
View the Complete 2023 Conference Program.
The annual Louisiana Farm to School Conference gathered participants from across the state for an opportunity to learn, celebrate, share and inspire the movement of bringing healthy, local, sustainably grown foods to the minds and plates of students in Louisiana and beyond! Attendees can attend in-person sessions guided by farm to school champions from across the state. In addition, the gathering featured a venue for networking in a relaxed, face-to-face environment, allowing participants to grow lasting connections.
In case you missed the conference or a particular session, you can find all the speakers presentations below.
Keynote Address- Given by Christina Melton, Executive Director of the Knock Knock Children’s Museum
Check out the Conference Program
This year’s program is full of great information to guide you through the gathering and more! You can find the general schedule on pages four and five. The schedule includes a brief description of the sessions, the speakers, and where the session will be taking place. In addition, the program includes information on the 2022 Louisiana Farm to School Challenge and Great Louisiana Satsuma Peel. New this year is our Farm to School Art Contest. Share your students’ artwork and enthusiasm for farm to school by submitting their artwork to be featured in our 2023 Seeds to Success Calendar! Check out pages six, seven, and eight for details and deadlines.
Beverly Girard, a consultant with Chef Cyndie’s K12 Culinary Team, will kick off the conference with the keynote address on why she loves Farm to School. Beverly Girard is a coach and leader to many professionals in school nutrition, specializing in operational and financial management. She has over thirty years of experience providing leadership, mentoring, and training for staff and dietetics students in school nutrition operations and management, quantity food production, nutrition education, and customer service.
Strategies to Grow your Farm to School Program
This session will cover how to scale your farm to school program, no matter how large or small. Learn how one parish harmonized multiple schools to scale a farm to school program parish-wide. Hear more about questions to consider and helpful resources that unlock new value to your farm to school program.
Agritourism and the Benefits of Students Visiting the Farm:
Want to know the ins and outs of agritourism? Get a behind-the-scenes view of coordinating and hosting farm tours with K-12 schools. Discover how a trip to visit a farm and meet the farmer can be a memorable and educational day your students are sure to remember!
Connecting the Classroom to the Garden
Hear first-hand accounts of how teachers enhance their classroom by adding an outdoor laboratory, a garden! The session will include insight into school garden experiences, using tools from Seeds to Success, and how student excitement keeps the momentum going. Discover how Master Gardeners and teachers can join forces to bring student learning to new heights through school gardens guided by knowledgeable volunteers.
Taste Testing with Food Safety in Mind
Nutrition demonstrations and taste tests are a great way to teach children about food safety and trying new foods. This session will break down taste testing in step-by-step, time-saving strategies that can also help build an amazing classroom culture around fresh, local food.
Check out our interactive Conference Program: Using the “Virtually Everywhere” Conference Table of Contents, you can click on the day and/or a specific session. Each session is broken down into a link to watch the recording, description of the session, speakers and their contact information, and resources to further your conference experience! The resources for each session include websites, activities you can do from home, more information on farm to school, and how you can get involved in your community food system.
(08/09/24) Join Seeds to Success: The Louisiana Farm to School Program and the LSU AgCenter for the eighth annual Louisiana Farm to School Conference.
(08/30/23) Seeds to Success: The Louisiana Farm to School Program will hold its seventh annual conference on Oct. 11.