April 12, 2011
BECOME A THINK&EATGREEN SCHOOL REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS The Think&EatGreen@School Project is a Community-‐University Research Alliance promoting change in what public school students eat, learn and do at school in relation to food, health and the environment. The project aims to engage students with the sources of their food through growing, preparing, sharing and managing food waste at school. Think&EatGreen@School aims to foster food citizenship by providing the entire community of learners—from students to professors, teachers to chefs, farmers, gardeners, restaurateurs, and nutrition and health professionals— with opportunities to participate in the development of healthy and sustainable school food systems. Your school can participate by becoming a “Think&EatGreen School” and receive a grant of up to $2,000 and other support to implement food initiatives at your school. The Public Health Association of BC (PHABC), a key community partner in the Think&EatGreen@School Project, has also secured funds from Vancity enviroFund to support Farm to School programs. The goal of PHABC’s Farm to School initiative is to increase access to fresh, nutritious, locally-‐grown foods on school premises and to build the local food economy. First, a relationship is developed between a school and local farmers. The farmers then grow and harvest food to sell to the school where it is prepared and dished up to students. Additional opportunities for farmers to share their knowledge of food and agriculture with students, staff and volunteers are created. PHABC seeks to bring the
“Farm” into Think&EatGreen Schools. We are asking applicants demonstrate an appreciation of local farms, local foods and local food systems by integrating these concepts into their proposed Think&EatGreen@School program. Minimally applicants must commit to providing local and sustainably produced foods in a school lunch program. PHABC will provide an additional $1,500 and other supports for this purpose. This application has several opportunities for interested schools: 1. Application to be a Think&EatGreen School and receive a grant of up to $2000 2. Additional application to bring the “farm” into your Think&EatGreen School to receive an additional $1500 Farm to School grant 3. Enrolment in the Think&EatGreen@School Summer Institute on July 4-‐6, 2011
1. Application to be a Think&EatGreen School Benefits of Participation ü Ability to receive up to $3500 for food system projects (through Think&EatGreen@School Small Grants and Farm to School funds) ü Participation in a cohort / community of learners aiming at creating a healthy and sustainable food system within the Vancouver School Board ü Participation in professional development opportunities including the Think&EatGreen@School Summer Institute ü Access to community and UBC expertise ü Support of UBC students to implement your projects Criteria to be a Think&EatGreen School Preference will be given to schools that can demonstrate the following: ü A working team of 3 or more, composed of teachers and staff committed to strengthening the connections within the food system at their school (teachers, administration, support staff, food service staff, maintenance staff, students and parents may be included) ü A commitment to initiatives that ‘close the food loop’ by seeking to make connections between different aspects of the food system (i.e. growing, preparing, sharing and managing waste) at school ü Participation of a team in the Think&EatGreen@School Summer Institute in July ü Partnerships (with community-‐based organizations and/or other schools) ü Willingness to involve UBC students and facilitate their involvement in the development of food system activities and projects at your school ü Willingness to participate in research aimed at developing a healthy and sustainable school food system ü Commitment to participate in the project for 2 years It is understood that no one school may meet all of the criteria; however, applications that demonstrate that they are able to satisfy as many of the above points as possible will be given priority. Applications with large teams and projects that emphasize integration within the food system will be eligible for larger grants (up to $2000). Applications that are smaller in scope will be eligible for smaller grants. Eligible for Think&EatGreen@School Small Grants (up to $2000) Think&EatGreen@School has set aside $20000 from the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC) for supporting small projects in Vancouver schools in the 2011-‐ 2012 school year. If you are eligible, these small grants are available to help you start-‐up, expand, or improve school projects in the areas of food production, waste management, food preparation, and teaching and learning activities. Some possible projects could include: ü Food production including gardens and orchards ü Composting and other waste management projects
ü Cooking and other culinary / food preparation activities involving students ü Teaching and learning that connect food, health, and the environment across the curriculum ü Projects that establish links between growing, preparing and eating food at school with new curriculum and ways of teaching and learning ü Programs that provide healthy and sustainable foods for students ü Projects that establish links between schools and farms for healthier school meal programs and cafeteria menus and learning opportunities ü Release time for teachers and staff to collaborate, develop and implement proposed activities ü Celebrations around food (e.g. a food day or food week at school) ü Artistic projects related to food systems issues (including videos, multi-‐media, painting, music, theatres)
To apply Please send an email to info@thinkeatgreen.ca to let us know that you are planning to apply. When the following application form is complete, email or mail it to: Mailing Address: Application: Think&EatGreen@School MCML 179 -‐ 2357 Main Mall Vancouver, B.C., V6T 1Z4 Email: info@thinkeatgreen.ca All applications must be received no later than May 13. Schools will be notified about their application by the end of May. Further questions or inquiries can be directed to info@thinkeatgreen.ca
2. Additional Application to Bring the “Farm” into your Think&EatGreen School
Additional Benefits of Participation in Farm to School ü Additional $1500 grant ü Support from a farm liaison to provide connections for purchases of foods from local farms and farm field trips ü Spring training session with farmers, chefs, evaluation consultants, etc to help start the program ü Registration at a Farm-‐to-‐You conference in November ü Program evaluation and support ü Education materials and tools for teachers and farmers ü Membership and participation in a supportive Farm to School network with links to others Farm to School leads
Additional Criteria for Participation in Farm to School Preference will be given to schools that can demonstrate the following: ü Increases the amount of local food served in schools by 15% or more ü Ability to integrate connections to farms and the food system into the classroom and school environment ü Supports at least one local farm ü Ensures the lunch is offered minimally 24 times before the end of the 2011/12 school year; and 40 times in 2012/13 ü Is environmentally friendly (eg. reuse of materials, waste reduction, recycling, composting) ü Ensures equitable access to all children in the school, regardless of means Eligible For Farm to School Grant Funding has been received through Vancity enviroFund to support programs in Vancouver, Richmond and West Vancouver and 3 enthusiastic schools in Vancouver are now being sought to participate. ü Kitchen equipment (eg. food processors, soup pots, dishes, serving spoons, knives, soap and towel dispensers, etc.) ü Honorariums for coordination and/or costs related to volunteer appreciation ü Educational Resources or costs, including farm field trips +/-‐ farm honoraria, teaching resources, etc. ü Food costs for the initial start up week or food for taste tests ü Training, including Food Safe training The funds cannot be used for: ü Ongoing food costs. Experience has demonstrated that Farm to School lunches can generate funds! ü Ongoing coordination costs To apply Please ensure the following application form is complete and then email it or mail it to: Mailing Address: Application: Think&EatGreen@School MCML 179 -‐ 2357 Main Mall Vancouver, B.C., V6T 1Z4 Email: info@thinkeatgreen.ca All applications must be received no later than May 13. Schools will be notified about their application by the end of May. Please note that an offer of participation in this Farm to School initiative will be contingent upon a site visit by the Selection Committee. Further questions or inquiries specifically related to Farm to School can be directed to sarah.carten@vch.ca.
3. Participation in the Summer Institute The Think&EatGreen@School Summer Institute will focus on food security and sustainability issues in collaboration and partnership with teachers, administrators, staff and students from Vancouver School Board schools. The Institute is aimed at finding collaborative solutions to increase the knowledge and understanding of the connections between food, health and the environment across the food system in the schools. A combination of plenaries and streamed workshops and activities will be relevant to both elementary and secondary schools and curriculums. Workshops and activities will focus on different components of the school food system: including food gardens and orchards; composting and waste management; food procurement, preparation and consumption; curriculum and pedagogical innovations; and school food policies. The Summer Institute will be held at the first week of July, from Monday, July 4th to Wednesday, July 6th. Workshops and hands-‐on, experiential activities over three days at UBC will follow the different components of the food cycle at school, including making connections to curriculum and pedagogy as well as school food policy. Participants will rotate through different themes including: Hands in the Soil: Food production and composting Cooking and Eating Together: Food preparation and consumption Connections to the Classroom: Integration of the food cycle into curriculum and action plans
To apply
The registration form can be found on the Vancouver School Board website, under ‘Sustainability’ on the Professional Development Current Opportunities page, or directly at: http://www2.vsb.bc.ca/vsbprograms/prod/register.htm?page=workshopdetails&workshopid=1238
Public Health Association of BC
Application To Be A Think&EatGreen School (Additional application for option to apply for Farm to School is below) Only one application per school, all applications must have approval of the school’s principal School Name: ______________________________ Info for Primary contact Name: ________________________________ Job Title: _________________________________ Email Address: ____________________________ Phone Number: __________________________ Grade Level/Courses Taught: _______________________________ Other Team Members Applying (please include full names, job titles, grade levels, and subjects taught for all team members). For Farm to School teams, consider farmers, parents, students, community, public health, etc. What’s already in place at your school? (Check the following and elaborate as needed) A school garden _________________________________________________________________ A school composting system _________________________________________________________________ A school cooking program _________________________________________________________________ A classroom component that integrates gardens, lunchrooms and connections to local farms _________________________________________________________________ A school lunch program _________________________________________________________________ Other (please specify) _________________________________________________________________
Briefly describe ways in which your school integrates or hopes to integrate academic curricula with school gardens, lunchrooms, classroom culinary experiences, connections to local farms and environmentally sustainable practices. (Preference will be given to applications that are interested in connecting the garden and kitchen to multiple subject areas; creating a school-‐wide compost system; teaching and learning that connects food, health and the environment across the curriculum; programs that provide healthy and sustainable food for students, etc.) Please describe how your team will use the budget for the amount of grant funds you are applying for (including any grants requested for both Think&EatGreen and Farm to School). Number of children in the school: _____________ Estimated number of children who will benefit from the initiatives described: _____________
Principal’s Signature ____________________________________ Please check off the grants/ programs you are applying for:
Think&EatGreen à complete Part 2 Farm to School à complete Part 3
Part 2 Additional Information if you are applying for the Think&EatGreen@School Grant: Grant amount requested: ___________ What do you hope to gain by participating in this project? Please describe how your team will be able to involve teams of UBC students into your project plans (For example, designing, building and / or expanding a garden or compost system; nutritional and sustainability assessment of school menus; assessment of school food environment; delivery of food related demonstrations to classes) If you have any other comments, please let us know here
Part 3 Additional Information if you are applying for the Farm to School Grant Name Email Phone # Co-‐Applicant * School Based Coordinator Evaluation Lead Farm lead Name of farm(s), garden, or other local food source that will produce foods for the lunch * The co-‐applicant is usually a farmer or food producer, or may be a champion of food security or sustainable food system activity in the community (i.e. community food security leads, community nutritionists, health promoters, community food organizations/ non-‐profits, etc.). Please outline your plan to incorporate more local foods in your lunch program. (Attach a separate sheet if necessary.) Dates the Farm to School lunch will commence and end in: 2011/12 _____________________ 2012/13 _____________________ How many times per week will the Farm to School lunch be served? ________