Iowa Farm to School Local Purchase Report now available
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey announced that the Iowa Farm to School Local Purchase Report is now available. The Iowa report is the first in the nation to track monthly procurement of...
View ArticleIn the Right Place
Guest post by Justine Heinitz, Sophomore at Luther College studying health “Act professional,” I thought to myself as I walked into the first meeting in the month of January for Northeast Iowa Food...
View ArticleWeekly Bits – Jan 29
2nd graders at Central are “rooting” for beets! They enjoyed having the high school Farm to School Cross Age teachers visit their classrooms last month. SCHOOL WELLNESS – FoodCorps and AmeriCorps...
View ArticleHeigh-ho, the derry-o…The cheese stands alone!
Barb Havlik Preschool Teacher at New Hampton has 18 children in class . Barb described her classroom this month, “We read the story ‘Who Ate the Cheese’ and watched a YouTube video about how they make...
View ArticleMaking Winter Play, Safe
Do you have new snow today? Here, guest blogger Kris Corrigan, Early Childhood Specialist and ERS Assessor, shares some reminders about winter weather considerations for childcare providers. We all...
View ArticleBest Practice: Flavor Stations
Several schools in NE Iowa have seen success with “Flavor Stations” or “Spice Stations” in lunchrooms. The stations are a great way to give students a way to experiment with different flavors for...
View ArticleGet Up and Move Monday
I bet you didn’t know that you could exercise and make a yummy snack at the same time! St Joe’s students discovered this by pedaling the “Blender Bike” and making yummy fruit smoothies to celebrate...
View ArticleLast in Vegetable Consumption
First the Good News. The Iowa Healthiest State Initiative announced Iowa ranks 14th in the nation in the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index®, up from 16th a year ago. In addition to capturing...
View ArticleWeekly Bits – Feb 5
Elanor Starmer, administrator of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, and Bill Menner, USDA Rural Development director for the state of Iowa, were in Dubuque last week to visit with farmers, farm...
View ArticlePreschoolers Visit Homestead Dairy
NFV TigerHawk Preschool, Rainbow Land Preschool in Fayette and West Union Head Start recently visited Homestead Dairy in Waukon. “The staff at Homestead Dairy was so friendly and welcoming. The kiddos...
View ArticleFarm to Early Care and Education
New Name, Same Commitment to Kids As the National Farm to School Network continues its commitment to connect children ages 0-5 to local foods and high quality educational opportunities through food...
View ArticleWeekly Bits – Feb 12
FOOD SYSTEMS – Teresa Wiemerslage The Iowa Food Hub is accepting applications for a new General Manager. The position will be posted at www.iowafoodhub.com by Friday afternoon. The IFH board is...
View ArticleHealthy Kids, Healthy Future Summit
I recently had the honor of being one of 150 Early Childhood Advocates in the U.S. invited to the Healthy Kids, Healthy Future Summit held in Washington D.C. It was a privilege to be amongst those in...
View ArticleWhat is a ‘Snack’?
What is your definition of a snack? We all know that kids need a snack, right? Young children need to eat between meals to get enough energy and nutrients to develop properly. But what really is a...
View ArticleLess is MORE for Healthy Children
Our youngest children have more access to screen time and carbs than ever before. What does this mean? Research has linked too much screen time and too many carbohydrates to children being overweight...
View ArticleThe Hard Task of Change
Guest post by Emily Dufford, Luther College senior studying environmental studies and Spanish. As an intern with the Food and Fitness Initiative this January, I was able to shadow many of the...
View ArticleThat New Food Look
What do I love most about working with kids? They’re honest. When they think your food samples smell funny, they let you know. If you draw a mango tree and they think it’s beautiful, they tell you....
View ArticleGrants Available for Food Service Equipment
Can your farm to school program benefit from new kitchen equipment? There’s a grant for that! Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the availability of $35 million in grants to help schools...
View ArticleWeekly Bits – Feb 19
Laura Liechty (ISU Extension), Ali (New Hampton), Lauren (MFL MarMac) and Brianne (West Central) represented Iowa at the National 4-H Healthy Living Summit last week in Washington, DC at the National...
View ArticleObesity is Main Focus for Fayette Public Health
At least every five years, the Fayette County Board of Health leads a community-wide discussion with stakeholders and residents about the community’s health needs. After identifying needs in the...
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