The Farm to School Podcast
38 episodes Last Updated: Apr 17, 25
Join our hosts Michelle Markesteyn with Oregon State University, and Rick Sherman of Oregon Department of Education as they explore what it means to bring local food into the school cafeteria, and teach kids about where their food comes from, across the country.. and the world!UPDATE: We're updating a few things as we continue to grow, our infrastructure has to grow as well. We have a website to host all of our show notes, contact information and more. Google "Farm to School Podcast OSU" to find our show notes and much more. Please stop by to say hello, or to suggest a show topic!
Episodes
Born in Ireland, Jennie journeyed to the United States. Her passion for food and health set her on a career path that started as a hospital Clinical Dietitian, evolved into Nutrition Service Manager and Director at a school district, and currently as a state Child Nutrition Program staff. Join Rick & Michelle as they talk with Jennie Kolpak about how she literally defined what best-practice in farm to school procurement and promotions were in the early days of the movement. We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.
Apr 11, 2025
NOYO Food Forest
Have you ever heard of a Food Forest? It sounds something you can find in the woods outside Willy Wonka’s factory, right? Join us as we explore the relationship with Fort Bragg, California’s school district Nutrition Services Director Pilar Gray and Director of Operations for the NOYO Food Forest, Beth Horkman.We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.
Often as we teach kids where their food comes from, even 11th graders sometimes think broccoli grows on trees because they're not exposed to growing food. Join us as we explore School Garden Education in the Denver, Colorado area with SustainED Farms' Matt Supronowicz and Maya McDowell. We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.
Mar 12, 2025
Student Ecoliteracy: The Publisher
Our last episode was coined "Student Ecoliteracy, The Author" which explored Katherine Pryor's journey of writing children's books about nature and garden subjects. In this companion episode, we talk to Katherine's first publisher, Philip Lee of Readers to Eaters. They specialize in publishing kids books about nutrition and school gardens! We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.
Feb 24, 2025
Student Ecoliteracy: The Author
Katherine Pryor first wrote a story when she was seven years old. She's been chasing the feeling of how the story made her feel every day since then.. Fast forward to today, when she's published ten children's books, most of which are award winners. Join Rick and Michelle as they talk to Katherine as she shares her journey of writing about kids' experiences with growing food, among other stories.Teaser: Join us next time for "Student Ecoliteracy.. The Publisher!"We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.
Feb 10, 2025
Remarkable Academic Foods
What if you ran the Nutrition Service Department and you needed help.. someone to help to provide training, kitchen design, or "strategic solutions leadership?" Join Rick and Michelle as they chat with Joshua Miller, the Founder and Principal Consultant with Remarkable Academic Foods, who tells his journey in his mission to help transform school meals. We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.
In our journey to explore the different methods of educating kids about their food and the environment, we bring you a new way we haven't explored yet on this program: Educating kids through music! Join us as we talk to members of the Banana Slug String Band, a band that's celebrating their 40th Anniversary at the time of this posting and their journey through the years.This is part TWO of a two-part episode. We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.
In our journey to explore the different methods of educating kids about their food and the environment, we bring you a new way we haven't explored yet on this program: Educating kids through music! Join us as we talk to members of the Banana Slug String Band, a band that's celebrating their 40th Anniversary at the time of this posting and their journey through the years.This is part one of a two-part episode. Part two will be available later this month. We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.
Dec 20, 2024
Farm Lab-DREAMS Campus; Julie Burton
Join us as we talk to Julie Burton of the award-winning Farm Lab DREAMS Campus (Design, Research, Engineering, Art, Math & Science). It's an amazing story of how they were able to establish a certified organic farm that feeds into their nationally recognized farm to school program in Encinitas, CA. We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.
Many organizations provide educational programming for school gardens across the USA. But what about the infrastructure of building the garden, how do you start? Join us as we talk with Sam Koentopp from Big Green. They work with partner organizations to install their raised beds in schools, and also have a goal to start one million gardens with their home gardening kits! Join us as we explore their mission to get everyone in America growing food! We would love to hear from you! Send us a message.