Category: Arkansas Farm to School History

In 2020, the Arkansas Department of Agriculture moved into the role of Core Partner for NFSN and ACRI shifted from Core Partner to Supporting Partner. The other Supporting Partners remained the same and the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service (UADA) hired a Local Food Specialist who spends half their time […]

In 2019, farm to school leaders from Arkansas travelled to Washington D.C. to speak with U.S. Senator John Boozman and U.S. Senator Tom Cotton. Ally Mrachek with Fayetteville School District and Maegan Brown with Conway Public Schools visited Senator Cotton to share about their child nutrition farm to school efforts. Second, Destiny Schlinker with FoodCorps […]

Through the passage of Act 506 in 2019, the Arkansas legislature established a Farm to School and Early Childhood Education Program and a position for a full-time Farm to School and Early Childhood Education Program Coordinator within the Arkansas Department of Agriculture.

Legislation enacted by the Arkansas General Assembly in 2017 and 2019 solidified the momentum of farm to school in Arkansas. The passage of the Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Act (Local Food Act) in 2017 created a local food preference by requiring state agencies that received at least $25,000 in state funding for the purchase […]

In 2017, a group of state agencies and statewide nonprofits formed the Arkansas Farm to School Collaborative (Collaborative). The Collaborative has expanded to include representatives from 12 state agencies and nonprofits. In addition, NFSN recognized the following as farm to school Supporting Partners: Arkansas Department of Agriculture, Arkansas Department of Education – Child Nutrition Unit, […]

In 2014, then-Governor Mike Beebe proclaimed October as Arkansas Farm to School Month. Governor Asa Hutchinson continued the practice in 2015 and each year since.

In 2013, Fayetteville School District became the first school district in Arkansas to receive a Farm to School grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Since 2013, a total of $617,430 has been provided to nine Arkansas entities through the program. The other awardees have been Lawrence County School District, Mansfield School District, […]

In 2012, a Community Advisory Board for the Arkansas Grow Healthy Study that was led by Arkansas Children’s Research Institute (ACRI) was formed to advise on pilot farm to school projects around the state. In 2013, ACRI was chosen as the state’s Core Partner by the National Farm to School Network (NFSN) and assumed the […]

Towards the end of 2009, Heifer International hosted an Arkansas Farm to School Conference in Little Rock. This event brought together more than 200 stakeholders from around the state and nation. This event marks the first time the term “Arkansas Farm to School” was used. An Arkansas Farm to School Steering Committee was convened following […]

In January 2009, two meetings were scheduled by the Arkansas Department of Education Child Nutrition Unit to look at the expansion of farm to school in the state. The first was a meeting to gather initial interest in farm to school and to talk about working with farmers in the southern region of the nation. […]