Farm to School
What is Farm to School?
Farm to school programs include initiatives that bring communities and schools closer to local agriculture. These initiatives can include serving locally or regionally-produced foods in school cafeterias; providing hands-on learning activities such as school gardening, farm visits, and culinary classes; and integrating food-related education into the regular, standards-based classroom curriculum.
Not only do these programs benefit students across the country, but they also can serve as a financial opportunity for farmers, fishers, food processors and food manufacturers by opening doors to an institutional market worth billions of dollars.
How Can I Participate?
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture is hosting the Junior Chef State Fair Challenge, a student recipe contest designed to encourage middle and high school students to showcase creativity, nutrition awareness, and local food knowledge through original, fair-inspired, portable recipe ideas. Students will compete against peers from across the state in a points-based competition.
For a complete list of rules and requirements, please review the official rules and release form.
Applications will be accepted from February 9, 2026 through April 17, 2026 @ 11:59 p.m. Central.
Requirements to participate
- Middle and high school students may compete as teams of 1 or 2 members.
- Apply by completing the TDA Junior Chef State Fair Challenge online application and agreeing to the Official Rules and Release waiver(s) for one or two team members.
Prizes
- The three (3) winning entries in each division will receive an invitation to attend the 2026 Wilson County-Tennessee State Fair occurring August 13, 2026, through August 22, 2026. Each winning entry will be provided with three (3) Wilson County-Tennessee State Fair admission tickets and three (3) meal vouchers to redeem at participating vendors within the Wilson County-Tennessee State Fair. Winning entries will have the option of presenting their winning recipe at the Wilson County-Tennessee State Fair through a brief verbal or slideshow presentation. Each winning student will receive a custom apron. First-place entries in each division will be awarded one trophy per entry and second- and third-place entries in each division will receive medals awarded per entry.
Contact for questions
- If you have questions about the Junior Chef State Fair Challenge, please contact Isabella Griffis at Pick.Tn@tn.gov.
Every school district has its own requirements. Contact Lynsey Paul to learn about requirements in your area.
GAP inspections are NOT state mandated to participate in the program. However, participating producers may be subject to district requirements.
Producers may be able to sell to schools through a variety of opportunities, including connecting with a school food authority (typically, there are no sales limits), connecting with an entire district, selling a specific food for a special event, or selling “ugly” food that may not otherwise go to market. While there are no guaranteed sales, contact Lynsey Paul at lynsey.paul@tn.gov to learn about what schools in your area are looking for.
Farm to School Institute: Day-long workshop to be conducted in-person to provide targeted technical assistance to SFA staff and local farmers. The institute will help bring community partners together to support Farm to School efforts in TN
Outside of sales, producers can participate in Farm to School by creating educational experiences that connect students in their area with local food sources.
Participate in Harvest of the Month
- Harvest of the Month is an initiative from the Tennessee Deaprtment of Education to highlight specific agriculture products within Tennessee during each month of the year, promoting awareness, education and local procurement of food grown from the earth.
- Harvest Month Activities.pdf
Host a Field Trip
- Invite schools to visit farm for educational opportunities
Volunteer with TN Agriculture in the Classroom
For more information about Farm to School contact Lynsey Paul at lynsey.paul@tn.gov.
About the Funding Source
- Between 2023 and 2024, $4.1 million made available through USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation’s Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS) was used in schools to purchase local food.
- Through the LFS program, USDA will award up to $200 million to states for food assistance purchases of domestic local foods for distribution to schools. This program will strengthen the food system for schools by helping to build a fair, competitive, and resilient local food chain, and expand local and regional markets with an emphasis on purchasing from historically underserved producers and processors
USDA
Farm to School Network
