What is Farm to ECE?
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Farm to Early Care and Education (F2ECE) connects farming to early care and education programs (serving 0-5 year olds) to support equitable access to engaging nutrition-focused learning experiences that increase child health and wellbeing. The three key strategies of farm to ECE are:
Local procurement
Gardening
Food, nutrition & agriculture education
Collectively, these strategies can ensure that children of all identities and backgrounds can access and learn about local, nutritious food while supporting the development of a strong, community-based local food system. Farm to ECE strategies extend to all types of ECE settings including early learning centers, family home programs, preschools, Tribal programs, Head Start/Early Head Start, and programs in K-12 school districts.
Community of Practice
Currently, quarterly meetings have been paused. We are looking for anyone interested in leading these meetings. Contact Rey if interested.
Be sure to join the discussion on the WA Farm to School Network Forum and connect with others.
Click the button below to register and begin receiving updates and announcements.
We have resources for how to start, gardening basics, nutrition education, and local procurement. Many in English and Spanish.
Connect with local producers using our regional directory and Eat Local First’s Food and Farm Finder
History of Farm to ECE in WA
The Washington State Department of Health was awarded funding in the Fall of 2020 from the Association of State Public Health Nutritionists (ASPHN). With this funding, the farm to ECE statewide coalition implemented eight strategies in an effort to increase awareness, build programmatic capacity, strengthen collaborations, leverage policy, and increase equitable access to farm to ECE. These strategies included:
Free online farm to ECE trainings for STARS credits – in the process of migrating to Child Care Aware’s site
The above work was guided by a statewide coalition comprised of thirteen committed organizations who worked collaboratively towards growing equitable, sustainable farm to ECE programs across the state. View our Strategic Framework and Plan for detailed information on our priority areas and strategies. If you have any questions, reach out to rey.cooley@unitedgeneral.org
2023 WA FARM TO ECE EDUCATOR SURVEY
In January 2023, the Washington Farm to ECE survey was sent to providers through a variety of channels connected to CACFP and Farm to ECE work. The survey aimed to:
- Understand Washington’s existing Farm to ECE landscape, modes of current participation, and facilitators to engagement; and
- Assess barriers and challenges encountered in implementing activities, supports needed, and opportunities for strengthening Farm to ECE reach.
Additional analysis was conducted to better understand associations between respondent characteristics, the number of Farm to ECE activities they participated in, and the barriers they encountered.
This survey and report are a collaborative effort by the Washington State Department of Health and Uncommon Solutions, Inc with funding and support provided by the Association of State Public Health Nutritionists Farm to ECE Implementation Grant (FIG). ASPHN’s Farm to ECE Implementation Grant (FIG) is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States (U.S.) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of cooperative agreement number NU38OT000279. The report has been modeled in part, with permission, after the Hawaii Farm to Early Care & Education Statewide Survey Report, published in May 2020.[1]
Fact Sheet and Infographic available for download.
[1] “Hawai‘i Farm to Early Care and Education Hub – Farm to ECE Survey.”