CT FTS Institute | CT Farm to School

Applications for 2025-26 Institute are Open!

Join us to cultivate thriving communities, equitable food systems and healthy kids

About

The CT Farm to School Institute is a unique year-long professional learning opportunity for selected Connecticut school or district teams

Watch the CT Farm to School Institute in action:

The 2025-26 CT Farm to School Institute will kick off with an in-person Summer Retreat on June 17th & June 18th at Auerfarm in Bloomfield, CT. Throughout the 2025-26 school year, teams will implement their action plans with the support of a coach. We encourage applicants to read through our FAQ page for more information about the program, Institute Model, and Summer Retreat.

Additional questions: Please contact Program Director, Lisa Lenskold at institute@ctfarmtoschool.org

January/February 2025: Please submit your application by February 12th. Connecticut School/District teams may apply. Notifications of team selections will be made in early March.

Spring 2025: Teams will be matched with a FTS Coach who will support them throughout the year long program. Coaches will contact their Teams to schedule an introduction meeting in April/May. This meeting is for coach introductions, complete your personalized FTS Rubric and draft your values statement, so we can hit the ground running!

June 2025: Attend our 2-day Summer Retreat on June 17th & 18th. Here you and your team will dive into farm to school action planning, network with peers around the state, and explore farm to school possibilities through Workshops, Panels and Networking.

Fall–Winter: Teams will meet regularly throughout the school year with your coach as you implement your action plan. Participants will support program growth and improvement through data collection, evaluation, and storytelling. There will be a required mid-year meeting with all teams in the

Spring 2026: Prepare a year-two action plan with the support of your coach, and regroup with your cohort to share your progress and reflections in a year-end gathering (TBD) in late spring 2026.

Benefits

Farm to School Program Development: during the Summer Retreat, participants will develop a comprehensive school-wide Farm to School Action Plan that includes curriculum, local procurement, utilizing outdoor learning spaces, and cultivating family and community connections.
Coaching: Teams will be paired with an experienced coach from the CT Farm to School network. You’ll have communication and meetings with this coach throughout the school year to assist you in implementing and adapting your action plan to meet the changing needs of the school.
Skill building: Participants engage in workshops designed around school specific roles, and meet with technical assistance providers to get support on their action plan.
Networking with peers: Individuals and teams share innovations and challenges, join in dialogue, and share with others across the state on best practices and resources to champion farm to school in years to come.

Current & Alumni Teams

*Current teams are featured in gold text

The Model

Farm to school is a comprehensive strategy with a goal of helping students establish lifelong positive relationships with food while supporting a more just food system. The strategies used to achieve this shift are: serving healthy local food in schools, improving student nutrition, providing hands-on food systems learning opportunities, and developing meaningful relationships between community partners, schools and students. Farm to school supports youth in connecting the dots of where their food comes from and how their food choices impact their bodies, the environment, and their communities at large.

Our Connecticut Institute is based on the long-standing and successful model from VT FEED (Food Education Every Day), in Shelburne VT, which a handful of CT schools have attended. In the summer of 2022, two members of our planning team attended the first ever NEFTSI Adapters Institute with the goal of adapting and developing our own version, to grow even more FTS programming across the United States. Learn more about how our program got started here.

Pictured above: the 2022-23 Northeast Farm to School Institute cohort

The 3Cs

The CT Farm to School Institute utilizes the proven "3Cs" model created by VT FEED. The 3Cs stand for cafeteria, classroom, and community, and ensure that teams are creating plans that incorporate all aspects of farm to school. Familiarize yourself with the model, by checking out the following resources created and distributed by VT FEED: