Although there is a wealth of research in farm-to-school programs, less has been published about farm-to-early-care and education (ECE) programs. The state of Michigan created a pilot program to encourage farm-to-ECE of locally grown foods from a variety of sources. The pilot had geographic and funding constraints, however, which affected the evaluation of its effectiveness. Thus the state expanded its pilot so that ECE sites could participate in a learning collaborative to inform the potential expansion of the program statewide.
In the newly published article, “More than procurement: Examination of a farm-to-early-care and education pilot,” authors Shedd (the corresponding author) and Kelly examine the results of participating in the procurement pilot program on provider practices. They used a nationally available, validated instrument to determine pre- to post-test changes in farm-to-ECE practices across the three core elements: (1) purchasing, (2) gardening, and (3) nutrition and education activities. Further, they sought to determine what, if any, changes in practices might have occurred for those participating in the procurement pilot, with a goal of sharing what was learned statewide.
KEY FINDINGS
- Improvements of statistical significance from pre-test to post-test and changes in best practices among participants, with garden-based practices noted as the most improved practices.
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Indication by providers of an overlap of the three core elements of farm-to-ECE, with gardening used as a core element while also supporting the other two core elements (procurement and nutrition education).
- Identification of helpful resources, including accessible tools to make implementation of farm-to-ECE easier and “low-burden” paperwork.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH
- Long-term, sustainable funding is necessary for policy, systems, and environmental changes to ultimately address health and learning outcomes for young children.
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An understanding of both knowledge and practices would further inform farm-to-ECE efforts, particularly professional development and policy efforts.
- Additional research identifying what, if any, knowledge and behavior changes occur for children and families as a result of their participation in farm-to-ECE procurement pilots such as this one is essential.
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Facebook: Farm-to-early-care and education (farm-to-ECE) consists of three core elements: (1) purchasing, (2) gardening, and (3) nutrition and education activities. A recent evaluation of a pilot study of early care and education providers looking at the effect of participating in farm-to-ECE practices found positive changes among providers in the learning collaborative. Garden-based practices showed the most improvement among providers. Read the @JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2023.131.007
Tweet: New evaluation of a farm-to-ECE procurement pilot program showed positive changes in child care provider practices. Garden-based practices showed the most improvement. #farmtoece #earlycare #farmers #procurement #schoolgardens Read @JAFSCD for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2023.131.007
Photo above: Carrot plucked from the garden with small hand. Photo by Meagan K. Shedd.
