2018 US National Farm to Early Care and Education Survey
The National Farm to School Network, in partnership with Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems, launched the 2018 National Farm to Early Care and Education Survey in the spring of 2018. We heard from 2,030 respondents serving 255,257 children in 46 states about current farm to ECE initiatives, including motivations for participation and challenges to starting or expanding farm to ECE practices, and barriers and needs for support for getting started with farm to ECE.
Of responding providers, 49% are already participating in farm to ECE and another 30% plan to start in the future. Farm to ECE participating providers see a wide range of farm to ECE benefits including increasing access to higher-quality foods, engaging parents and families, offering meaningful experiential learning, and at the same time, improving children’s health.
To lift up and celebrate these results and build awareness of farm to ECE, NFSN and MSU CRFS has developed an infographic (below) and fact sheet that partners and supporters can use to start the conversation in their networks. You can also learn more by joining us for our upcoming October Trending Topics Webinar: Results of the 2018 National Farm to Early Care and Education Survey (register here).
Want to help spread the word? Check out this Sharing Toolkit, where you’ll find suggested social media posts, graphics, and sample newsletter and blog text to make it easy to share the survey results and the benefits of farm to ECE.
