2015 FARM TO SCHOOL CONFERENCE MATERIAL

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With 129 people in attendance from nearly 40 communities we had an overwhelmingly successful Alaska Farm to School Conference with many highlights.

Deborah Kane and Johanna Herron were interviewed on Talk of Alaska which you can find in their archives in case you missed it: http://www.alaskapublic.org/category/aprn/toa/

Evaluation results:

Over 80% will be starting or expanding their farm to school efforts after attending the conference.
Over 95% of the producers that responded plan to sell more products to schools.
Over 95% of school food service staff who responded plan on buying more local product.
Finally, 99% of those who responded said that they would be integrating more farm to school concepts into their curriculum.
Would people recommend the conference to people they know? 100% of the responses said they would likely recommend the conference.
When we asked about the usefulness of the various conference presentations and resources responses were flattering. Every component of the conference had 93% or higher of the responses stating it was either somewhat or very useful!

Conference participants said it best:

A director of a child care shared,"I had an amazing time at the conference and I'm excited to use the knowledge that I gained from the experience here with the children at the daycare. I appreciated being able to attend and listen to all of the different presentations and network coming home with a better understanding of Farm to School and great resources to start implementing what I learned."

Farmers made some great connections as well, "Thank you for hosting a wonderful conference. I made many contacts that should prove to improve the farms position to supply more food to the school districts. I have found the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District to be quite supportive."