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# Growing our Future with National Farm to School Month
- URL: https://blog.rouxbe.com/growing-our-future-with-national-farm-to-school-month/
- Published: 2026-10-14T15:00:52.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-14T15:00:52.000Z
- Author: Dan Marek
- Tags: culinary, New

Every October, school cafeterias across the nation transform into vibrant hubs of celebration for National Farm to School Month. It is a time to honor the strong connections growing between local agriculture, school nutrition programs, and the children who benefit every day from fresh, wholesome meals. 

One of the highlight traditions of the month is the annual Great Apple Crunch. On this special day, students, teachers, cafeteria staff, and community members bite into locally grown, crisp apples at the exact same moment. The collective crunch heard across classrooms and cafeterias is a joyful, unifying reminder of how simple, fresh, locally sourced food can bring an entire community together.

Reflecting on Farm to School Month fills me with deep gratitude for a career spent on the frontlines of food systems transformation. As someone who transitioned from journalism into plant-based culinary education, my mission has always been to empower the people who feed our communities. During my time as School Programs Manager and Chef at Whole Kids Foundation, I designed and scaled the Healthy Staff Program and Healthy Teachers Program, ultimately reaching over 40,000 educators and school staff with plant-based nutrition inspiration and practical scratch-cooking techniques. Working directly with school districts under the Free and Reduced Lunch Program allowed us to replace government commodity items with farm-fresh local produce and set up salad bars so students had daily access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

 My journey across school food transformation has been shaped by incredible national initiatives and local grassroots efforts. Participating in the pivotal Chefs Move to Schools initiative during the Obama administration helped bridge the gap between professional culinary arts and cafeteria kitchens nationwide. Presenting at the Edible Schoolyard Academy alongside the movement inspired by Alice Waters reinforced how hands-on garden and kitchen classrooms fundamentally reshape a child's relationship with real food.

 In my work as Director of Program Strategy and Curriculum Development at Rouxbe Online Culinary School, we expanded these efforts digitally, authoring and delivering scalable online culinary training for school food service staff in my home state of Indiana and across multiple states to give kitchen teams professional culinary skills. Now, serving on the Board of Directors for REAP Food Group and Healthy School Meals for Wisconsin, I get to support the Healthy School Food Coalition right here in Madison, directly connecting regional farmers with local school districts to build resilient, sustainable food networks.