Farm to School is Growing!

Explore the Results
65.4%

of SFAs reported participating in farm to school activities in SY 2018 – 2019

42.8M

students attended SFAs that participated in farm to school activities in SY 2018 -2019

67,369

schools are featuring local foods on the menu or educating students

Woman pointing at produce

What is the Farm to School Census?

The 2019 results come from 12,634 responding school food authorities (SFAs) in all 50 states, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Washington DC. The school food authority is the entity responsible for school food service operations, and may or may not correspond to a school district.

Learn About the Census

Key National Census Results

Length of farm to school participation by school food authorities (SFAs)

Many SFAs are new to farm to school; more than half of farm to school SFAs have started their programs within the last three years.

Percent of SFAs
Less than 3 years
 
56.7%
3-5 years
 
24.7%
6-10 years
 
11.2%
10+ years
 
7.2%
Don't know
 
0.2%
What is an SFA? Is it different from a school district?
76.8%

9,458 SFAs

SFAs serving local food

Most farm to school SFAs report serving local food in their Child Nutrition Program meals. SFAs serve local food in over 60,000 schools.

59.9%

7,377 SFAs

Many SFAs provide food, nutrition, or agricultural education

SFAs report a variety of educational farm to school activities, including taste tests, field trips to farms, and farmer visits.

Find Your State

See how your State is doing with farm to school.