Farm to School is Going Strong

Explore the Results
74.1%

of SFAs reported participating in farm to school activities in SY 2022-2023

45.6M

students in SFAs that participated in farm to school activities in SY 2022 -2023

74,433

schools included local foods on the menu in SY 2022-23

Students working in a school garden

What is the Farm to School Census?

The 2023 Farm to School Census results come from 11,803 school food authorities (SFAs) in all 50 states, American Samoa,  Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. The school food authority is the entity responsible for school food service operations and often, but not always, corresponds 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; about half of SFAs that do farm to school started their programs within the last three years.

Percent of F2S SFAs
Less than 3 years
 
49.7%
3-5 years
 
23.4%
6-10 years
 
14.2%
10+ years
 
12.2%
What is an SFA? Is it different from a school district?
62.7%

11,504 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 74,000 schools.

48.3%

8,861 SFAs

SFAs providing food, nutrition, or agricultural education

SFAs report offering 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.