Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) programs enrich young children’s health and lives through a hands-on approach to food, health and agriculture education, and increased access to healthy local foods. The Association of State Public Health Nutritionists (ASPHN) is pleased to announce a Year Two Farm to Early Care and Education Capacity Building Grant (CABBAGE) opportunity. Four Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) recipients have been selected to receive CABBAGE funding and technical assistance to build or expand community-level farm to ECE initiatives, beginning November 2021 and ending July 2022.

The four recipients were competitively selected and include REACH teams from Eastern Michigan University improving health in the Asian-American communities in Battle Creek; National Kidney Foundation of Michigan working with African American and Latino residents living in Southeast Michigan; RAO Community Health in Charlotte, North Carolina partnering with low income African Americans in Mecklenburg and Cabarrus counties; and Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln redressing health disparities in African American and Hispanic communities in Lincoln, Nebraska. These teams will work with ASPHN, National Farm to School Network, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and each other to learn and build successful farm to ECE initiatives.

According to Crystal D’Agostino, Senior Program Manager for the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan, "we are absolutely thrilled to be part of the CABBAGE funding opportunity again this year. We learned a lot last year and are looking forward to learning and experiencing more this year." (For more information about year one of the CABBAGE, visit the ASPHN Farm to ECE website.)

Teams submitted plans to expand the number of ECE providers implementing farm to ECE curriculum, enroll providers in reimbursement programs for local foods, build ECE gardens, pilot community-adapted farm to ECE materials, and create learning cohorts for providers to learn about farm to ECE from each other. Teams will participate in webinars, equity discussions, and participatory meetings to deepen their understanding of farm to ECE and to network with one another.

Interest in the farm to ECE strategy has grown in recent years thanks to its innovative and effective approach. By networking local farmers and food producers with ECE providers, such as preschools, childcare centers and Head Start, farm to ECE programs stimulate local economies and promote healthy community food systems.

For more information, please contact Emia Oppenheim at emia@asphn.org or 814-255-2829, extension 714.

Founded in 1952, the Association of State Public Health Nutritionists (ASPHN) is a non-profit membership organization that strengthens nutrition policy, programs and environments for all people through the development of public health nutrition leaders and the collective action of members nationwide. ASPHN’s membership is composed of more than 700 nutrition professionals located throughout all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. ASPHN's vision is healthy eating and active living for everyone.You can find ASPHN on the web at www.asphn.org and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/asphn.

CABBAGE is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of cooperative agreement number NU38OT000279-04. This specific project, along with many other projects, is funded through this cooperative agreement that totals $3,245,000. One hundred percent of CABBAGE is funded by the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO)/ National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) /CDC/HHS. The contents of this release are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, DNPAO/NCCDPHP/CDC/HHS, or the United States (US).