More than procurement: Examination of a farm-to-early-care and education pilot

Abstract

Although there is a wealth of research on farm-to-school programs (FTS), less has been published about farm to early care and education programs (ECE). This paper examines the results of partici­pating in a farm-to-ECE procurement pilot pro­gram on provider practices across the three core elements of farm to ECE: (1) purchasing, (2) gar­dening, and (3) nutrition and education activities. In order to address the geographic and funding constraints of an existing procurement pilot, Michigan offered an expansion of this model so that ECE sites could take part in a learning collab­orative. They did this by examining the effective­ness of evidence-based practices in obtaining locally grown foods from a variety of sources among ECE sites, for statewide replication. Partici­pation included self-assessment of learning envi­ronments using a nationally available, validated instrument to determine pre- to post-test changes in farm-to-ECE practices and what, if any, changes in practices might have occurred for those partici­pating in the procurement pilot, with the goal of sharing what was learned statewide. Key findings include improvements of statistical significance from pre-test to post-test and changes in best prac­tices among participants using Go NAPSACC, with the top three most improved practices involv­ing garden-based practices. The role of self-assess­ment, funding, and limitations are discussed, along with implications for practice and further research.