The Greenbelt Fund supported the launch of the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG) Cultivating Culinary Students program. As part of the program, OGVG hosted a competition that engaged seven community colleges, each submitting a recipe that highlighted Ontario greenhouse vegetables.

Read Cultivating Community Culinary Students Recipes

In an effort to support regional and province-wide efforts to serve local food, FoodShare developed this student-friendly recipe book that can be adopted by any school looking to purchase more local food for their menus.

Read Tastes of the Greenbelt Cookbook

In this comprehensive recipe booklet, the City of Toronto provides 14 easy to prepare local food recipes for city-run child care centres, which have all been taste-tested and approved by more than 400 kids. All of the recipes contain at least 50 percent local ingredients.

Read Make it Local: Fresh and Nutritious Local Food Recipes

Niagara Regional Child Care Centres created a Charter to increase local food procurement within their facilities and support Ontario farms and producers.

Read Regional Child Care Local Food Values Charter

Read Children's Regional Child Care Local Food Values Charter - Promotional Piece

Check out the following links for some local, healthy and kid-approved recipe ideas.

• FoodShare’s School Programs
• Ontariofresh.ca
• Foodland Ontario
• FoodShare’s salad bar toolbox
• Real Food for Real Kids
• Sprouting Chefs

Looking to get your students more involved in the Ontario Farm to School Challenge? We have some really simple ideas to keep them engaged and having fun!

My parents put serious effort into my school lunches.  They tried making my healthy snacks exciting so I wouldn't fall victim to all the unhealthy options available at the school cafeteria.  Let me tell you, however, that this little girl went crazy with her paper route money at the school cafeteria.

Public sector institutions are sourcing apple products from across the continent, and whole apples from around the world. But most facilities would love to integrate more Ontario product into the menus, meals, and snacks.

Working closely with the Ontario Apple Growers, My Sustainable Canada identified product opportunities for Ontario's apple growers to more strategically develop, pack, and market products to Ontario health care facilities, public school boards, colleges/universities, and correctional facilities, in order to increase the sales of Ontario apple products.

Read Procurement Steps for Schools

Read Procurement Steps for Universities & Colleges

Read Procurement Steps for Healthcare Facilities

Read Procurement Steps for Correctional & Youth Justice Facilities

Here you can find organizations, networks and research related to healthy and local food in schools.

• Farm to School British Columbia Publications
• Feeding our Future: First and Second Year Evaluation from the Toronto District School Board
• FoodShare Resources

Sustain Ontario

• Find a local food group in your area
• Good Food Policies for Education
• Backgrounder on Food Literacy, Student Nutrition and Food Service in Schools
• Research and reports

Watch webinars and videos on success stories and the benefits of buying local.