Harvest of the Month

Nebraska Harvest of the Month (HOM) is a statewide Farm to School program that features different Nebraska local food products each month of the year. The program promotes nearly 30 locally grown and raised items, such as fruits, vegetables, proteins, and more! Harvest of the Month provides schools with resources to support sampling and serving local foods to students, as well as many educational materials to use in the classroom! All material is FREE and available to download for use in schools, early care and education facilities, afterschool programs, and homes!

The Nebraska Farm to School program enriches the connection communities have with fresh, healthy food and local food producers by changing food purchasing and education practices at schools and early care and education settings. There are three core elements of Farm to School: Procurement, Education, and School Gardens. Farm to School works to provide resources to promote local Nebraska grown and raised products in the classroom, cafeteria, and community. Nebraska Farm to School provides multiple initiatives:

 

Walk to Unlock Nebraska Specialty Crops Project:

Through the Walk to Unlock Nebraska Specialty Crops Project, funded by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) will leverage two programs available to Nebraska schools (Walk to Unlock Nebraska (W2UN) and Nebraska Harvest of the Month (HOM)) to increase youth knowledge and consumption of Nebraska specialty crops.

The project aims are to (1) integrate HOM-featured specialty crop lessons and resources into the W2UN program; (2) expand HOM W2UN to include materials that highlight the importance of agriculture with an emphasis on specialty crop production and local producers; (3) provide a student-led framework to support schools and out of school time programs in piloting the W2UN Specialty Crops program; (4) facilitate a promotional campaign for school districts, early childhood education sites, and out of school time programs across Nebraska to participate in an HOM challenge each October in recognition of Nebraska Farm to School (F2S) Month.

 

HOM Beef

There’s a reason we’re called the “Beef State” here in Nebraska–agriculture is Nebraska’s top industry and cattle production represents the largest part of the industry. Help Nebraska live up to its beefy name… try the recipe at home!