Culpeper County Public Schools will be celebrating Virginia Farm to School Week happening October 7–11, 2024. The celebration will include participating in the Crunch Heard ‘Round the Commonwealth on Thursday, October 10, 2024. During the Crunch, students and staff will crunch into local apples from Crown Orchards in Charlottesville, Virginia to make some noise for Virginia farm to school programs.
Farm to school programs connect school and child nutrition programs to locally grown food, school gardens and student farms, and nutrition and agriculture education. According to annual data collected by the Virginia Department of Education, Office of School and Community Nutrition Programs (VDOE-SCNP), Virginia farm to school programs are growing. During School Year 2022–2023, purchases of Virginia and regionally grown food totaled $20.85 million from 136 entities.
Virginia Farm to School Week is an opportunity to celebrate farm to school programs throughout the Commonwealth. The largest celebration during the week is the annual Crunch Heard ‘Round the Commonwealth. On the day of the “Crunch,” schools, early care centers, farmers, and partners throughout the Commonwealth crunch into Virginia grown apples to make some noise for farm to school programs. Participants are encouraged to register on the VDOE-SCNP Farm to School website and share their celebrations on social media using the hashtag #VACrunch and #VAFarmtoSchool.
For more information about Virginia farm to school programs, visit the VDOE-SCNP Farm to School website.