State by State: Harvest of the Month Materials

School Nutrition’s June/July issue featured “Making the Most of Harvest of the Month,” chock-full of easy, effective strategies to launch or expand a Harvest of the Month (HOTM) cafeteria-led nutrition education initiative. If you’re beginning to contemplate how you might use HOTM in the upcoming 2021-22 school year, a good place to start is with materials developed by agencies within state departments of agriculture, education or health services, as well as by notable partners in the area.

While author Dayle Hayes had hoped to find HOTM materials in every state across the nation, she was ultimately unsuccessful in this highly ambitious goal, despite rigorous research. Still, it’s important to keep in mind that if there are no state-developed materials where you live, many states provide open access to their materials and do not apply any state-specific branding to downloadable resources. And for those that do have restrictions, you may still be able to request a password and/or permission to view, download and repurpose materials for your district-level outreach. Below, you’ll find links and a few notations for an abundant array of resources—as diverse as the rainbow of produce and other items you will promote!

Alabama
No specific HOTM materials found 

Alaska

• Farm to School Alaska (Most recent entry is dated 2018)

Arizona

• Mollen Foundation (non-profit) (Materials available to all)

Arkansas
No specific HOTM materials found

California

• California Department of Public Health, Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention(Materials available to all)

Colorado
No specific HOTM materials found

Connecticut

• Put Local on Your Tray, CT Farm to School program (Materials available to all)

Delaware
No specific HOTM materials found

Connecticut

• Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services(Users must register for materials)

Georgia

• Georgia Department of School Nutrition, School Nutrition (Materials available to all)

Hawaii

• Hawaii Department of Agriculture (Most recent entry is dated 2018)

Idaho

• No specific HOTM materials found
• Idaho Preferred has a series of posters available in print to Idaho schools

Illinois

• Illinois Farm to School Network(Users must register for materials

Indiana

• Indiana Grown for Schools (Materials available for all)

Iowa
No specific HOTM materials found

Kansas
No specific HOTM materials found

Kentucky
No specific HOTM materials found

Indiana

• LSU College of Agriculture (Materials available for all)

Maine

• Maine Department of Education (Registration required for users)

Maryland

• Maryland Department of Agriculture (Materials available for all)

Massachusetts

• Massachusetts Farm to School Program (Registration required for users; recipes available to all)

Michigan

• Michigan Harvest of the Month™ (Materials available to all)
• TBAISD Farm to School in Northwest Michigan

Minnesota

• Apply to pilot Minnesota's new Harvest of the Month (HOTM) program (Users must register for materials)
• Minneapolis Public Schools’ Farm to School program (Materials available to all)

Mississippi
No specific HOTM materials found

Missouri
No specific HOTM materials found

Montana

• Montana Farm to School (Users must register for monthly materials)

Nebraska

• Nebraska Department of Education (Users must register for monthly materials)

Nevada
No specific HOTM materials found

New Hampshire

• New Hampshire Harvest of the Month (Materials available to all)

New Hampshire

• Jersey Fresh Farm to School (Materials available to all)

New Mexico
No specific HOTM materials found

New York

• New York Farm to School(Materials available to all)

North Carolina

• NC Steps to Health Program (Materials available to all)

North Dakota

• Planning 2021-2022 HOTM Calendar

Ohio

• Stark County Schools Harvest of the Month program (Materials available to all)

Oregon

• Oregon Department of Education (Materials available to all)

Pennsylvania

• Pennsylvania Department of Education and Project PA (Penn State University) (Access unclear)

Rhode Island

• Farm Fresh Rhode Island (Materials available to all)

South Carolina

• SC Farm to School, Palmetto Pick of the Month (Materials available to all)

South Dakota

• Healthy South Dakota (Materials available to all) 

Tennessee
No specific HOTM materials found

Texas

• Texas Department of Agriculture (Materials available to all)

Utah

• Utah Farm to Fork (Monthly newsletter available to all)

Vermont

• Vermont Harvest of the Month (Materials available to all)

Virginia

• Virginia Ag in the Classroom (Materials available to all)

Washington

• Materials from WA Department of Agriculture, as well as several local districts (Materials available to all)

West Virginia
No specific HOTM materials found

Wisconsin

• Healthy Living University of Wisconsin Extension (Users must register for materials)

Wyoming
No specific HOTM materials found