Farm to Early Care & Education (ECE)

“Cultivating healthy habits for our littlest eaters”
– National Farm to School Network

What is “Farm to ECE”?

Farm to Early Care and Education (F2ECE) connects farming to early care and education programs (serving 0-5 year olds) to support equitable access to engaging nutrition-focused learning experiences that increase child health and wellbeing. The three key strategies of farm to ECE are:

  • Local procurement
  • Gardening
  • Food, nutrition, and agriculture education

Collectively, these strategies can ensure that children of all identities and backgrounds can access and learn about local, nutritious food while supporting the development of a strong, community-based local food system. Farm to ECE strategies extend to all types of ECE settings including early learning centers, family home programs, preschools, Tribal programs, Head Start/Early Head Start, and programs in K-12 school districts.

Explore the pages below to learn more about farm to ECE in Washington and for additional resources:

Connect Through our Community of Practice

To learn and share farm to ECE related ideas, resources, questions, and best practices with network members across Washington State, join the farm to ECE Community of Practice.

Email Listserv

Network members can email all members of the Farm to Early Care and Education Community of Practice by sending a message to this email address: waf2s_farmtoece@lists.cahnrs.wsu.edu

Connect with Farmers

Discover the regional hub directory to find, connect and collaborate with farmers and organizations involved in farm to ECE in your area.

Questions or comments? Please contact us here: waf2snetwork@gmail.com
Visit the Department of Health’s Nourished & Active in Early Learning page here and the National Farm to School Network here.

E-mail waf2snetwork@gmail.com
search previous next tag category expand menu location phone mail time cart zoom edit close