GREENVILLE, S.C.–South Carolina Farm to Institution, in partnership with the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control’s Division of Diabetes, Heart Disease, Obesity and School Health, is excited to announce that together we will be hosting the second annual South Carolina Farm to Institution Summit. This year’s theme is Planting Seeds of Innovation.
The Summit will take place on August 28-29, 2018. Pre-Summit Short Courses will be hosted on Tuesday the 28th. Attendees are asked to provide their own transportation and lunch for some of the trips scheduled for this day. A reception with light refreshments for all conference attendees will be held at the Hyatt Regency located at 220 North Main Street in Greenville, SC on the evening of the 28th. All conference activities on Wednesday the 29th will be held at the Hyatt Regency from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM. A local breakfast and lunch will be provided.
The purpose of the summit is to bring together key farm to institution players to further encourage local procurement, reinforce healthy, local food education, and provide the skills to establish a garden, farmers’ market or community supported agriculture (CSA) program on site. The second day will begin with an overview of both SC Farm to Institution as well as the Diabetes Prevention Program South Carolina. Innovative South Carolina farmer, Stefanie Swackhamer, General Manager of Tiger Corner Farms will be the keynote speaker. Breakout sessions will reach a wide variety of farm to institution audiences including schools, child care centers, worksites, food service, distributors, and farmers. To facilitate planting the seeds of innovation, all sessions will include an emphasis on innovation, in particular learning from innovative South Carolina leaders.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018: Pre-Summit Short Courses
1. Upstate Farm Tour
Sponsored by South Carolina New and Beginning Farmer Program in partnership with Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
8:00 am – 3:00 pm
Schedule:
- 8:00 am The Children’s Museum of the Upstate
300 College St, Greenville SC 29601
Visitor parking is available in the Heritage Green Parking deck located behind the Hughes Main Library. $4, cash/check only. Walk to the bus loading zone in front of the museum.
- 8:15 am departure
- 9:00 am-10:30 am District 6 at Cragmoor Farms
This 49-acre farm is protected through a conservation agreement and leased to Spartanburg County School District 6 for its Farm to School program. The farm provides fruits and vegetables to the district’s 15 schools and educational opportunities for its 11,000 students.
- 11:00 am-12:30 pm Thicketty Mountain Farms
Thicketty Mountains Farm is a diverse family farm producing grass-fed beef and sustainably grown vegetables (tour will visit vegetable operation). Learn about their holistic approach to farming and hear about some of the challenges of wholesale distribution that small farms face.
- 1:15 pm -3:00 pm The Children’s Museum of the Upstate
(Bus will leave after dropping passengers at TCMU.)
Lunch will be provided at Seedlings, a farm to table restaurant at The Children’s Museum of the Upstate, with 80% of its ingredients sourced locally. Learn about the museum programs that have had an agricultural focus (e.g., hydroponic garden, chicken egg incubator), then explore the museum on your own.
2. The Joy in Classroom Foundation, Parent-Child Interaction Garden Short Course at A Child’s Haven, Inc. August 28, 2018
10:00 am – 11:30 am
Learn about how The Joy in Classroom Foundation-Child Interaction Garden at A Child’s Haven promotes healthy eating habits, teaches strategies to manage stress and teaches parents of young children how to create their own home garden. The staff designed the program using the Parents as Teachers treatment model. Attendees will have an opportunity to hear about the process, tour the facility and gardens and see the children interacting with the garden. Attendees will also gain ideas and strategies of how to begin a parent-child interaction garden at their facility. The course will be held at 20 Martin Drive, Greenville, SC 29617.
3. Furman Farm at the David E. Shi Center for Sustainability & Bon Appétit Dining Short Course August 28, 2018
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Furman has developed a national reputation for its innovative approach to sustainability. This has led to the development of a successful on-campus farm-to-table partnership with a dining company that believes in healthy, local food sources. The Furman Farm is associated with Furman’s David E. Shi Center for Sustainability and teaches students and the community how to develop sustainable and healthy food options. While the farm is only a quarter-acre, a wide variety of produce is grown throughout the year using organic practices such as crop rotations, composting, drip lines, natural fertilizers, and integrated pest management. In addition to procurement from local and regional farms, a portion of the crops produced in the Furman Farm is given to Furman’s Dining Hall to supply the Furman community with fresh, local, and seasonal products. The dining company at Furman, Bon Appétit, has a very unique kitchen philosophy that makes them a valuable asset: cook from scratch, use fresh and authentic ingredients, and purchase local and seasonal products. Bon Appétit is proud that their freezers are small and their deliveries of fresh produce and whole foods are big. At the end of the day, scraps from the Furman Dining Hall are composted to create a nutritious soil to fertilize the plants at the Furman Farm. This short course will include a tour of the Furman Farm and the Bon Appétit kitchen to learn about how these efforts are impacting the community through full-circle sustainability efforts while providing healthy food options. The course will start at the David E. Shi Center of Sustainability located at Furman University, 3300 Poinsett Highway Greenville, South Carolina. Please plan to wear comfortable walking shoes for a lake-side stroll from the Furman Farm to the Bon Appétit kitchens at Furman’s Dining Hall.
4. Mill Village Farms & FoodShare Short Course August 28, 2018
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Learn about how Mill Village Farms is impacting their local community through urban farms and youth empowerment programs that improve access to fresh and healthy food across Greenville county. Attendees will hear about their FoodShare Greenville program, modeled after a successful concept in Columbia, SC. This innovative FoodShare program packages and delivers affordable produce boxes every other week directly to low-income families through churches, community centers, and healthcare clinics. Hear from a community healthcare professional on how the FoodShare program is working within a medical setting and how it’s improving their patients’ health. The course will include a tour of their urban farm, greenhouse, and community kitchen. Attendees will have an opportunity to volunteer and help prep their next round of FoodShare produce boxes for the community. Please plan to wear comfortable clothing and bring sunscreen and water as most of the course will be outdoors. The course will be held at their Sullivan Street Farm located on the campus of Long Branch Baptist Church, 28 Bolt St, Greenville, SC 29611.
Evening Reception (FREE admission with any short course or full-day summit ticket)
4:30 pm – 6:00 pm
All conference attendees are invited to attend a reception with light refreshments, which will take place at the Hyatt Regency’s Gallery A located at 220 North Main Street in Greenville, SC from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm on the evening of August 28th.
HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hyatt Regency Greenville for $93 per night (the GSA rate) for August 28th and August 29th. The cutoff date is August 10, 2018 and rooms at this rate will be available on a first come, first served basis. To reserve your room, visit https://book.passkey.com/go/farmtoinstitutionsummit.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Second Annual South Carolina Farm to Institution Summit | 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Hyatt Regency 220 N Main Street, Greenville SC 29601
–South Carolina Farm to Institution