F2SBC Updates: Conference, Call for Proposals, School Garden Mentorship Program, and More!
Sonya Rokosh
Hi Kamloops Region Network,
Please find a plethora of goodies, including the official website launch for our Farm to School conference and call for proposals! Wednesday there is still space left in the Northern Indigenous Food Ways: Learning Circle Series for K-12 Educators and our School Garden Mentorship series is now open for folks to sign-up.
F2SBC Conference 2023 - Website Launch & Call for Proposals
Farm to School BC is excited to announce the launch of our 2023 conference website and call for proposals!
Our 2023 conference, Planting the Seed: Harvesting connections, ideas, and community, will be happening May 17th-19th at the UBC Nest in Vancouver. Our conference aims to celebrate the impact of both budding and established school food initiatives and programs, welcome diverse perspectives to share their experiences and knowledge, and leave our community with a revitalized sense of connectedness and empowerment.
We anticipate up to 300 attendees from backgrounds spanning education, health, agriculture, culinary arts, policy, research, Indigenous affairs, and youth sectors. Conference themes include school farms, meal programs, Indigenous food ways, capacity building, celebrating culture with food, community connections, youth leadership and training, and more!
Our call for proposals is open now until February 15th, 2023. Proposals may focus on any promising practice, innovative initiative, experience-based observation, policy, and/or research effort to advance the movement toward healthy, local, and sustainable foods for students. We are accepting proposals in the formats of workshops, teacher & student-led posters, short talks or stories, and original research papers. Successful applicants will have access to our reduced presenter registration rate for the conference. Please see the Call for Proposals guidelines which can be downloaded here: Call for Proposals
Stay tuned as we will be announcing registration launch later this month. More information can be found by visiting our conference website.
Other exciting Farm to School updates:
The next Farm to School BC free virtual session of our Northern Indigenous Food Ways: Learning Circle Series for K-12 Educators is this coming Wednesday, Jan 11th 3:15pm-4:30pm.
This session will be led by Tea Creek Farm speaking to the history of Indigenous food in the Northern Context, ReconciliACTION & experiences of Tea Creek model. To learn more about the amazing work Tea Creek Farm is doing please visit https://www.teacreek.ca/
This series is presented to provide an opportunity for educators within the K-12 education system in gaining or advancing skills and knowledge to apply indigenous food ways and teachings within their food literacy curriculums and projects. The series is presented to support Northern Educators, but is open to all who would like to learn, connect and witness Indigenous food ways specifically in the Northern context.
If you have not yet done so, you can register for the session through our Eventbrite.
2023 School Garden Mentorship Program
From January to October 2023, Farm to School BC is offering a free mentorship program for K-12 educators in BC who are in the initial stages of creating a school garden or are revitalizing an existing school garden. This mentorship program will provide valuable skills for school-based coordination that supports both the development of a robust school garden community and tips for garden maintenance. This program includes a series of monthly after-school online workshops, facilitated discussion groups and the opportunity to join a supportive cohort of school garden educators from across the province. Find out more here!
The first workshop will be on Tuesday, January 24th from 3:30-4:30. You can sign up here for the workshops. In the week following the webinar, we will host a facilitated discussion group offering the opportunity to dive deeper into topics that emerged during the webinar. The discussion groups are open to new and seasoned school gardeners, and attendance at the webinar is not a prerequisite for joining the discussion groups. You can sign up for the discussion groups here.
More Opportunities:
Farm Folk City Folk’s Citizen Seed Trial
Do you want to be part of a citizen seed trial this year? If your class is interested in saving and participating in local seed development, here is a chance to take part in hands-on citizen science! If you are curious, please check out this page which provides more information and the signup link. There will be specific support for the school groups and the crops selected are early-season crops ideal for the school season.
EcoSummit, March 2 - 23rd. Free event through EcoSchools Canada!
The EcoSummit is a free, accessible event that will bring together students, educators and partners to discuss important environmental issues. The conference will focus on four main themes:
Low-carbon commuting
Outdoor learning
Waste reduction
Climate action
Get more information here!
Get Outside Grants (GoGrants)
Due February 1st. 600$ Get Outdoors or GO Grants provide field study grants for K-12 classes to help get students outdoors learning about B.C.'s biodiversity of fish, wildlife, and their habitats. GO Grants cover transportation, outdoor field study equipment and or program or leader fees to support student learning and connecting outdoors in nature.
Resources:
Society Promoting Ecological Conservation (SPEC) - Teaching Resources
Find updated teaching resources on the Neighbourhood Nature School portion of our website including Snow Geese & Agriculture, Backyard Birds of BC, Seed Germination Testing, and the Winter Scavenger Hunt.
Revised Body Image Resource
VCH and Jessie’s Legacy have revised “Promoting Positive Body Image”, a resource for schools and others working with children and youth to address body image concerns and diet culture. Developed with staff working in public health, mental health, and eating disorder services, and education, this resource aims to help reduce disordered eating.
As people who work with children and youth, we can influence youth’s beliefs, language, and behaviours around food, weight, and health. Healthy bodies come in different sizes and shapes. Weight-inclusive health promotion supports health holistically—physical, mental, social, and emotional health.
