Case Study

Our technical assistance is relationship-based, content-rich, and there on demand. Our technical assistance model consists of providing support for specific questions or needs that arise during implementation, creating knowledge products to inform action, and managing a community of practice to support stakeholders learning from one another.

Since 2016, the Policy Equity Group has played a role in shaping a growing national movement to improve child nutrition and health outcomes while better supporting local food economies. Known as farm-to-early care and education, or farm-to-ECE, this movement is focused on increasing access to healthy foods across ECE settings through local food procurement; on-site gardens; and opportunities for young children and their families to learn about healthy eating, growing and preparing food, and farming. When implemented well, these models “change the plate” for children in ECE programs, setting them up to develop lifelong healthy eating habits.

While many states are seeing success with their farm-to-school efforts in K-12 settings, the fragmentation and complexities of the ECE system make statewide implementation and expansion of farm-to-ECE challenging. With support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Policy Equity Group provides technical assistance to food and ECE organizations in Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Louisiana. We support the farm-to-ECE policy and implementation goals of each state while maintaining a growing community of practice to allow states to connect and learn from one another.

Much like the “backbone” organization in a collective action model, we:

• support the organizations within each state by coordinating their different roles and responsibilities to meet the overall goal of scaling farm-to-ECE statewide,
• facilitate policy change and system integration to create stronger linkages between the food and ECE systems,
• strengthen implementation of farm-to-ECE models at the program level by supporting strong pedagogy, professional development, procurement, and family engagement, and
• accelerate a national movement by connecting organizations implementing farm-to-ECE models through a learning community.

As a result of our technical assistance, several states have engaged in collective action to take advantage of emerging policy opportunities at the federal and state level that support the expansion of farm-to-ECE to more settings.