Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE)

Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) is an initiative to provide young children with healthy, locally produced, and culturally responsive food, much like national farm-to-school efforts. Farm to ECE, however, specifically focuses on children 3-5 years old in child care settings, which include non-profit or for-profit child care centers, family child care homes, Family, Friend, and Neighbor care sites (FFNs), care programs associated with K-12 school districts, and programs for children and youth with special healthcare needs.

To better coordinate resources and guide collective action around these efforts, the Colorado Farm to Child Collaborative developed a strategic approach known as the Colorado Farm to Child Roadmap. The Collaborative, a diverse group of producers, care providers, organizations, state agency representatives, school districts, and others all working together to bring local produce to children, outlined a list of Work Plan Priorities in the Roadmap to accelerate Colorado’s Farm to ECE progress.

• Colorado Farm to Child Roadmap. (Google folder)

Farm to what?

You might hear people use lots of different phrases to express the same basic idea: Farm to Child. Farm to School. Farm to Preschool. Farm to Early Care and Education. They all describe getting fresh food from local sources into the hands—and bellies—of young people, and while each phrase may refer to a different setting, there is a shared foundation of ideas and resources that apply across the board.

Roadmap webpages

The Farm to Child Roadmap initiative webpages for ECE providers, farmers and producers, and partner organizations provide actionable steps for participating in Farm to Child.