About
Farm to Early Care and Education
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What is Farm to ECE?
What is Farm to ECE?
Farm to ECE enriches the connection 0 to 5 year olds have with fresh, locally sourced foods in all types of ECE settings (e.g. preschools, child care centers, family child care homes, Head Start/Early Head Start, and programs in K-12 school districts) focusing on three core elements:
Farm to ECE can help improve children’s overall health and development through nutrition education and physical activity according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Some of the goals of Farm to ECE are to:
Increase children’s acceptance and preference for healthy foods;
Increase children's and family knowledge about healthy foods and local food systems; and
Positively influence child, family, and ECE provider health behaviors.
Farm to ECE provides children with experiential learning opportunities, which increase their nutritional awareness while engaging their caregivers in issues related to child nutritioN and Wellness.
What is Hawai'i Farm to ECE?
Ho'omaika'i (Congratulations)! Chances are if you're an Early Child Care or Educatoin provider in Hawai'i you're probably already doing Farm to ECE sorts of things!
Incorporating young children in the foundational practice of growing food to make survival in Hawai'i possible has been happening here for generations. It all starts with developing a fond love and connection to Hawai'i 'āina.
The current day itterations of Farm to ECE in Hawai'i are deeply guided by Native Hawaiian cultural practices and values, and are an encoruaged part of child rearing.
Hawai‘i Farm to ECE is an arm of Hawai‘i Farm to School, a founded in 2010 and housed within the Hawai‘i Public Health Institute since 2017. Hawai'i Farm to ECE was estbalished in 2020.
The Hawai'i Farm to School is part of a larger nationwide farm to school movement, which involves learning gardens and on-campus farms, education, and school food improvements through local procurement to enhance the well-being of students, families, schools, and community food systems.
"I maika'I ke Kalo i ka 'ohā."
Ōlelo Noe'au #1232
THe goodness of the taro is judged by the young plant it produces.
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