Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller kicked off the 2025 Texas Farm Fresh Challenge on Oct. 2.
Every October, which is also Farm to School Month, schools and child care centers join the challenge to make eating local food and learning about Texas agriculture fun for children and staff. Farm Fresh Challenge participants earn recognition for serving Texas products, offering agricultural learning opportunities and highlighting their efforts on social media, according to a news release.
“Texas children should cultivate a healthy appetite for fresh food from a local farm or ranch.” Miller says. “During the Farm Fresh Challenge, children learn about local food and the men and women who produce it. Our child nutrition professionals are ensuring kids know that hard-working farmers and ranchers are behind every meal they eat.”
The Farm Fresh Challenge is a centerpiece of Miller’s Farm Fresh Initiative, a comprehensive plan to create more nutrition-program opportunities for Texas agricultural producers and increase the amount of local food in the 1 billion meals served annually in Texas in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) resources help nutrition professionals achieve any level of recognition, the release says. TDA-curated recipes include ingredients that are available from Texas producers. The department also created a success guide with a step-by-step plan for earning recognition, a tracking tool for recording achievements necessary for recognition and learning resources such as flashcards, word games and coloring pages. A social media toolkit helps participants champion their programs online, and promotional stickers and buttons are fun additions to the excitement, the release says.
The Farm Fresh Challenge also drives participation in the TDA’s Farm Fresh Network, which includes 239 agricultural producers prepared to provide Texas products for federal nutrition programs. Farm Fresh Challenge participants can use the network to find local producers and purchase their vegetables, fruits, meats, dairy and more.
For more information about the Farm Fresh Challenge, visit SquareMeals.org/FarmFreshChallenge.
