The distribution of surveys was challenging due to COVID, but every effort was made to reach stakeholder groups in a variety of ways. Online surveys were distributed via CU Farm to School website, CU Farm to School Facebook page, three Urbana neighborhood listservs, USD 116 teacher listserv, one Urbana elementary principal sent out survey links to their parent/guardian listserv, USD 116 school liaisons reached out to Spanish and French-speaking families directly, and Steering Committee members informally promoted surveys to colleagues and the USD 116 community. The breakdown of survey respondents is presented below in graph form.
stakeholder interest in farm to school activities
Surveys asked stakeholders if they were interested, felt neutral, or were not interested in different Farm to School activities, as shown in the graphs below. Overall, survey respondents from all stakeholder groups were supportive of Farm to School activities coming to USD 116. At least half of all stakeholders stated they were interested in each Farm to School activity coming to USD 116 and no more than 15% of respondents explicitly said they were not interested in any activity, with the rest feeling neutral.
To help prioritize development of Farm to School activities at USD 116, students and parents/guardians were asked to rank their excitement for Farm to School activities, with 6 being most excited and 1 being least excited. Parents were most excited about the prospect of locally-grown foods being served in the cafeteria and the development of edible school grow spaces. Students were most excited about cooking demos of locally-sourced foods, field trips to local farms, and having locally-grown foods served in the cafeteria (though parents were more excited about this). Lowest excitement for both students and parents/guardians was for farmers visiting schools.
Stakeholder Comments
Some stakeholders expanded on their thoughts about Farm to School in comments. Read some of them below! All identifying information has been removed to protect respondent privacy.