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Virginia Food for Virginia Kids

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The Virginia Food for Virginia Kids (VFVK) initiative builds the capacity and commitment of Virginia school divisions to increase scratch cooking and serve more fresh, local, and student inspired meals. Together, we are transforming school meals throughout the Commonwealth.

Elements of Virginia Food for Virginia Kids: Scratch Cooking, Local Procurement, Student Inspired Meals, and Workforce Development

Direct Support to School Nutrition Programs

The Virginia Department of Education, Office of School and Community Nutrition Programs (VDOE-SCNP) provides individualized comprehensive support to VFVK school food authorities (SFAs) to help them reach their goals towards increasing scratch cooking, local food procurement, and student inspired meal offerings. Each year, the VDOE-SCNP works with a cohort of eight SFAs dedicated to operational change. Support services include:

  • detailed operational assessments,
  • strategic planning,
  • training and technical assistance, and
  • unique opportunities for capacity building.

Participating Cohort Divisions

VFVK-Map

2022 Pilot VFVK Cohort (shown in green)

  1. Henrico County
  2. Norfolk City
  3. Franklin City
  4. Stafford County
  5. Fauquier County
  6. Danville City
  7. Washington County
  8. Greensville County

2023 VFVK Cohort (shown in red)

  1. Chesterfield County
  2. Amherst County
  3. Suffolk City
  4. King George County
  5. Fairfax County
  6. Radford City
  7. Prince Edward County
  8. Harrisonburg City

2024 VFVK Cohort (shown in blue)

  1. Dinwiddie County
  2. Goochland County
  3. Virginia Beach City
  4. Northumberland County
  5. Loudoun County
  6. Page County
  7. Nelson County
  8. Rockingham County

Workforce Development Opportunities

The VDOE-SCNP recognizes that school divisions across the Commonwealth face challenges in recruiting and retaining a skilled workforce. To address these challenges, the VDOE-SCNP is developing several VFVK workforce development initiatives with local, statewide, and national partners.

  • Connecting clients with school nutrition programs through the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) work placement.
  • Embedding school nutrition opportunities into Career and Technical Education (CTE) curricula.
  • Partnering with VirginiaWorks and the Chef Ann Foundation (CAF) to ensure that the existing workforce has adequately trained staff.
  • Working with the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) to help SNAP E&T clients find jobs within school nutrition programs.

VFVK Partners

The VFVK initiative brings together multiple state agencies and stakeholders to strengthen school nutrition programs. These inter-agency and stakeholder partnerships have led to innovative workforce development strategies that align with current Virginia programs. Partners include:

  • Chef Ann Foundation
  • Real Food for Kids
  • Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth
  • No Kid Hungry
  • Brigaide
  • Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services
  • VirginiaWorks
  • Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
  • Virginia Department of Education, Office of Career and Technical Education
  • Virginia Department of Social Services
  • Center for Ecoliteracy
  • University of Virginia
  • Virginia's Community Colleges
  • Blue Ridge Community College
  • Reynolds Community College

More Information

For more information, please contact Bee Thorp, VDOE-SCNP Lead Farm to School Specialist, at Brittany.Thorp@doe.virginia.gov.