Get Ready for the 2025 Cream of the Crop Awards!
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and Minnesota Grown are excited to announce the upcoming 2025 Cream of the Crop Awards for Farm to School and Early Care. Formerly the Farm to School District of the Year Awards, this year’s contest is expanding to recognize K-12 schools, early care centers, and family day cares that are going above and beyond to serve and promote local foods!
The highest-scoring entry in each of three categories will receive the Cream of the Crop Award—the ultimate recognition for your dedication to Minnesota grown and raised food! Awards will be given for:
- • School District of the Year
- • Early Care Center of the Year
- • Family Day Care of the Year
Additionally, we will recognize a broad range of achievements with three tiers of Outstanding in the Field Honors:
- • Golden Drumstick Honorees
- • Silver Squash Honorees
- • Bronze Berry Honorees
Start gathering your photos, stories, and examples of how your school, early care center, or day care is highlighting local food and farmers – through the food you serve as well as your lessons, gardens, events, and more. Visit the MDA's Farm to School and Early Care Overview to find additional resources and ideas on how your facility can explore local food!
Applications will open on February 24th, 2025. We can’t wait to see your efforts in action!
We hope you’ll consider applying and stay tuned for more details as we approach the application window!
2023 Contest Winners
Minnesota Grown hosted the first annual Farm to School District of the Year Contest in October 2023 to recognize school districts that promote foods produced by Minnesota Grown farmers and producers!
Three districts received honors:
District of the Year: Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools
The District of the Year award recognizes one district that is doing outstanding work to serve Minnesota Grown food and promote Minnesota agriculture and producers. From their contest submission: “Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools maintain a year-round commitment to local food purchasing and menu development. This commitment extends far beyond Farm to School Month, showcasing our dedication to supporting Minnesota agriculture and providing students with nutritious, locally sourced meals. Currently, we incorporate local food items from 12 Minnesota farms and producers, five of which are new to us this school year. Our goal as a department is to continue to nurture our current relationships as well as forge new partnerships."
Rising Star: Glacial Hills Elementary (Starbuck, Minnesota)
This award recognizes a district that is newer to Farm to School and has made exceptional progress in a short time. From Glacial Hill’s contest submission: “During our first year of Farm to School, we sourced produce from 3 farmers. We are in our second year of Farm to School and now source produce from 12 farmers! We are excited to further our relationship with a variety of producers as they focus specifically on our school needs for next year.” They also shared in their submission that they recently launched a new Kitchen Ambassador program where students get to plan school meal menus that includes all Minnesota grown foods.
People’s Choice: Hutchinson Public Schools
Each school district selected one photo to be entered in the People’s Choice Award Photo Contest. The winner district was determined by the photo that received the most votes on social media. Hutchinson’s photo earned 584 votes! You can see the Facebook post and photos here.
Resources
To learn more about Farm to School month in Minnesota and how to celebrate, visit farmtoschoolmn.org/f2smonth.
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