Two adults holding a head of a sunflower for young children to look at.

Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE)

Kemāmaceqtaq: We’re All Moving supports Farm to ECE programs by linking local farmers with childcare centers, bringing fresh, local food to young children.

Table of Contents

Kemāmaceqtaq: We’re All Moving

Community Resources

Food and Nutrition

Food Systems

Safe and Accessible Physical Activity

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Farm to ECE Activities

The Kemāmaceqtaq team supports activities that connect young children with healthy, local foods through gardening, education, and hands-on experiences. We work with Menominee Early Childhood Services, including Head Start and daycare programs, to bring these opportunities to life.

Our efforts include creating action plans, offering professional development for staff, and providing classroom resources like books, posters, and food models. Children learn about local foods through activities such as gardening, hydroponics, and field trips to farmers markets, community gardens, and farms. Seasonal projects, like planting sunflowers in spring and harvesting in fall, help kids understand where food comes from and build lifelong healthy habits.

Key Activities:

Completed the Go NAPSACC Farm to ECE assessment and created an action plan for future activities.

Planned onsite gardening projects with Head Start and daycare programs.

Organized professional development for staff, including training on how to talk to kids about local foods.

Provided classroom resources, books, posters, food models, and activity kits, to make teaching about healthy foods easy.

Introduced in-class hydroponics projects, such as growing mint for harvest and activities.

Scheduled field trips to farmers markets, community gardens, and farms.

Hosted seasonal activities, like planting sunflowers in spring and returning in fall to harvest.

Extension employee leaning over a student who is harvesting sunflower seeds at a table.

Young boy in a black sweater holding a sunflower head.

Made possible with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.