Farm to School BC: Impact Evaluation on Health and Learning Outcomes for School-Based Public Health Program

In response to Auditor General recommendations and the interest in increasing accountability and quality improvement, Howegroup was contracted by the Public Health Agency of BC (PHABC) to conduct an evaluation of Farm to School BC, a province-wide program food literacy program designed to educate students and enhance school and community connectedness.

Howegroup designed the evaluation to measure the impact on students’ health and learning outcomes and the effectiveness of the operational model. The analysis explored the impact of the program on healthy eating indicators, school-community connectedness and social well-being, support for the BC curriculum and effectiveness of the F2SBC model, including reach into rural communities and impact on vulnerable schools. Evaluation findings were shared with PHABC and Provincial Health Services Authority leadership as well as the Ministries of Education, Health and Agriculture.

“Thanks to you all for your hard work in preparing this for PHABC and its funders and community partners. We are so grateful to you for the care and efforts you made with our clients and most importantly our school communities.” – Shannon Turner, Executive Director Public Health Association of BC