Farm to School Activity Tracker as an Accurate and Reliable Measure of Farm to School Programming

The Farm to School Activity Tracker (F2SAT) allows diverse farm to school (F2S) programs to use a consistent tool for recording and tracking-related activities. Divided into 4 domains-school meals, classroom education, engagement activities, and gardening activities-the F2SAT is an accurate and reliable tool for cross-comparison of F2S program activities. Testing of the F2SAT occurred in 2 phases. The first stage tested accuracy using rankings by expert F2S mangers. The second stage tested interrater reliability as 5 assessors used the tool to measure the same F2S activities. This testing concluded that the F2SAT provides both a common language and form of measurement for practitioners and researchers. Further development of the F2SAT requires a broader pool of practitioners and researchers using the tool and reporting on how accurately and reliably it tracks their F2S activities.