Farm to School Summit ‘Cultivates Connections’ Between Dairy Farmers and School Food Decision-Makers
October 21, 2025 | 3 min to read
American Dairy Association North East hosted “Cultivating Connections, a Farm to School Summit” at Fawn View Farm in Pylesville, Maryland, bringing over 75 dairy farmers, school food leaders, and state agriculture officials together to strengthen partnerships, boost local dairy in school meals, and showcase farm tours, educational sessions, equipment grants, marketing resources, and a pilot Frozen Hot Chocolate Milk recipe to increase student access to nutritious, locally sourced dairy.
Maryland’s Fawn View Farm Hosts Dairy Checkoff Summit
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – American Dairy Association North East recently hosted the “Cultivating Connections, a Farm to School Summit” at Fawn View Farm in Pylesville, Md., bringing together dairy farmers and school food decision-makers to show how dairy connects the cafeteria, classroom and community.
More than 75 attendees gathered to strengthen partnerships, elevate dairy’s visibility in farm to school efforts, and reinforce ADA North East’s leadership in promoting nutritious, locally sourced dairy foods in schools.
ADA North East CEO John Chrisman and Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program Chair Lolly Lesher were joined by Maryland Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks and Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding at the event.
“Building these relationships with school food professionals is critical to securing milk and dairy foods on school menus,” said ADA North East CEO John Chrisman. “Adding the support of our state agriculture secretaries further ensures that students will continue to have access to nutritious meal options while also supporting our states’ dairy farmers.”
The summit included a tour of Fawn View Farm hosted by owner Mary Stewart along with several educational sessions and a locally sourced lunch. Maryland Alternate Dairy Princess Madison Thomas offered a milk toast using ADA North East’s new Frozen Hot Chocolate Milk recipe, which will be piloted this spring.
“Our family is very passionate about connecting with our community and helping to bridge the gap between agriculture and consumers,” said Stewart. “Hosting this event was a unique opportunity to connect schools with farmers like us who are dedicated to producing safe, nutritious foods to serve their students.”
ADA North East is committed to working with schools to help increase student access to nutritious meals through equipment grants and funding, marketing resources, recipes and additional support.
To learn more about ADA North East school nutrition programs, click here, or call 315.472.9143.
About American Dairy Association North East
American Dairy Association North East (ADA North East) is the dairy farmer-funded organization funded by participating dairy farmer’s checkoff investment to build demand and sales for milk and dairy foods throughout the local region. Representing nearly 8,000 dairy farm families in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and northern Virginia, ADA North East develops and implements local programs to drive milk and dairy sales at retail outlets and in schools. The organization also conducts consumer education about dairy through events, traditional and social media, and in collaboration with health professionals through National Dairy Council®. ADA North East works closely with Dairy Management Inc.™, the national dairy checkoff organization, to support nutrition research, national partnerships and developing export markets for dairy to bring a fully integrated promotion program to the region. For more information, visit www.AmericanDairy.com.