Thirteen elementary school students’ art pieces have been chosen for the North Carolina Farm to School 2013-2014 calendar. In addition to the artwork, the calendar includes daily agricultural facts. This is the third year for the contest.

The Farm to School program began in 1997 as a collaborative effort of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Food Distribution and Marketing divisions. The two divisions work together to secure orders from child nutrition directors and then source and deliver locally grown fruits and vegetables for school lunch programs. During the 2012-2013 school year, the program generated nearly $1.4 million with participation of 92 school districts statewide.

“This year, we received more than 3,800 entries with images of agricultural scenes such as tractors, farmers, cows, fruits and vegetables,” Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said. “These calendars will help kids learn more about North Carolina agriculture and its connection to our food supply.”

The winners of the calendar contest and the month their artwork will represent are as follows:

September 2013 — Heaven Thornton, a fifth-grader at Landis Elementary in Rowan County;

June 2014 — Ashton Brown, a first-grader at Rockwell Elementary in Rowan County;

The contest was open to all public elementary students across the state. The winners received $50 gift cards sponsored by the N.C. Farm to School Cooperative, the group of farmers supplying produce to the program.

Winners will be announced at the School Nutrition Association annual conference in June, and their artwork will be on display in the Agriculture Building and at the N.C. State Fair in October.

Limited numbers of the calendars will be available through participating school systems before the start of the school year. Additional copies will be available at NCDA&CS on a first-come, first-served basis, and printer-friendly versions will be available online at www.ncfarmtoschool.com.