Illinois Harvest of the Month

Welcome to Harvest of the Month!

The Illinois Harvest of the Month program is free to all Illinois child feeding, garden and education sites! You can use your assigned password to access 39 local food toolkits, over 200 recipes, curriculum, and so much more with one simple email request. You’ll also gain access to one-on-one technical assistance, as well as in-person and virtual learning sessions- all absolutely free!

Just email us at the address below and share the following information:

  • Your school, organization or site name, location and contact information.

  • Which type of program you are interested in pursuing: feeding site, garden, community, after-school, home-school, early childcare, or boarding site. 

We’ll get you set up and on your way to a farm to school success story!

If you are a garden program, a child feeding site, an after school or community program or an educator request a password by emailing:   Follow the instruction prompt above to share your information for program registration.

If you are an organization or agency who would like to share, or utilize our program for your feeding, education or garden sites, please request joining Harvest of the Month as a program partner at   Follow the instruction prompt above to share your information for program registration.

What is Illinois Harvest of the Month?

Illinois Harvest of the Month celebrates in-season, locally grown food items every month. Our calendar features foods produced during each Illinois growing season. You choose which local foods you wish to celebrate based upon availability and the right fit for your site or program. Choose what works best for your meal, education, or garden program!

Why do we allow multiple featured foods instead of one food per month like other programs?           Glad you asked!

Our program was developed based on multiple seasonal growing calendars for Illinois. We do not feature one food item per month. We allow our participating sites to choose what foods work best in their program based on the foods which are readily available in their area. Because Illinois is 390 miles in length, from north to south, it encompasses three separate growing zones.

  • Southern Illinois is in Zones 6a-a.
  • Central Illinois is in Zones 5a-6a.
  • Northern Illinois is in Zones 5a-5b.

It makes sense that districts in Southern Illinois will have different food options from local growers than Northern Illinois districts in any given month. We currently have 39 individual toolkits for foods grown across Illinois and for Illinois food products such as maple syrup, honey, horseradish and grains. This allows for program versatility across the state. 

Illinois Harvest of the Month provides flexibility to buy, or grow and serve more local food while teaching kids about healthy eating, nutrition, and agriculture.

Illinois Harvest of the Month registrants receive access to classroom and cafeteria activities, curriculum, over two hundred recipes, downloadable promotional materials and a monthly email chocked full of cafeteria celebration tips and ideas for current seasonal foods, featured recipes, and intriguing fun facts and nutrition facts. There is also free one-on-one assistance available for all registered participants to ensure your Harvest of the Month success!

Would you like a sneak peek of Harvest of the Month? Click here to see a program components and our promotional Harvest Tips monthly email!

This is a free program for Illinois early childhood, child feeding, education and garden sites! Click here to view and download our one-pager info sheet.

To see what Illinois Harvest of the Month looks like in action, read about Mooseheart Child City & School’s use of the program with their gardening activities. 

Get started by exploring each of the seasons below:

  

About Illinois Farm to School

The Illinois Farm to School Network is a growing coalition of organizations, school districts, early care providers, and individuals who support food and nutrition education, local food purchasing, and building our local food economy. Projects like Illinois Harvest of the Month are designed to help make it easy for schools and other institutions to buy local and educate program recipients. The nonprofit organization Seven Generations Ahead runs the Illinois Farm to School Network and Illinois Harvest of the Month.

This project has been funded in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the view or policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.