DECEMBER 25, 2008 issue
Farm to School Project
Two rural schools who serve over 400 children, Bethel Elementary, with 53% needy children, and Mabel Elementary, with 54% needy children will be targeted.
Each month, a local vegetable and grower will be featured. Colorful, child-friendly posters about the fruit or vegetable of the month will include how the produce benefits the body, along with a picture and information about the grower, and will be placed around the building and in the cafeteria. Foodchamps.org, the children’s site of More Matters, offers colorful examples of produce characters. A taste test of the featured produce will be offered to students, faculty and staff once a month for four months. Chefs will be recruited from the High Country’s Chefs Association to conduct cooking demonstrations in the cafeteria.
A colorful handout for parents will be developed monthly. One side will be a copy of the poster, while the other side will promote the four local farmer’s markets with locations, dates and times, and the fact that they participate in the WIC program. The recipe that the chef utilizes will be printed, along with information about how to grow the produce.
This fall and winter we will offer some of the following: broccoli, winter squash, cabbage, kale, swiss chard, potatoes, greenhouse lettuce, garlic, potatoes, and apples.
The goal is for the community and school personnel to enthusiastically support continuing to purchase the high quality produce from local growers, and for children to enjoy produce that they may not otherwise have a chance to. Parents will become more aware of local produce venues and may even decide to establish a garden.
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