Farm to School comes to District 518
National initiative supplies locally grown food to studentsWORTHINGTON — While some may have an extra bad case of the back-to-school blues to accompany this year’s early start date, they can still enjoy the taste of summer during their lunch period.
- Lunch treat
- Corn close-up
WORTHINGTON — While some may have an extra bad case of the back-to-school blues to accompany this year’s early start date, they can still enjoy the taste of summer during their lunch period.
Farm to School, a nationwide initiative that supplies schoolchildren with locally produced food, has come to Worthington District 518 this year — and first on the menu is that summertime favorite: sweet corn. Students at Prairie Elementary and Worthington middle and high schools nibbled away this week at fresh corn provided by Brewster Fresh Produce.
“It’s a whole lot fresher, and probably a thousand miles fresher than what they were getting,” said Pat Haberman of Brewster Fresh Produce, who delivered 1,600 ears of corn to the schools this week. Cooks and high school students helped to shuck the ears for cooking.
In addition to providing fresher, healthier and less processed food, the program aims to fight the obesity epidemic in children, teach children where and how their food is grown and support local farmers, including Brandt Farm, Lakefield, and Ocheda Orchard.
District 518 is one of 69 districts statewide and more than 2,000 districts nationwide that participate in Farm to School. Adrian, Brewster and Fulda districts also receive produce from Haberman.
Additionally, Windom Area School District and Jackson County Central School district are working with Cottonwood-Jackson-Redwood-Renville Statewide Health Improvement Program to pilot the program in their schools this year; a kickoff event for both districts is planned for September.
“It’s another good customer, I don’t understand why they (schools) weren’t in it in the first place,” said Haberman, recalling past efforts to sell his produce to area schools. “I think it’s good for everybody — not just me, but the schools as well. Some of these things they can obtain locally and they can order the foods in the quantities they desire, instead of having half of it go to waste.”
“We’re already ahead of the game. We already have a fresh vegetable every single day,” explained Michele Cranston, the district’s food service coordinator. “Now we’re going to start with more fresh fruit three times a week instead of canned fruit.”
A board comprised of food service workers and local farmers have helped launch the program within the district.
“Part of us just getting started is letting them know what we need so they can plant enough,” Cranston said, though Haberman said a lot of the process is just “guessing by golly.”
Cranston said the corn was well received by the students, who will also get melons, apples, cucumbers and tomatoes throughout the year.
“Ninety percent will take the corn,” she reported. “Yesterday, they put it on their plate, which is good because some of them don’t even know what it is with the diversity we have in the district. But once they tried it, they loved it.”
On the Net:
www.farmtoschool.org
Tags: district 518, farm to school, news, agriculture
More from around the web
RSS Feeds