Farm to School program changes kids‘ views on food

By LISA RATHKE, Associated Press Writer Lisa Rathke, Associated Press Writer – 9 mins ago

The 105-student school is part of the National Farm to School Network, aimed at getting healthier meals into school cafeterias, teaching kids about agriculture and nutrition and supporting local farmers.

"Vermont has really taken it on in quite the most holistic way and not just in a couple of school districts but statewide," said Anupama Joshi, director of the Farm to School program, based at the Center for Food and Justice at Occidental College in Los Angeles.

The state also has backed the farm-to-school effort with funding to help schools buy equipment to chop or process the local food and buy meat from a local farmer.

Sharon used its $13,500 grant to buy a potato chopper and a food processor. Food service director LinAnn Perry now uses the food processor machine to slice squash and tomatoes picked from the school‘s gardens and area farms in the summer and fall, later to be frozen. The school also bought a salad bar, which has been a huge hit with the kids.

The number of students buying hot lunch has jumped by 50 percent since the school added the salad bar, Perry said. The salad bar is also used for tacos and stir-fries.

"This is great, guys," said sixth grader Daniel Lazar.

"Super onions say no to cancer," one read.

Kids are interested, and teachers are given more diversity in the curriculum — they can work the food angle in science, reading and health classes, he said.

But activities like the farm field trips are what Williams really likes.

"A student who may struggle with a textbook — sitting down and reading text and responding to text — may excel going into a place-based activity," Williams said. "Whether it‘s visiting a farm or going on some type of field trip and having a hands-on experience, and then being able to respond to that through writing."

Working with local farmers helps build community, he said, although that food may be more expensive than the commodity food that some schools use.

The grant helped to buy at least 200 pounds of ground beef from Back Beyond Farm in Chelsea, which cost about a dollar more per pound than hamburger from an area distributor, Perry said. But Vermont apples are cheaper than apples from other states, she said.

The school has raised money for the program by hosting a winter farmers‘ market.

"I think it‘s really good because we get healthier here than at my old school, and we get more fruits and vegetables and local meat," said fourth grader Morgan Jones.

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On the Net:

Farm to School: http://www.farmtoschool.org



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