Farm to School – TrayTalk.org

Lettuce for CA district grown in freight farms

An innovative freight container system modified into a vertical hydroponic garden produces just over a thousand heads of lettuce each week, served fresh for Ann Sobrato High School students to enjoy at lunch. The freight farm is just 320 square feet and sits on a concrete slab outside the California school, in Morgan Hill Unified School District.

Montana Made Marinara is a Hit on Lunch Menus

There were rave reviews from some young food critics when meatball subs with locally produced marinara were served at Belgrade School District #44. The sauce was made with ingredients grown on Montana farms and the initiative was started to help solve a problem brought on by supply chain shortages. The goal was to have a product consistently available for school nutrition programs.

Connecting Classroom to Cafeteria in CT

When a student going through the lunch line asked why there was a potato in the fruit basket, Kate Murphy, SNS, Food Service Director for Naugatuck Public Schools in Connecticut, had an “ah ha moment.” Realizing that the child didn’t recognize a pear, Murphy determined more had to be done to support nutrition education.

While researching ideas for CT Grown for CT Kids Week, Murphy identified resources available from local farmers that could be used to create lesson plans. She knew it had to be something kids would be interested in – that’s when she got her big idea: pickles!

Dairy Princesses Visit New York Schools

The princesses visiting New York schools aren’t wearing crowns or looking for glass slippers. The fairy tale for these “dairy princesses” is the story of farmers, cows, milk and farm life.

Shelby Benjamin, one of more than two dozen dairy princesses in New York, teaches students about the dairy industry as part of her job with the American Dairy Association North East. Her journey started as a teenager, showing a cow at a local county fair and realizing there was so much more to the dairy industry to learn and share.

Healthier kids for a healthier community

Getting children excited about consuming unfamiliar healthy foods in school lunch can sometimes be a challenge. For one district in Mississippi, exposing children to new foods and changing palates starts with some of the youngest students doing taste tests and sharing feedback on new menu items.

School Grown Lettuce on the Menu in MN

Outside gardening year round is not an option when you live in an area known for cold winters. In Winona, Minnesota, the senior high school uses hydroponic gardening to source fresh lettuce for lunch. Winona Area Public Schools students who take elective agriculture classes are growing the lettuce.

Farm to School Comes to Life at Dover-Eyota Schools

While many schools have adopted a Farm to School program, Dover-Eyota Public Schools (MN) has gone above and beyond to offer their students fresh, locally-sourced school meals. Using apples from their own school orchard to make homemade applesauce and sourcing beef from a local farm to offer freshly-made hot dogs and hamburgers are examples of how they celebrated Farm to School Month, which wrapped up last week.

A Dover-Eyota PS school lunch: buns are from St. Charles Bakery in St. Charles; the hamburger is from Goldenrust Farm in Eyota, whose children attend Dover-Eyota schools; the tomatoes are from Blattner Farm (Produce Plus), whose children went to Dover-Eyota as well; the lettuce is from Revol Greens in Owatonna – making this entrée 100 percent local!

Lunchtime May Look Different, But School Meals Are A Student’s Best Friend

Lansing Central School District lunch with rotini and homemade marinara sauce.

School lunch and the way it’s served during National School Lunch Week may look little different in 2020, but schools are still working hard to introduce new menus items and get kids excited about eating health meals at school. Students in Lansing Central School District (NY) know first-hand how school nutrition professionals have risen to overcome challenges to adapt meal service to various in-person and remote learning methods during the pandemic.

Curbside Lunch Pick-up Doesn’t Stop National School Lunch Week Celebrations

National School Lunch Week (NSLW) looks pretty different this year for Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools (NC) as K-5 students won’t be starting in-school classes until October 19. The district has been running a curbside meal pick-up operation to coincide with distance learning, but they haven’t given up serving nutritious and delicious meals for their students! ECPPS is offering prepared meals that are shelf stable or heat-and-eat selections for middle and high schoolers.

Lunch Participation Jumps When Students Learn About Local Ingredients

One school district increased school meal participation by educating their students about the local, healthy options they were already sourcing from local Kentucky Farmers. Fayette County Public School’s (FCPS) Nutrition Department (KY) worked closely with their Farm to School program to coordinate the Fayette Farm to School Challenge, a weeklong program filled with taste tests, cafeteria guests and educational programs to help increase student participation.

The Fayette Farm to School program worked to promote the educational aspect to families, students and staff, while the FCPS School Nutrition Department procured and prepared local menu items for the week. They featured recipes including cheesy chicken étouffée, an original created by District Chef Todd Gorrell, containing Kentucky sweet potatoes and butternut squash. The week also showcased how kid-favorites, like hot dogs and Sloppy Joe’s, could be made healthier, using locally-sourced produce and local farm-raised meats. Read more…