Farm to School Across New York State
Farm to School Feature
COMPILED BY JULIE M. RAWAY, MPH, RDN, CDN, SNS, FAND FARMTO SCHOOL CHAIR
HAMBURG CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
Mechanicville Central School District Submitted by Deborah Mackey, Food Service Director Mechanicville Central School District celebrates Farm Fresh Friday the 2nd week of each month. They use the local Cornell Cooperative Extension Harvest of the Month sheet and use a local vendor “Capital Roots” to provide their local products. The Farm to School Coordinator Scott Fuller from Capital Roots is on the district’s wellness committee and he helps the district feature locally grown products. Samples of local products are offered to students and a simple satisfaction survey asking kids if they liked the items, would they choose them again, or if they have another menu suggestion using the items is given to collect feedback. Students have enjoyed some new NY vegetables both through samples and items on the menu. Crunchy Broccoli Salad with bacon, red onion, cheddar and raisins. Students love this! The dressing is simple mayo, vinegar, sugar and a touch of celery seed.
Celebrating National Farm to School Month
Sidney Central School District Submitted by Eliana Epstein, Farm to School Liaison Assistant This year, Sidney Central School District’s Farm to School Program has been working with the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade agriculture classes. When we aren’t in the gardens planting, weeding, watering, or harvesting, we are usually in the kitchen prepping or cooking. This past month, the classes harvested onions, potatoes, carrots, and more, shucked corn and de-stemmed cilantro for the cafeteria, washed potatoes, picked out sunflower seeds, turned compost, and most importantly, cooked and sampled lots of veggie-filled treats. We strongly believe that one of the best ways for kids to learn about their food is to be actively a part of the food production system. Photo Credit: Eliana Epstein Students Enjoy New York Lettuce Submitted by Stephen Leous, Wheatfield Farms Buffalo Public Schools and other western New York Schools source New York lettuce year-round Wheatfield Farms located in Buffalo. Wheatfield Farms combines premium seeds, technology, food safety and sustainability to create a farm like no other. All Pick’d™ products are New York Grown and Certified, and follow USDA Harmonized GAP Plus+procedures, ensuring both a local product and one grown in compliance with the strictest global food safety standards. Being an indoor farm growing lettuce and herbs 24/7/365, this helps them meet the threshold for higher reimbursement from NYS, which can get really hard when trying to find NYS fresh produce during the winter and early spring. For more information, visit www.Wheatfieldfarms.com Photos Credit: Wheatfield Farms
FreshBites Shannon Gilmartin Beautiful lunch trays across the Hamburg District for NY Thursday! Hamburg High School & Middle School featured NY Slate Foods beef tenderloin on a local Costanzo roll with Harvest of the month (HOM)~ NY apple & kale salad with a NY Maple balsamic dressing, NY Marquart Farms potato wedges, a NY Lynoaken apple with NY Welch’s grape juice & Upstate Farms milk to wash it all down! The Elementary students enjoyed a delicious lunch of NY cheeseburger macaroni using Slate Foods beef, a beautiful HOM salad with NY kale & apples topped with NY Maple balsamic, NY Marquart potato wedges, NY Welch’s grape slush, a Lynoaken apple & Upstate Farms milk! All of the staff worked hard to put out this great meal, but they would like to give a special shout out to Chef Gene at the Middle School, and Chef Kristina at the High School for taking all of those tenderloins and cooking them PERFECTLY! It was surely an undertaking! Photos Credit: Hamburg Central School District Staff Hamburg Schools Showcase Garden-Based Learning Submitted by Michele Darstein, HCSD Community Relations Coordinator Assemblyman Jon Rivera (pictured at center) was introduced to Hamburg’s Farm-to-School initiative and garden-based learning when he visited two schools in September. His first stop was Armor Elementary’s outdoor classroom, where teachers James Mason and Jonathan Pawlowski explained the vision for “growing” the outdoor learning space with such possibilities as a soothing water feature, shade and improved surfacing. Then it was on to Union Pleasant Elementary’s Giving Garden, which has offered experiences for children to connect where food comes from, eating healthy and caring for the environment for the past 12 years. Hosting the garden tours were Anne Rich, the district’s Food & Nutrition Services director, and Tricia Miller from the Farm to School team. Photos Credit: Michele Darstein Delicious NY Thursday Meals Submitted by
Baz Perry, Farm to School Coordinator Since 2018, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County (CCE-Tompkins), has been working in cooperation with many local school districts to increase student consumption and awareness of produce grown in New York state. “Individual Tompkins County schools have a long history of supporting their local farms, and we’ve been able to build on that existing strength to work together,” Tompkins County’s Farm to School (TCFTS) Coordinator Baz Perry said in a recent press release. “Since we started TCFTS, we have asked all the area food service directors to dedicate additional time and creative energy to the task of increasing local purchases to improve the quality and diversity of kids’ lunches in Tompkins County. We are so grateful for their initiative and confident their efforts will continue to grow, benefiting the students and the local food system.” As parents know, getting kids to try a new food is often about how it is presented. TCFTS provides resources and training to school staff to assist them in developing recipes that will both appeal to youngsters and feature seasonally abundant local produce. These tasty and nutritious “Harvest of the Month” and “NY Thursdays” dishes are then served in participating school cafeterias. For example, the October lunch menu at Trumansburg Central School includes butternut squash curry with kale and coconut milk as well as an apple cranberry kale salad. School Nutrition Specialist Rosemarie Hanson adapted these recipes utilizing Tuscan kale from Stick and Stone Farm, Butternut Squash came from Sweet Land Farm, and New York state apples. NY basil and cilantro, onions, garlic, and ginger were used too! While Hanson has found that her students in Trumansburg are usually receptive to foods they haven’t eaten before, she admits that it “works best with lots of promotion and taste testing.” Fortunately, TCFTS can help schools with that too. In fact, CCE-Tompkins is currently searching for a part time Farm to School education coordinator who will provide program and administrative support for the educational initiatives of the Farm to School Program. “We are excited to announce that for the next two years, we will be adding more educational opportunities alongside these menu items, through a generous grant from the Park Foundation,” Perry said. “With their support, our staff will train and schedule enthusiastic young adults to host taste tests in cafeterias, hands- on education in school gardens and culinary experiences in classrooms that reinforce plant science, nutrition and the cultural history of food while touching, smelling and tasting whole foods. These efforts will increase acceptance of new menu items, building an appreciation for good food that children will carry throughout their lives.” Photos Credit: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County
Fresh Tomato, Cucumber and Red Onion Salad in a red wine vinaigrette. Sweet potatoes, red peppers, brussels sprouts and red onion combined with oil, crushed garlic, fresh rosemary and thyme with a little salt and pepper. Tossed and roasted for students to enjoy!
Photos Credit: Deborah Mackey
WINTER 2022 Julie grew up on a dairy farm in Skaneateles, NY and has always loved food especially local food. She plans her vacations around farmers markets, restaurants, and anything else to do with food. Julie is the Registered Dietitian at Broome-Tioga BOCES where she works with 15 school districts in the Southern Tier of New York State who implement NY Thursdays, a menu that highlights NY foods twice a month. Julie is passionate about connecting farms to schools, creating opportunities for students to learn and enjoy food! JULIE RAWAY, MPH, RDN, CDN, SNS, FAND • CHAIR FreshBites 41
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WINTER 2022
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