Fresh Bites Winter Edition 2022

COMMITTEES Farm to School

Farm to School Feature

FarmerS Market Comes to School

SOUP-er Jr. Chef Challenge and Farm to School Kickoff

Canandaigua City School District held a Farmers’ Market Day at Canandaigua Primary/Elementary School. Students picked out produce to enjoy at home and learned about local NY state foods. Some of the produce included stalks of Brussels Sprouts, Grapes, Peppers, and Pumpkins. This event is part of the farm to school program bringing more local food and education right to students at school. BY TODD FOWLER FOOD SERVICE DIRECTOR, CANANDAIGUA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

BY BECKY O’CONNOR HARVEST NY

Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup, which tastes suspiciously like Thanksgiving in a bowl, was the winner of Hamburg Central School District’s SOUPer Jr. Chef Challenge and Farm to School Kickoff, held on October 1st. The 3rd annual Jr. Chef Challenge was part of the Hamburg Middle School’s Culinary Program, led by Culinary teacher Sheri Gund. Planning for the event began in late spring, when Gund, Anne Rich (district Food Service Director), and Tricia Miller (district Farm to School Coordinator and garden educator extraordinaire) put their heads together to come up with a plan for the summer 2021 Community Culinary Connections program. For the third year, students enrolled in the Middle School Culinary Program would have the opportunity to participate in agriculture and culinary experiences over the summer. These hands-on experiences are designed to show students where food begins, and open their eyes to the inspiration chefs use to create delicious fare. In summer 2021, students were invited to tour Sweet Pea Bakery and Juicy Burger restaurant, and 3 food trucks: Frontier Central School District’s food truck, Buffalo Bro’s Burgers, and O’Briens Farm Fresh Kitchen. They also visited Draudt’s FarmMarket andGreenhouses, a fourth-generation family farm that provides the district with produce throughout the school year, for a tour led by farmer Les Draudt. When they returned to the classroom in September, Mrs. Gund introduced them to their culinary spaces and led them in knife skills training before beginning to work with a variety of ingredients and prepare various dishes. Unlike previous years, when teams of Middle School culinary students were led by chefs from local restaurants for the Jr. Chef Challenge, Mrs. Gund partnered with BOCES Culinary Program instructor Lauren Sikora to pair the Middle School students with BOCES Culinary Program students. The week of the cookoff, Middle School students prepared Classroom Corn Chowder and sampled five NY harvest soups, which introduced them to different flavor combinations and provided an opportunity to discuss their preferences. Students were split into teams and acquainted with the BOCES Culinary Program and a list of pantry ingredients that would be available to them during the SOUPer Jr. Chef Challenge. The day before the event, teams of Middle School and BOCES culinary students worked together to develop recipes using the pantry of NY harvest ingredients, and

began prep work. Students finished preparing the soup the day of the event, and returned after school to present their soups to a team of judges during the SOUPer Jr. Chef Challenge and Farm to School Kickoff Event. The event was held outdoors, with the samples of each soup offered on trays at tables manned by the culinary students. Also at the event: free NY popcorn; NY apple cider slushies, made using the Farm to School Blender Bike; lawn games; Harvest of the Month Zucchini Bites prepared by Hamburg Middle School Family and Consumer Science club; Big Apple Crunch photo booth (which helped make HCSD one of the 2021 Big Apple Crunch winners); Farm to School giveaways; school merch; free raffle to local restaurants; and a table to donate non-perishable items to a local food pantry. A panel of judges tasted the soups and scored them on appearance, taste and texture, student appeal, and ease of replication. The judges were district Superintendent Michael Cornell, farmer Les Draudt, farmer Wendy Wilson (of LynOaken Farms), Cornell Cooperative Extension Farm to Institution Coordinator Becky O’Connor, Hamburg High School Student Government representative Ava Sargente, BOCES Culinary Instructor Lauren Sikora, and restaurant owner Jimmy Butera. The winning recipe, Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup, will be featured on the lunch menu in January.

FreshBites

WINTER 2022