Farm to School Month, October 2019

According to the National Farm to School website (farmtoschool.org), “Farm to School enriches the connection communities have with fresh, healthy food and local food producers by changing food purchasing and education practices at schools and at early care and education sites.”

Through initiatives fostered by Farm to School, students gain access to healthy, local foods, and benefit experientially from school gardens, cooking lessons, and farm field trips. Through such exposure, children and their families learn to make informed food choices while “strengthening the local economy and contributing to vibrant communities.”

Farm to school implementation differs by location, but always includes one or more of the following:

According to the Iowa Department of Education website (https://educateiowa.gov/pk-12/nutrition-programs/farm-school), the Iowa Farm to School Program, created during the 2007 legislative session, provides funding to “link schools and children with local farmers and organizations to offer fresh, locally grown food and nutrition based educational opportunities.” The program is being coordinated through the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) and the Iowa Department of Education. Broadly, Iowa defines Farm to School as any program that connects schools and local farms in order to serve healthy meals in school cafeterias, improve student nutrition, provide agriculture, health and nutrition education opportunities, and support local and regional farmers.

There are many ways to implement Farm-to-School, and it does not just mean serving local foods as a part of the meal line. Ideas include: invite a local farmer, chef, or food service employee to lead an activity or talk to students about local food and how it is grown; plan nutrition education activities, such as Harvest of the Month, featuring a local food product that is in season; collaborate with teachers to plan an outdoor garden plot or container gardening activity; and encourage the use of local foods as a healthy school fundraiser or a feature at a special event.

Accordingly, as observed locally, Farm to School Month featured a variety of activities that lived up to the national vision. For example:

Aldrich Elementary School’s Farm to School snack program engaged 411 students who teamed with 10 UNI health, recreation and community service students and 15 volunteers. Aldrich sixth graders made kale chips for all grade levels to taste. The kale came from Aldrich’s school garden and from Yellow Table Farm in Tripoli.

Likewise, Lincoln Elementary School’s Farm to School Snack program engaged 413 students who teamed with ten UNI students and nine volunteers. Lincoln sixth graders also made kale chips for all grade levels to taste. The kale, which came solely from Lincoln’s school garden, was picked by fifth grade leadership students.

These programs are a partnership between the school parent organizations (Lincoln PALS and Aldrich CARE), UNI Local Food Program, and UNI Health, Recreation and Community Service.

Iowa Local Food Day, October 11, 2019

Iowa Local Food Day (www.iowalocalfoodday.org) is a celebration of Iowa farmers and local foods that takes place during National Farm to School Month. On October 11, participating K-12 school districts, colleges, and childcare centers across the state served menus featuring local ingredients. To participate, schools were asked to sign up at the Iowa Local Food Day website, and were required to serve at least two local items that day.

Waterloo Schools were active! They chose to participate by conducting taste tests in their respective gardens, serving squash at Lowell Family Night, and participating in the annual “Great Apple Crunch,” where over 4,000 apples from Timeless Prairie Orchard in Winthrop were served to nine schools that participate in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable program: Becker, Cunningham, Highland, Irving, Kittrell, Lincoln, Lou Henry, Lowell, and Poyner. A video lesson about local apples, created by FoodCorps, was also shown at the schools. At Irving, PE teacher Corey Arensdorf made the countdown announcement over the intercom, and all students “crunched” their apples at the same time.

“Farmer Dave” from the Timeless Prairie Orchard visited four, second grade classrooms at Highland Elementary and talked to approximately 80 students about the orchard. Dave fielded a lot of great questions from the students!

Nearby, Union Community Schools participated by serving loose-meat hamburgers (from La Porte City beef producer Farmin’ with Mark), roasted sweet cinnamon squash (through USDA’s DoD Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, distributed by Loffredo Fresh Produce Co., Inc.), and apple slices (from Beck Orchard in Buckingham).

Schools in the Waverly-Shell Rock School District participated by serving local apples from Apples on the Avenue and yogurt from Country View Yogurt for lunch. Available on salad bars were cherry tomatoes and bell peppers from Genuine Faux Farms, and lettuce from Yellow Table Farm. Additionally, Family and consumer science students from Waverly-Shell Rock Middle School made kale salad for 750 students to taste in the cafeteria (the kale was supplied by Yellow Table Farm).

They also made a poster board about Iowa Local Food Day. At the high school, students performed a taste test using Brussels sprouts from Whistling Thistle Farms. Becky Prostine, Foodservice Director, coordinated purchasing these items from local farmers and plans to purchase more from them in the future. These local food purchases supported area farmers who were less than 30 miles from the school (60 miles for the yogurt).

Kristie Kuhse, family and consumer sciences teacher at Waverly-Shell Rock Middle School, said, “It is really important for me to teach students about Farm to School through my ‘Fuel Up to Play 60’ nutrition and exercise team. In addition to serving kale salad to fellow students, family and consumer sciences students made smoothies using locally produced yogurt from Country View Dairy, and prepared a number of locally grown squash varieties.”

Also on Iowa Local Food Day, Field to Family Food Hub, which serves the Iowa City / Cedar Rapids area, delivered local foods to three school districts. They served 40 school buildings and fed lunch to over 12,000 students. Statewide, school cafeterias served 80,000 lunches and 9,700 breakfasts. These featured more than 20 different locally sourced fruits and vegetables, dairy, meats, and grains.

The lunch tray below (photo from the Field to Family Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/FieldToFamily.Iowa) was served at the Iowa City Community School District, and actually features four local lunch options. On Iowa Local Food Day, all students in the district had the option to choose local pepper strips from Red Earth Gardens, sweet potatoes from Organic Greens LLC, yogurt from Country View Dairy, and apples from Wilson’s Orchard.