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Four years ago, Catherine Sands, who had a
daughter
in the kindergarten at Helen James School in
Williamsburg and a background in fundraising for
environmental groups, and Sherrie Marti, the
kindergarten teacher, launched a school garden
project called Fertile Ground. The project was
designed to provide kindergarten students with
hands-on learning and a connection to urban
communities.
Catherine contacted Daniel Ross, Executive Director of Nuestras Raíces, an organization that promotes economic and community development through food- and agriculture-related projects. The youth gardening and leadership program at Nuestras Raíces was a natural fit for the developing program in Williamsburg. Youth from Holyoke had an opportunity to develop their leadership and mentoring skills, while children in Williamsburg benefited from the older students' gardening experience, enthusiasm, and energy. Maggie Shar, who works with Fertile Ground, explained another benefit of the Nuestras Raíces-Fertile Ground connection: “The garden is a place where people from different communities can relax together and talk to each other. The process of working together breaks down stereotypes.” When the program first began, Sherrie Marti led her kindergarten class through a segment on Puerto Rican culture that was enhanced by pen-pal letters with the Nuestras Raíces youth and a field trip to the Nuestras Raíces restaurant and urban garden. After the resounding success of the launch season, more teachers at the school expressed an interest in teaching their students through the garden, so today all the students, pre-kindergarten through 6th grade, are involved in the Fertile Ground program. Hope Guardenier, the Fertile Ground garden educator, has worked closely with the teachers to develop ways that the school garden can be used to advance their curricular goals. The curriculum that Fertile Ground has developed with the Williamsburg Elementary Schools shows the amazingly wide range of subjects that can be taught through the hands-on learning environment that the garden offers. Students have studied photosynthesis, composting, minerals and soil, and water cycles in the garden. First-graders have studied butterflies, beneficial insects, and symbiosis. The second graders grew basil, made pesto, and learned about seed-saving. A third-grade teacher has focused on Native American agricultural traditions and cultures by planting a ‘three sisters’ garden comprised of beans, squash, and corn. The sixth grade completed a seed-tracking project to follow the spread of certain kinds of agriculture historically. Students also painted a mural inspired by the garden and have written poems about their experiences there. Fertile Ground has also incorporated social justice and peace education into its curriculum. Catherine says that they aim to address the root causes of racism with the kids. From the mentoring by Nuestras Raíces teenagers on aspects of Puerto Rican growing to the focus on Mohawk farming through the ‘three sisters’ garden, the students have an opportunity to connect directly with other cultures through agriculture. Catherine explains, “It’s exciting to be able to do that through food, and it’s exciting to be able to turn the standard paradigm on its head and have the inner city youth in the role of teachers and mentors.” Fertile Ground has also targeted racism by arranging for teens from Youth Leadership in the Arts, a Northampton-based non-profit devoted to youth leadership training, and Nuetras Raíces to complete a “Dismantling Racism” training together (see Catherine's article about this effort in a past enews.) Parents too benefit from Fertile Ground's efforts, as Catherine and others work to engage parents in the social justice education aspect of the garden. Whether you're 5 or 50, interested in nutrient cycling or communication, Fertile Ground has developed innovative programming. It is a model of integrated agricultural curriculum and much more. Fertile Ground is a great model and
Catherine can be an excellent resource for
parents, teachers, or administrators at other
schools interested in learning from Fertile
Ground's programming. As
concerns about childhood obesity grow and school
wellness policies are set into motion, Fertile
Ground has an inspiring model of a successful,
integrated school garden curriculum to share.
CISA is happy to connect interested parties
to Catherine directly - just give us a call
413-665-7100.
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Craig White is a supporter of local farms and
local
food and as both the Food Service Director for
Bement School in Deerfield and an owner of
Hillside
Pizza, he leads by example. In both of these
positions, his commitment to local
agriculture has
informed his way of doing business and aided
in his
goal of producing high-quality food.
Craig came to the Bement School as Food Service Director seven years ago. When he arrived, he was committed to continuing the relationships with local farmers that were already in place. Since then, he has increased the number of farmers the school works with and the amount of money that is spent on local food annually. Craig regularly buys greens from Seeds of Solidarity Farm in Orange, maple products from Mt. Massamet Sugar House, corn from Williams Farm in Deerfield, and a variety of vegetables from Ciesluk Farm in Deerfield and Yazwinski Farm in Deerfield. A lot of Bement’s produce comes from Foster’s in Greenfield, a Local Hero retailer which stocks local produce all season. Recently, Craig was approached by Foxbard Farm in Shelburne, and he has made a commitment to buying half a cow from them every month. Craig also buys pickles from Real Pickles, salad dressing from Appalachian Naturals and salsa from Hedgie’s Hot Stuff, all of which are made by local business owners at the Western Mass. Food Processing Center in Greenfield. Craig says, “There are a ton of great products being made right here in the valley.” Through his work at Bement, Craig has learned a lot about the challenges of local buying and the enormous benefits of supplying the students with fresh, local produce. He says, “one of the biggest farm to school myths is that buying local is more expensive.” Some items may cost more, but buying wholesale from local farmers in season is usually comparable or less expensive. Even for Food Service Directors working with stricter budget constraints, building wholesale relationships with local farmers can be financially feasible for the school and profitable for the farmer. The administration at Bement is very supportive of local buying, and the parents have been extremely enthusiastic about the foods they see being served to their children. Craig says, “The response from parents is enormous. They love this place, they love the food. I hear parents say, I can’t believe you serve this!” Craig has learned that bringing local food into a cafeteria is extremely rewarding but it requires a time commitment to build relationship with farmers and to develop a new buying system for the school. He understands that “people are overwhelmed—the food service business is overwhelming. You can’t just decide to buy local. You have to plan, to put in the time.” Craig and his staff plan their weekly menus around the harvest so that their meals reflect seasonal shifts in production. That flexibility in their menu helps make local buying possible. Because of Craig’s willingness to put in the time, and because of the support of the parents and administrators at Bement, the school’s students, faculty and staff can count being served fresh, local, seasonal food in the cafeteria. If you'd like to see your cafeteria program
profiled, let us know!
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From sourcing food, planning menus and
working out budgets to cooking and serving
meals to hungry kids and teachers, school
lunches can be quite a production! Keeping up
to date on new procurement regulations can be
hard to fit into a busy schedule, which is
why we are taking time this month to fill you
in on recent developments on Beacon Hill and
nationwide.
There has long been confusion, even within federal agencies, as to whether federal statutes or regulations preempt state or local efforts to favor local producers when purchasing food for public schools. This stems in large part from language in the 1988 procurement regulations published by the Department of Agriculture, which prohibited local geographical preferences when evaluating bids, except when Federal statutes “expressly mandate or encourage geographic preference.” (7 CFR 3016.36(c)(2)) The 2002 Farm Bill provided that federal mandate by including language encouraging the purchase of local foods: “The Secretary shall encourage institutions participating in the school lunch program to purchase, in addition to other food purchases, locally produced foods for school meal programs, to the maximum extent practicable and appropriate.” The Harrison Institute for Public Law in Washington, D.C. has recently evaluated this issue, and released a memo summarizing their conclusions on the "no geographic preference" issue. Their conclusion is that favoring local food purchases in school lunch programs has been endorsed at the federal level, so individual states are free to pass their own laws to that effect. (Section 4303 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act). This summer, Massachusetts took that step by including local preference language in the Economic Stimulus Package. The language allows for state food buyers to purchase $25,000 worth of local food outside of the bid system, but also gives local food a leg up in bidded contracts. A January 11th letter from Ellen Bickelman of the Massachusetts Operational Services Division of the Executive Office for Administration and Finance clarified the legislation. The letter states that procurement officers must “(1) make reasonable efforts to facilitate the purchase of products of agriculture grown or produces using products grown in the Commonwealth and (2) purchase these products, unless the price of the goods exceeds the price of products of agriculture from outside the Commonwealth by more than 10%.” (Chapter 123 of the Acts of 1006) This means that locally grown products have been given preference over non-local products, and that they can cost up to 10% more and remain competitive in the bidding system. It also means that incorporating locally-grown food into the school system has been given official legislative support, which is a very important piece of back-up. Needless to say, this is very exciting news for farmers and for purchasers interested in sourcing locally. Any purchasers or farmers
interested in taking advantage of this new
law are encouraged to contact CISA about
building new farm to school relationships. For an emailed
copy of the Harrison
Institute for Public Law memo, contact Claire
at Claire@buylocalfood.com.
To see the complete Massachusetts bill,
please visit here.
To see the letter from Ellen Bickelman, State
Purchasing Agent, click her
e.
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Events
February 10, 2007. 9am-3:15pm. Lenox, MA Mass Ag in the Classroom Conference Join educators from across the state for a special conference that will offer ideas and resources to help you integrate agriculture into your classroom. Each workshop offers hands-on activities, connections to the Curriculum Frameworks and identifies the grade level targeted. This conference offers many opportunities to explore different agricultural education activities and resources. For more information, please see www.aginclassroom.org. March 16-19, 2007. Baltimore, MD Third Annual Farm to Cafeteria and Food Policy Conference Join hundreds of farm to cafeteria and food policy enthusiasts to share experiences, and get the latest, up-to-date info on institutional purchasing - from both the organizing and policy perspectives. A major focus of the conference will be issues related to the Farm Bill, including farm to cafeteria and beyond. On Monday, attendees will have the opportunity to visit with their elected representatives on Capitol Hill. There will be some workshops and activities especially for students. Contact Rowan Dunlap at (617)442-1322 ext.19 or rdunlap@thefoodproject.org for more details on the youth track. For conference details visit www.foodsecurity.org. Announcements
Contest Reap/Sow Farm and Food Photo Contest Check out this great competition in The Food Project’s online magazine, reap/sow. Enter your favorite farm or food related picture with a caption of your choice, win a prize and see it featured in our next edition! Prizes will be awarded to the first 10 entries and the top picture in the categories of best picture, best drama, best comedy, and best documentary. Visit www.reapsow.org for more details. Award Fiskars “Orange Thumb” Grant Program Fiskars Garden & Outdoor Living is now accepting applications for its 2007 Project Orange Thumb grants program. The company created Project Orange Thumb to support community garden groups in the U.S. with tools and materials. Project Orange Thumb recipients will receive grants of up to $1,500 in Fiskars Garden Tools (retail value), and up to $800 in gardening-related materials such as plants, seeds, mulch, etc. Recipients will also receive Project Orange Thumb t-shirts for garden members/volunteers. Gardens and/or gardening projects geared toward community involvement, neighborhood beautification, sustainable agriculture, and/or horticultural education are eligible. Community garden groups, as well as schools, youth groups, community centers, camps, clubs, treatment facilities, etc. are encouraged to apply. Only group applications will be considered; single individuals are not eligible. The program is open to any community garden in the fifty states and the District of Columbia. Visit the Fiskars Web site for complete program guidelines and application instructions. Deadline: February 28, 2007. Reference: Movie Two Angry Moms Two Angry Moms is a documentary film project and a non-profit organization devoted to changing the school lunch program. Armed with a movie camera, Angry Moms Amy and Susan will visit school cafeterias to see what's on the menu and what kids are eating. They'll speak to food service vendors, teachers, health experts, politicians and parents as well as officials from the USDA and the FDA. They'll analyze the contents of various school lunches, compare costs and nutrition with a whole foods meal, and offer examples and workable alternatives. They’ll focus on exactly what has gone wrong with our School Lunch Program and demonstrate strategies for overcoming roadblocks and getting real food into school cafeterias. For more information, see www.angrymoms.org. Reference: Website Local Food Dude Tim Cipriano, Food Service Director of the Bloomfield Public Schools in Bloomfield, CT, has launched a website devoted to “promoting the use of locally grown foods in schools.” The website includes recipes for cafeteria managers, local farm profiles, and links to useful websites for people interested in the farm to School movement. The address is: www.localfooddude.com . |
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News
School breakfast momentum continues: More low-income children got breakfast at school in the 2005-2006 school year as the School Breakfast Program posted another increase in participation. A total of 7.7 million free and reduced price breakfasts were served daily that year, an increase of 243,000 over 2004-2005, according to the annual School Breakfast Scorecard, released by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) in Washington, D.C. on December 7, 2006. School participation in the breakfast program reached 83 percent of schools with a school lunch program last year, a two percent increase from the previous year. For every 100 low-income children eating lunch at school, there are now 44.6 receiving breakfast. West Virginia topped the state rankings, serving 58.5 percent of its low-income students, followed by New Mexico, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Oregon. Wisconsin ranked last among the states, providing breakfast to only 29.3 percent of its poor children. Illinois, Utah, Alaska, and New Hampshire rounded out the bottom five. For more details, see the press release.. Soda sales offer slim profit margins: School beverage contracts deliver only about $18 annually per student to schools, according to a multi-state review of 120 contracts. The analysis, which was conducted by the Public Health Advocacy Institute and the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and announced on December 6, 2006, found that the majority of the revenues collected – 67 percent – goes to beverage companies, not to schools. “Selling sugary drinks in vending machines and elsewhere in schools doesn’t pump money into the community, it drains it,” said Margo Wootan of CSPI. “It’s not philanthropic behavior on the part of soft drink companies,” claimed Wootan, “It’s predatory. When a kid puts a dollar in a soft drink vending machine, the school is lucky to keep 33 cents.” Voluntary guidelines on school beverage sales, negotiated by former President Clinton and the American Heart Association with beverage companies and announced last May, may change sales patterns in the next few years, but schools may see little additional money from that agreement. For more information, go to: http://www.c spinet.org/new/200612061.html. Funding offered to help increase school meal sign up: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the availability of $5.2 million for competitive awards to state agencies to implement direct certification and verification systems for school nutrition eligibility. Under direct certification, children in households receiving benefits under the Food Stamp Program or Medicaid can be automatically qualified for school meal programs without submitting a separate application. For further information, see: more information here. |
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