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This article is the first part of a two-part series on the work
surrounding local food at Smith. This piece focuses on the
recent creation of the student-led Agricultural Action
Committee, and the next piece will focus on local purchasing
initiatives in the Smith Dining Services.
On a cold night in February, students crammed into the living
room of one of Smith's co-ops. Drawn by word of mouth and by
hand-written signs about a mysterious "Farm Bill," they had
come to learn and take action. Iemanjá Brown '08 and I had
organized the meeting as part of our work with a national
student-led organization called Student Trade Justice
Campaign (STJC). We
were in
charge of leading STJC's national campaign to affect the 2007
Farm Bill, a huge piece of legislation passed every five years
that covers federal food and farm programs. We hoped that a
groundswell of popular action would create a Farm Bill that
promoted fair markets, livelihoods for small farmers, access to
nutritious food, and healthy environments.
That night, students shared ideas for the work we could do at
Smith and in our community to affect change in food and farm
legislation as well as to create the kind of food system we
envisioned. Out of these conversations, the Agriculture Action
Committee was created. Each week our group brought in new
members committed to linking popular education
about food systems with concrete community and campus work
to create a vibrant, just, and sustainable local food system.
Students began meeting with Dining Services to get more
details about what Smith's membership in CISA's Local Hero
Campaign means. In April, the group launched a Week of
Agriculture Action as part of a national initiative put on by
several STJC affiliate campuses around the country. The week
included student-run teach-ins about the Farm Bill, outreach to
staff, and a letter-writing party. Local food was served in several
student dining rooms, and the group facilitated a panel about
local food at Smith featuring two local growers and
representatives from CISA and Smith Dining Services. The
panel was very helpful in illuminating the links between
different participants in the local food system. The event was
just a first step in what we hope will be an ongoing dialogue
and partnership between Smith, local growers, and CISA.
As we learn more about local food systems, the Agriculture
Action Committee hopes to maintain a regular dialogue with
Dining Services, especially Ann Finley and Kathy Zeija, who
have been graciously supportive of our suggestions and
inspiringly committed to local purchasing. Through
conversations with the Dining Services staff, we hope to gain
insight on the day-to-day limitations in the kitchens and dining
rooms.
Another primary goal for the coming year is solidifying Smith's
partnership with local farmers. This will require not only making
Smith's food needs predictable to farmers but also adjusting
demand to realistically reflect what is available in the Valley.
We hope that Smith can support local farmers' ideas for future
projects that would improve the Valley's possibilities for the
local food system, such as season extension and local
processing. Developing dialogue and communication is
crucial, and in the coming year students
hope to work to establish and facilitate Smith's relationship
with farmers. As Smith supports farmers' projects to increase
their capacity for local food provision, the college can help
create a sustainable local food infrastructure that won't just be
used by Smith but can be part of creating a Valley-wide food
system.
Elisabeth Pixley-Fink '08 is a native of Kalamazoo,
Michigan and is an international politics major at Smith. The
Agriculture Action Committee would love to partner with other
local organizations and welcomes comments, suggestions, and
questions. Please email epixley@email.smith.edu.
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The final week in September will mark the first annual
Massachusetts Harvest for Students week, a project of the
Massachusetts Farm to School Project. From September 24th
through September 28th, all Massachusetts schools,
kindergarten through college, are encouraged to take part in
this state-wide event by serving and highlighting fresh locally
grown food. Schools will also be encouraged to focus on
school gardens, trips to farms and agricultural themes in the
classroom.
Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week will help to spur new
local food purchasing as well as increase existing purchasing in
schools across the state. These new relationships will help to
strengthen the state economy while introducing students to
local, healthier food. Schools that elect to participate will
receive an introductory package with resources on how to buy
locally as well as free technical assistance from the MA Farm to
School Project on setting up a buying relationship with the
appropriate farmer.
For food service directors or cafeteria managers interested in
participating, here are some ways to get started:
1) Focus on farmers. Contact and meet with farmers
now. Plan
what farm products and from whom you might want to
purchase in the fall. It
is important to work out the details of delivery, volume,
payment terms, etc. before the end of the summer so that
farmers will be able to accommodate your purchasing needs. If
you are already buying from a farmer and want to increase
your local food orders it's best to ask about your options as
soon as possible.
2) Reach out to your community. Let teachers or
professors,
principals, reporters, school nurses, superintendents, students,
farmers, politicians, and parents know about your plans for
Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week. Encourage teachers,
professors or students to create educational experiences that
will enhance student and community awareness of local food
issues and can increase the visibility of your Massachusetts
Harvest for Students Week menus.
3) Plan for PR. Think about how you will promote your
Harvest
Week activities. Special items on your menus? Explanatory text
on menus? An article for parent newsletters? Posters, shelf
talkers, taste tests in the cafeteria? Perhaps the School
Committee, Mayor, or Superintendent could be invited to join
you for a meal highlighting locally grown foods during the
Week? Ask the local newspaper to do an article and take
pictures? The Mass Farm to School Project will provide you
with some templates or examples to make your promotional
efforts easier.
4). Talk with your colleagues. Share thoughts and
gather ideas
from other school food service folks nearby. Have an informal
Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week meeting to
brainstorm. Contact us if you'd like some help organizing this.
Are you a school food service employee or a farmer who would
like to participate? Please feel free to call The Mass Farm to
School Project with any questions: (413) 253-3844 or visit
www.massfarmtoschool
.org.
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Who would expect to find lush gardens growing in the
courtyards of three Holyoke public schools? They might be
tucked away, but these gardens are in full bloom. The garlic is
healthy and strong, gourds are climbing up trellises, tomatoes
are fruiting, and sunflowers are growing tall. These gardens
are part of the Holyoke School Garden Program which sprouted
in the fall of 2003 when Hope Guardenier, experienced garden
educator and afterschool program coordinator, saw the
potential of an unused courtyard at Kelly School as a learning
garden. With her guidance, the Holyoke School Garden
Program, a partnership with the YMCA, Connections
Afterschool Program, and Holyoke Public Schools, was born.
The gardens are primarily used for middle school students who
participate in the Garden Club during the Connections
Afterschool Program, which is funded by a 21st Century grant
though the Massachusetts Department of Education.
Kelly School garden was the first to emerge in 2003. With the
help of many students' hands, the old courtyard was
transformed into a garden bearing potatoes, corn, sunflowers,
tomatoes, and more. They also constructed raised beds, a tool
shed and a compost bin. This year when students were asked
what they would change about the garden, one suggested
there be more growing beds instead of a huge old brick ramp
in the middle of the courtyard. A few weeks later students
enthusiastically demolished that ramp and built planting
terraces. An old concrete play structure has recently been
converted into a small orchard bearing apple trees, paw paws,
grapes, and rhubarb. Students beg to eat that raw rhubarb as a
sour snack, as well as the sweet pea shoots and spicy arugula
leaves.
Sullivan School was the next to sprout its seeds in the fall of
2004. The central courtyard soon boasted an herb spiral,
rainbow garden, strawberry bed, and a three-part compost bin.
Tucked away in another courtyard was an old greenhouse,
which had fallen into disrepair. Under the careful guidance of
a collaboration of the Garden Program staff, WGBY,
Massachusetts Public Health Association, Holyoke Public
Schools, and the Connections Afterschool Program the
greenhouse was reborn into a functional educational space
and academic resource for the Sullivan School community.
Many hands contributed to Project GreenUp including school
staff, teachers, students, families, local college students, and
Girl Scout Troup 236. Two workdays took place during the
year- one for demolition and then next for the rebuilding of
the greenhouse. When the greenhouse was complete the
community involved was invited to celebrate, and that they
did. People grooved to the incredible Sullivan Latin
Percussion Ensemble while all the greenhouse project
volunteers were honored and thanked.
Donahue School Garden is the most recent, built in the fall of
2005. This past September students harvested garlic and basil
to make pesto. They planted tulips, learned about compost,
and made bird feeders. During the winter students kept busy
inside building a cold frame, mosaic stepping stones, and signs
for the garden. Cooking was also a focus as students prepared
and fearlessly tasted dishes such as sautéed swiss chard, beet
cake, and roasted root vegetables. The spring gave way to
dishes such as dandelion fritters, radish and green bean salad,
and lots of lettuce from the cold frame.
Students who participated in the afterschool program have
been invited to keep the gardens growing this summer as well.
Students began planting, weeding, watering, harvesting,
and eating the fruits of their labor in the second week of
July. The summer program will allow students to maintain the
connection with their school community while providing them
with healthy, nutritious fruits and vegetables this summer.
In addition, the students at Sullivan and Kelly Schools are now
using the gardens as an outdoor classroom. Garden staff has
facilitated lessons in the garden during the school day to
enhance the standards-based curriculum. Sullivan first graders
were taught a lesson on trees, which included identification,
life cycles, and seasons. This culminated in the planting of a
New England hardy apricot variety. Third graders learned
fractions through germination rates while planting cucumber,
sunflowers, and nasturtiums. Eighth graders tackled physics by
turning garden beds and learning about the wheelbarrow as a
lever. At Kelly School, second grade students used the garden
as a center for observation and writing, including poetry,
journal writing, and how-to advice. The sixth grade completed
their study of area and perimeter using the garden for hands-on
application. They measured the length and width of each bed
and determined how many tomato, sunflower, or squash plants
could fit in each bed given the area.
"Through hands-on, academic lessons the garden becomes a
learning laboratory for discovery and meaningful exploration,"
says Hope Guardenier. The Holyoke School Gardens are
student-created spaces where youth connect to the earth and
healthy, nutritious foods while learning, discovering and
working together. As they celebrate their fourth growing
season, the gardens and the youth that tend them are growing
strong and healthy and the community looks forward to many
seasons to come!
If you want to learn more about the Holyoke School Garden
Program or School Sprouts Educational Gardens, please
contact Hope Guardenier at hope@schoolsprouts.org.
Lauren Adler is a Smith graduate currently working at The Kitchen Garden in Hadley. |
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EVENTS
Creating School Gardens, Hubbardston, MA September 24, 2007 Start with a tour of the 70-foot diameter organic school garden. The Hubbardston Center School's garden program was developed using grant money, school and community involvement, and is student- maintained. Hear about the role the garden plays in hands-on learning at different grade levels and how the garden has provided nutritious snacks for the entire population of 480 students at this central Mass K-6 elementary school. Learn an introduction to organic gardening. Resources for beginners to learn more of the basics will be available. For more information, please click here. ANNOUNCEMENTS
First LiFE (Linking Food and the Environment) Module Published This month, the National Gardening Association is publishing Growing Food, the first module of the LiFE curriculum developed by Teachers College Columbia University. LiFE, created with support from the Science Education Partnership Awards program of the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Research Resources, is an inquiry-based science and nutrition curriculum focused on food and food systems and aligned with the big ideas of science. The Center for Ecoliteracy and Teachers College are engaged in a partnership based on LiFE and the Center's Rethinking School Lunch strategy. The partnership will include publishing RSL and LiFE curriculum resources, launching an RSL/LiFE website, and professional development to assist educators to adapt the RSL/LiFE materials at local sites. For Growing Food, please click here. For more information on Rethinking School Lunch, please click here. For more information on LiFE, please click here. Kiwi Crusaders Award- Celebrating Excellence in School
Meals
Many news stories talk about what's wrong with school food programs-here's a chance to talk about what's right! Kiwi Magazine has made a commitment to celebrating the schools and school systems that have made a commitment to serving students healthy foods. If this sounds like your school, nominate it for this prestigious annual award. Healthy food programs in three categories will be recognized: Preschool, Public School/School System K-12, and Private School/School System K-12 The three Grand Prize winners will receive $3,500 each and a feature story in KIWI Magazine about the school and its meal program. For more information, please click here. |
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RESEARCH
Nutrition and Brain Development in Kids The physical structures of children's brains develop differently depending on what kids eat during the ages when they are rapidly growing, says Dr. Alan Greene in a recent article published by the Center for Ecoliteracy. Behavior, intelligence, and academic performance are significantly affected not only by the quantity and quality of what children eat, but also by how the food is grown and processed. See full article here. AP finds nutrition education programs struggling to
produce results
The Associated Press recently released a study that indicates that child nutrition education programs have largely failed to improve the eating habits of the targeted children. The study examined 57 federally funded programs and found that only four of them produced lasting results in the children's diets. For more information, please see the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation article or the Newsday.com article NEWS
Limiting ads for junk food aimed at kids Eleven major food companies have agreed to limits ads targeted towards children for products that do not meet certain nutritional standards. The limits have drawn criticism for being too lenient, as ads for products like Cocoa Puffs will not be limited, and television programming that is considered "family- friendly" as opposed to being specifically for children will have no limitations. See full article here. California School Nutrition Legislation
California recently passed legislation limiting the sale of high fat, sugar, or sodium snacks and beverages at schools. See full article here. Successful measures to curb obesity in Somerville,
MA
Through a wide range of efforts to encourage walking and bicycling, improve food options for consumers, and educate children about smart food choices, the town of Somerville, MA has managed to curtail climbing childhood obesity rates. See full article here. Direct verification can ease paperwork
requirements
School districts insure the integrity of their nutrition programs by annually sampling household applications for free or reduced price meals, contacting the household, and verifying eligibility. Direct verification (DV) uses information collected by other means-tested programs to verify the eligibility without contacting applicants. Results of a new four-state pilot study of DV projects using Medicaid data have found that: DV using Medicaid is technically feasible; school districts can verify a hefty percentage of their applications that way; several different variations on the system work effectively; food stamp data can also be used for DV purposes; and school districts that tried DV plan to use it again. For additional information on the pilot project, please click here. School meal reimbursements raised
National average payment rates and maximum reimbursement rates for the National School Lunch, Special Milk, and School Breakfast Programs received their annual inflation adjustment earlier this month. Revised rates for the period of July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008, reflecting a 3.27 percent increase in the consumer price index, were published in the Federal Register of July 10, 2007, which may be viewed here. CACFP payment rates adjusted
National average payment rates for meals and snacks served in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) have been revised to account for inflation. Administrative reimbursement rates for sponsoring organizations that help day care homes under the program have also been adjusted. The new rates are in effect for the period of July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008. The updated rates were published in the July 10, 2007 Federal Register and may be found here. |
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