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Every student who has passed through the
third grade at the
L.D. Batchelder School in North Reading, MA
since 2002 can
speak with authority on several aspects of
life during the
colonial era. The third-graders at Batchelder are
fortunate to have
hands-on experience with the challenges and
pleasures of the
colonial world through an integrated
three-part agriculture-
based program developed by their teacher,
Bill Cassell.
Mr. Cassell has worked out an exciting way to
incorporate
agriculture into his history, science,
English, social studies and
math classes. The central focus of the
project is a colonial
garden, in which students grow wheat, apples
and a "Three
Sisters" garden comprised of corn, beans and
squash. The
students bring the crops from seed to
harvest, with MCAS-
relevant, well-planned lessons along the way.
The wheat project functions on a two-year
cycle, with the
students in the first year of the cycle
planting, tending and
harvesting the wheat crop before graduating
to the next grade
and leaving the harvested wheat to the incoming
third-graders. In the
second year, the students thresh, winnow, and
mill the flour
before baking with it. Processing the wheat harvest provides
ample opportunities for problem-solving. They
practice math when they
calculate the
relationship between the amount of seed they
planted and the
amount of wheat they harvested, or when they measure
ingredients to bake bread.
The Three Sisters garden presents an
opportunity for students
to learn about companion planting and the
methods of
agriculture practiced by Native Americans.
The students grind
corn to make Johnny-cakes and hasty pudding,
learn about
nitrogen levels and pH in soil, identify the
structures in plants and study life cycles and photosynthesis.
The inevitable
challenges that arise throughout the course
of the season have
led to some unplanned lessons, as well. When
their crops were
being eaten by animals, students
experimented with protecting their plants and in doing so,
received an unexpected lesson in
animal behavior
and predator-prey relationships. "There's a
path that we follow, but we often stray from
it," Mr. Cassell says, "whether it's to
invent something or explore the history of
something like
baking powder!"
There are life-skills lessons in the Field to
Plate Project too, as
the children learn the value of starting a
project that will be
finished by others, especially with the
apples. The trees will not
produce fruit for several more years, but
each class that passes
through the orchard contributes to their
well-being and learns
something from them. The students prune,
raise root stock, and
graft fruit scions onto the roots. In the
future, the apples will be
incorporated into the lesson plan in the form
of delicious pies.
In addition to learning to contribute to a
project that others will
enjoy the results of, the program also gives
students a real
sense of the amount of labor that people once
put into
producing food and an appreciation for the
farms that sustain
us.
The colonial garden project recieved primary
funding through
a mini-grant from Mass Ag in the Classroom,
and has been
sustained in large part through community
support and
involvement. The Rotary Club donated the
money for the soil
testing kit, the school pays the cost of
shipping seed,
and parents have put in hours of volunteer
time. The result?
A project that is an inspiration to anyone
wondering how to
incorporate a school garden into their
curriculum.
Bill Cassell has generously agreed to make
detailed packets
on
each aspect of the Field to Plate Program
available to our
readers. Please contact him directly at cassellcw@aol.com
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In the January Farm to School E-news, part of
a "Legislative Update" article focused on a
preferential purchasing law, passed in the
summer of 2006, that encourages state
agencies to
buy locally grown food. Since January, the
Operation
Services Division
(OSD), which is an office of the state
government devoted to
statewide contracts and procurement, has
worked to help
people understand and apply that law. Below
we recap the
law and clarify how this law can be applied
to public schools.
The local Agricultural Preference law was
passed by the
Massachusetts legislature last year as part
of an economic
stimulus package and is referred to as
Chapter 123 of the Acts
of 2006. Through a letter released in
January, State
Purchasing Agent Ellen Bickelman reminded
MA's Executive
Departments that procurement officers must
"(1) make
reasonable efforts to facilitate the purchase
of products of
agriculture grown or produced 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%."
Public schools are not state agencies subject
to Chapter 123 ,
so public school purchases are regulated
under a different law
known as Chapter 30B. However, Chapter 123
didn't ignore
public schools altogether. Although Chapter
123 does not
require schools to favor locally grown
products, as it does for
state agencies, the law does authorize
Chapter 30 B school
procurement officers to award contracts
valued at less than
$25,000 for the procurement of locally grown
or produced
agricultural products without seeking quotes
as typically
required. In other words, if the contract is
for less than $25,000,
procurement officers can purchase locally
grown food or
products without going through the normal
bidding process.
Furthermore, under Chapter 123, school
leaders and
decision makers, with
community support, can establish policies
that encourage the
purchase of local food, so long as the price
does not exceed
the price of non-local food by more than 10%.
This law could shift school food sourcing in
Massachusetts, but
it is not guaranteed to do so. As it stands
right now, if the
purchaser at any given school or school
district is personally
interested in purchasing locally grown food,
or if a purchaser is
encouraged by their community to buy local,
they have some
legislative support to do so on a small
scale. This could open
up the window for local purchasing across the
state, but without
the work of local food advocates, this window
could be no more
then a crack.
To see Chapter 123 in its entirety, please
click h
ere.
To see the letter from Ellen Bickelman,
State Purchasing
Agent, please click her
e.
If you have questions, please contact
Claire at claire@buylocalfood.com.
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In New England, eating locally-grown food in early
April can be a challenge, to say the least.
Asparagus isn't up yet, cold
storage crops are
softening, and fresh tomatoes are nothing but
a distant dream.
But Laura White and Barbara Hodgdon,
fourth-grade teachers in Brattleboro,relished the challenge of
an April local-food feast!
On April 3rd, the Green Street School's
fourth-graders prepared
a dinner for their families made almost
entirely of food that
was grown or raised in Windham County, VT and
surrounding
counties. The menu was a veritable feast of
spinach salad,
cheese quiche, maple-glazed chicken,
shepard's pie, roasted
veggies and apple cobbler with maple ice
cream. "Food
brings people together," said Laura White. "Sharing meals is an
important part of
family life and celebrations in cultures
around the world. The
kids are finding that our new school garden
project and study
of local foods are bringing together the
school community
and the larger community."
The dinner was the culmination of a unit on
the history of food
and farming in Vermont, the importance of
conserving natural
resources and the importance of eating
locally produced food.
Over the course of the unit, the students
investigated where produce comes from in the
winter by
visiting the Brattleboro Food Coop, learned
to read labels,
and later mapped the origins of the food.
Students
interviewed community members who
participated in the
Winter Localvore Challenge. They also learned
about how
people ate in the Northeast in the past by
studying diaries,
archeological data and secondary sources to
identify what the
Abenaki and early European settlers lived on.
The students
studied how and why diets have changed over
time in
Vermont, and studied the environmental and
nutritional costs
of eating food transported from far away.
They also honed their
writing and debate skills by writing about
the importance of
buying local. Their writing reflects an
understanding of
environmental, economic, nutritional and
quality factors in
food purchasing.
This unit was also connected to a newly
established garden at
Green Street School. The garden project and
the local foods
unit are bringing together families and
involving parents.
These projects are also dissolving the school
walls, as farmers
and other community members visit the
classroom to share
their knowledge with students, and as
students venture out into
the community to visit the farms that remain an
important part of Vermont's heritage and economy. Laura
White said, "The best part of the dinner was
that almost all our
students came with their families. It's rare
that we get a chance
to get everyone together and share a
home-cooked meal. What
a way to build community!"
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Local Events
2nd National Conference on Facilitating Sustainable Agriculture Education An exciting opportunity to facilitate a cross-disciplinary dialogue on learning and teaching in sustainable agriculture at colleges and universities is coming up this summer! Where: Cornell University, Ithaca, New York When: July 11-14, 2007 Who: Students, Faculty, Staff, Researchers, Administrators, Extension Educators, Farmers and Food System Practitioners who are active or interested in sustainable agriculture education at institutions of post-secondary learning. To register or for more information: http://www.hort.co rnell.edu/SustAgEd/ Summer Graduate Course for Teachers
"Growing Agriculture in Your Classroom" Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom is pleased to announce the second summer graduate credit course in agricultural literacy training for educators. Using Massachusetts farms as a classroom, learn how agriculture can enhance curriculum, enthrall students and meet many MCAS requirements. This graduate course offers agricultural-literacy training through fun, hands-on study and investigation of agriculture education resources. It will assist new educators and those who want to expand their classroom offerings as they learn how to integrate agriculture into the classroom to create lessons and reinforce MCAS concepts. The series runs from Wednesday, June 27, 2007 through Wednesday, August 15, 2007. Each teacher must attend six additional workshops on the farm during the summer, keep a note book and complete a class project that will be presented on August 15th. Each workshop runs from 9 a. to 3 pm The fee for the eight-day course is $425 and includes all materials; farm workshops and tours; some meals, and three graduate credit credits or 67 professional development points from Fitchburg State College. Participants will receive a letter grade. Curriculum and MCAS standards covered by the lessons will be handed out as workshop materials. Each participant will be paired with a MAC Board member to give long-term access to agricultural resources and follow-up support. For more info, contact Debi Hogan, P.O. Box 345, Seekonk, MA 02771, (508) 336-4426, www.aginclassroom.org Announcements
Resource: Publication New Resource for Maine Farm-to-School Efforts Healthy Acadia, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and the Community Food Security Coalition are pleased to announce publication of the 2007 Hancock County Farm to School Directory. To download a PDF version of the Directory, please visit: http://w ww.healthyacadia.org/farmtoschool.html. The Farm to School Directory is designed as a resource for school staff and community members, to help develop strong, sustainable purchasing relationships between Hancock County schools and local farms/food producers. Award
Project Bread Summer Food Service Program Incentive Grants Project Bread's Massachusetts Child Hunger Initiative has been working for the past several years with community leaders to increase the number of children who receive a free meal as part of the USDA's Summer Food Service program. Funding is available this year in Franklin County to expand the number of children receiving free meals. For more information or a grant application, please contact Alexis Robert at Project Bread. Alexis_Robert@ projectbread.org or (617) 239-2553. Award
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 visit: www.kiwim agonline.com/kiwicrusaders/. Announcement
Local school greenhouse project needs support! The Sullivan Elementary School in Holyoke has made great strides towards rebuilding and revitalizing their formerly defunct greenhouse, and with the support of the school community they are launching their first growing season this year. They still are in need of many learning supplies, such as Interactive Outdoor Education Tools that focus on habitat, ecosystems, trees, plants, birds and bugs, and field microscopes, field guide books, handscopes, or observation containers. They are also looking for any type of gardening resource books, used or new. To help, please contact Jonah Mossberg at 413-585-6718. Resource: Publication
New Publication from the National Farm to School Program "Going Local: Paths to Success for Farm to School Programs" is a brand new resource from the National Farm to School Program, Center for Food & Justice, Occidental College and the Community Food Security Coalition. With case studies from eight states (California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Oregon), the publication provides a snapshot of the diverse ways in which farm to school is making a difference nationwide. The case studies in this publication will facilitate a better understanding of the farm to school approach and encourage the development of future programs. Download for free at http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/cfj/publications/goingl ocal.pdf Contact Center for Food & Justice, cfj@oxy.edu |
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Research results tainted by industry bias
Nutrition studies financially supported by the food industry are significantly more likely to produce favorable results than independently financed research, raising concerns about the accuracy of dietary advice, according to an analysis published in the journal PLoS Medicine on January 8, 2007. Articles sponsored exclusively by food and drink companies were four to eight times more likely to have conclusions favorable to the financial interests of the sponsoring company than articles which were not sponsored by such companies. For further information, see: http://medici ne.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get- document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040005. Ads aimed at kids are mostly for junk food
Any parent or teacher might already know this to be true, but now there's a study to back it up! The Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit group that focuses on health care issues, released a study that found that 50 percent of ad time on children's shows is devoted to food. Among the ads aimed at children and teenagers, 72 percent are for candy, snacks, sugary cereals or fast food. For the full article, please visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/business/ media/29adco.html?_r=1&oref=login. Healthy School Lunches Dramatically Improve Student
Behavior
The Appleton Central Alternative High School in Appleton, Wisconsin, a school for developmentally challenged students, used to have high rates of in-school violence and behavioral difficulties. Eight years ago, the school cut high fat and sugar options from their cafeteria and vending machines and began offering healthful lunches and snacks, and the resulting positive changes in behavior have pleasantly surprised parents, teachers, and the administration. For the full article and information on a recent documentary on the link between behavior and nutrition, please visit: http://www.odemagazine.com/article.php? aID=4143. Simple question gets school children to eat
fruit
Employing a technique that has swayed countless people towards the extra-large popcorn at the movies, a Connecticut elementary school significantly increased fruit and juice consumption among students. Cafeteria staff asked each child: "Would you like fruit or juice with your lunch?" The students' lunchtime fruit intake was compared with that of children at a "control" school in the same district, where the same amount of fruit and fruit juice was available but presented in the standard, question-free manner. Over 2 days, Schwartz found that 90 percent of children in the intervention school opted for fruit or fruit juice, versus 60 percent of those in the control school. In both the control and test schools, about 80 percent of children who chose fruit actually ate it. From www.medlineplus.gov. Panel Recommends Healthier Food Choices
The Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Acadamies, released a report at the end of April which urged the government to require healthier snack options in schools. The Institute of Medicine's recommendations are the first national attempt to address the healthfulness of "competitive" school foods -- snacks and drinks that often are sold to raise money for schools. To see how arbitrary USDA's current standards are, try CSPI's online quiz at www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/junkfoodquiz.html. Rethinking School Lunch
The issues surrounding school lunch are complicated and far- reaching, as anyone who has ever tried to give an uninformed friend a quick and easy synopsis of the links between the Farm Bill, commodity purchasing, the Federal School Lunch Program, tater tots and childhood obesity is aware. Here's a good overview of the big issues from the opinions page of the San Francisco Chronicle for your forwarding pleasure: www.sfgate.com/cgi- bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/10/EDGQRPO1LL1.DTL. |
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