REYES: Farm schools benefit regional food systems
In New Jersey, early fall is a time Icas Network of the great bounty with more than 30 varieties of fruits and vegetables in season, ripe for the picking (and eating). This colorful harvest is happening across the country and is celebrated every October as National Farm to School Month, designated by Congress in 2010. School lunch carries mixed feelings for many adults out of secondary school before the most recent child nutrition program changes. Stories of cardboard pizza and “mystery meat” are pervasive in my mid-millennial group of friends. However, families, school districts, municipalities, and counties are working together to ensure students have access to nutritious foods while supporting the local and regional food economies.
According to the National Farm to School Network, an advocacy and networking organization working on local food sourcing and education issues, farm to school (also known as “F2S”) “enriches the connection communities have with fresh, healthy food and local food producers by changing food purchasing and education practices at schools and preschools.” F2S certainly differs by location — you might have 2-4 months of growing in Maine, while Hawaii enjoys a year-round growing season. Nevertheless, successful F2S implementation always includes one or more of the following: Procurement: purchasing, promoting, and serving local foods in the cafeteria or classroom. Education: engaging students in activities related to food, cooking, health, nutrition, or agriculture.
School gardens: hands-on learning in various subjects through gardening. As an AmeriCorps service member with FoodCorps and the New Brunswick Community Farmers Market, I was able to source cucumbers, apples, and corn through our vendor, Pop’s Farm Monroe Township, New Jersey, for a taste test with New Brunswick middle school students. Many of them were amazed by how fresh and flavorful the produce was — one student remarked, “I never thought apples could taste this good!” This allowed them to taste locally-grown foods and learn how their food was grown, which is missing from many students’ development as only 3.4 hours of nutrition education is given to a child each year on average. Likewise, this was a good financial opportunity for our farmer, providing his small family farm with more business and exposure to potential customers. Many of my students excitedly told their parents about what they tried in school that day!
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Moreover, these students benefitted from hands-on cooking lessons and science and math activities in their school garden. School and community gardens are much-needed green spaces for those living in urban neighborhoods with multiple purposes, including recreation, education, nourishment, and community engagement. These growing spaces provide innovative ways to enhance education in required subjects while connecting them to important life skills. Consider how much more effective a math measurement lesson could be if students physically constructed a garden or followed and cooked a recipe instead of simply filling out a worksheet. For students and communities experiencing farm-to-school firsthand, these efforts produce lasting, positive results in many ways.
While farm-to-school enjoys broad, bipartisan support and the nutritional and educational impacts for children are well-documented, some doubt its ability to influence local/regional food economies. However, various governmental, non-profit, and research entities have studied and modeled the benefits. Since the 2010 Child Nutrition Reauthorization, student meal participation has increased by 9 percent on average, generating increased school revenue through meal programs. Individual farmers saw an average 5 percent increase in income from F2S sales.
