Article Contributed on: 5/8/2009 7:38:49 AM
Farm-Fresh Fare Comes to St. Vrain Cafeterias
By
Barbara Hey
BarbaraH@lhvc.com
Starting this summer, students in the St. Vrain Valley School District will have farm-fresh, locally grown produce in their lunches.
The farm-to-school program kicks off June 2, the pilot phase of what
Shelly Allen, Director of Nutrition and Warehouse Services for the district, said will be a year-round plan to serve students fresh fruits and vegetables from nearby farms.
The summer feeding program will offer lunch to students up to age 18 at Loma Linda, Northridge and Frederick Elementary schools. Starting in July, the program will also be available to literacy students at Indian Peaks, Spangler, Mountain View and Rocky Mountain elementary schools.
This farm-to-school program has been in planning stages since last fall, but the how-to's of procuring enough produce for the nearly two-thirds of all district students - 16,000 kids - who buy lunch each day during the school year has been daunting.
"This is a very large project," Allen said. The issue is not just the bounty needed to meet the demand, but looking at the work involved in getting it to the table. "If I went with 16,000 ears of corn, that would entail also cleaning 16,000 ears of corn - not an easy task," she said.
Allen said that starting with summer school was a way to ease into the program, and work out the logistics before rolling it out in the fall.
The transformation of school lunches happening in St. Vrain is part of a national initiative to deep-six classic cafeteria fare - high fat, sugary and nutrient-light - and replace it with a meal that better meets the nutrition mandates of the U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary guidelines.
Allen teamed up with the Longmont Farmer's Market to find growers willing to participate.
"It took a while to determine what this program will look like, how farms with small to medium output could accommodate the school district," said
Cynthia Torres, manager of the Farmer's Market. She sent letters to elicit interest, and Tanaka Farms was the first to sign on to supply produce for the summer program.
LiveWell Longmont, a nonprofit dedicated to furthering healthy habits among local residents, has been another supporter of Allen's efforts.
The mission, both locally and nationwide, is to not just get kids to consume more nutrition-packed seasonal produce, but also to support local farmers. The Farm Bill passed by Congress in 2008 provided funding to help defray the costs of adding fruits and vegetables to school meals, and also removed restrictions that had made it difficult to incorporate locally sourced unprocessed foods into cafeteria menus.
Torres is also working the Boulder Valley School District, which has hired school lunch reform advocate
Ann Cooper, aka the Renegade Lunch Lady, to makeover its student menu.
The makeup of the St. Vrain district - about half of students qualify for free or reduced meals - means this program must operate on a tight budget. If the program is a success, Torres said, it could become a model for other schools trying to make the transition to locally grown foods on a limited budget.
"My biggest challenge is how my staff is going to manage this," Allen said. "We're looking at foods that, unlike corn or lettuce, won't take a lot of work to clean and prepare, like broccoli, baby spinach and cherry tomatoes."
For the school year, that list will include watermelon in August, squash in September/October. "We're looking at whatever is produced in the Western states, locally grown whenever possible. We're really excited about working with the community on these initiatives," Allen said.
More good stuff is on the way.
SVVSD has also gotten a grant from the U.S.D.A. to help provide a fruit or vegetable afternoon snack in elementary schools.
And Lyons Elementary is taking a do-it-yourself approach. Staff, students and their families will be planting a garden, and the foods they harvest will be served in school meals.
"Shelly deserves recognition for this," Torres said. "She was determined to make it happen."