Quilcene School District Makes Commitment to Local Food
Quilcene School District will commit 10-20% of their food budget for local purchases, will feature a local vegetable or fruit of the month to serve weekly, will integrate nutritional education in their curriculum and continue their school garden/compost program. The little school that could!!!
PERSPECTIVE – Farm to Cafeteria in Jefferson County
What is a Farm to Cafeteria program and why is it important for our community? It means serving locally grown foods in institutions; including schools, hospitals, and senior centers. It means providing more nutritious and tastier food that’s freshly picked and often organically grown. It means creating new markets for small farmers who struggle with overhead costs, high land values yet don’t qualify for government subsidies. It means growing school gardens offering hands-on education in science, environmental studies and nutrition. The Farm to Cafeteria movement is growing and has expanded to almost 9000 schools around the US in the last few years.
Studies show that kids perform better in school and have fewer behavioral problems when they eat nutrient rich foods free of additives and refined sugar. Most school meal programs today consist of highly processed foods high in fats, sugar, salt and additives prepared in heat-and-serve kitchens. Concerned with the obesity epidemic that is gripping our nation, Michelle Obama, launched the “Let’s Move” campaign to end childhood obesity in one generation. Type 2 diabetes is at an all time high, 25% of our nation’s health care costs are linked to obesity related illnesses and this generation of children is predicted to have a shorter lifespan than their parents.
A report by Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, and Senator Lugar, shows that the dramatic increase of obesity is reducing the pool of healthy young adults available for military service, thereby threatening our national security. The retired military leaders asked Congress to pass new child nutrition legislation that will remove junk food and improve nutritional standards for school foods.
Food service staffs face stiff challenges, including the removal of scratch kitchens, tight budgets allowing only one dollar a meal for food, subsidized commodity foods of poor quality and pressure by processed food producers to carry their products.
The Child Nutrition Reauthorization is up for renewal this year. Now is the time to ask Congress for more funding for the school meal program, where many of the nation’s children receive over 50% of their daily food intake. Call your congressional members today and ask them to support the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, S.3307 and bills HR4710 in the House and S.3123 in the Senate.
Passionate volunteers are working with farmers, community leaders, organizations and legislators hoping to improve the quality of food served in institutions and increase the health of our community. They attended national Farm to Cafeteria conferences, organized a conference for the North Olympic Peninsula, produced an educational film and held other events. Over 1200 people in Port Townsend signed a petition in support of healthier food in our schools. Financial and professional support has been offered as well.
So what’s happening on the home front? Quilcene School District will commit 10-20% of their food budget for local purchases, will feature a local vegetable or fruit of the month to serve weekly, will integrate nutritional education in their curriculum and continue their school garden/compost program. Port Angeles improved salad bars, launched a lunch trial with more scratch cooking, offered vegetarian options and sourced local when possible. It has been such a success they continued past the trial period and are planning to expand to all schools next year. Port Townsend School District has a school garden at Grant Street and the wellness committee is working on a healthier trial breakfast.
Starting a Farm to Cafeteria program takes leadership, patience, hard work, assistance on many levels and broad community support. Our children, patients, seniors, institution staff, farmers and community members deserve the best that we can offer.
Jefferson County Farm to Schools Coalition members:
Candice Cosler, Kate Dean, Sam Gibboney, Cheryl Goerger, Rosanna Herman, Elise Heikkinen, Seth Rolland, Pam Trail, Joy Wentzel, Jessica Winsheimer
