What’s not to like about farm-to-school programs? If you’re not familiar with the term, it means just what it sounds like: programs that bring farm-fresh, local foods to public and even private schools so that kids can enjoy great nutrition. The programs also offer excellent educational opportunities, bringing students to farms, and chefs to classrooms, while at the same time giving local farmers a great place to sell their products. Read on, and we’ll take a look at 10 farm-to-school programs that are doing a great job.  Read more…

Three years ago, the name Tony Geraci was known to only a few in the school food industry. Now school systems across the country are begging to see him; top food service companies are courting him; he’s on a first-name basis with food activist legends such as Michael Pollan; and there’s even been a major documentary film, Cafeteria Man, made about him.

But back in 2008 when he first arrived in the Baltimore City Schools to take the job of food service director, not many knew of his appointment. He had been a successful chef, food broker, food manufacturer and food service director before he was hired by Dr. Andrés Alonso, CEO of Baltimore City Schools, for the express purpose of transforming an extremely distressed food program into something nutritious and good for the students. Read more…

It’s a big day for the farm to school movement. At the 2011 School Nutrition Association national convention in Nashville today, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced a comprehensive, groundbreaking report on the current state of farm to school efforts around the country. Download the full report here.

The data in the report was complied by the USDA Farm to School Team (comprised of both Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) staff), which made visits to 15 school districts (over what time frame) in a wide range of states. Merrigan spoke with Civil Eats earlier today about the findings and how it might shape the farm to school landscape of the future. read more…

It sounds like a Food Network reality show: a dinner party where participants must devise their own recipes, winging it with whatever ingredients are on hand, without any idea how many guests will show up. Could be 20, could be 60.

Oh yeah, and the cooks are between the ages of 12 and 22 — and for many, their only cooking experience is zapping a frozen dinner.

Talk about a gamble.

And yet, every Wednesday, the youths at FEEST manage to pull it off.

“It’s always amazing how we always have enough food, and it comes out pretty good,” said Cristina Orbe, program manager at FEEST, which stands for Food Education Empowerment and Sustainability Team.

The free drop-in program — with a budget of about $50,000, courtesy of the King County Food and Fitness Initiative — teaches young people about cooking and healthful eating. All the meals are centered on vegetables, with a little bit of meat thrown in occasionally.

“A lot of youth eat a ton of starch and a ton of meat,” Orbe said. “We want to make vegetables delicious.”

Some of the vegetables come from the garden at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in Seattle’s Delridge area, which houses the program.

On a recent day, there were carrots and kale, chard and beets, potatoes and mushrooms and more, all laid out on the table when youths began arriving at 3:30 p.m. Newbies were warmly welcomed — and put right to work chopping. Creativity was encouraged.

“I’m just going to make it up,” said Fatuma Ali, a 15-year-old West Seattle High School student, as she sliced carrots for roasted potatoes. “Maybe some ginger, black pepper, olive oil … ”

A trained adult gently guides the youths with the wisdom gained from years of cooking — how to use a knife safely, what tastes good with what, how in the world to make your own salad dressing. Then he stands back. read more…

School lunches, served daily to millions of children across the nation, are a nutritional mess. What can you expect from a meal that must cost less than $2 per child? Subsidized by the USDA through surplus agricultural commodities and extensively processed to lower costs and extend shelf-life and transportability, these lunches must improve. They have become a focal point in the war against obesity.

Now some good news from Hawaii:
Starting in August, 15 entrees in the 25-day monthly menu cycle will be made from scratch in Hawaii public schools, where 100,000 meals are served daily in the nation’s 10th largest school system and the only statewide district in the country. read more…