January 18, 2010
Sherri Meyer, MG Registered Dietitian

Many of us do not have fond memories of our school cafeteria food.  At my school grilled cheese & pizza were more like foreign objects than food.  Fresh vegetables? Forget about it.  Frozen vegetables cooked to a mush were the closet thing we ever got to “fresh” food.
 
Hopefully, our approach shatters preconceived notions of traditional school food service.  Fresh, healthful & aesthetically pleasing food….we are shooting for gourmet dining in a school setting! And speaking of fresh, I recently was introduced to the program director of Virginia’s Farm-to-School Chapter at our Directors’ Retreat.  Leanne DuBois joined us to share Farm-to-School’s goals and results in its two-year history.  This amazing program will hopefully give every school the opportunity to offer fresh, local produce.   We have featured this initiative at a few accounts including St. Catherine’s in Richmond and Sidwell Friends in Washington.  Farm-to-School week will be celebrated company-wide in 2010.
 
What is Farm to School? (Source)

“The Farm-to-School program is about creating connections between growers, distributors and educational institutions.  The program can play a role in addressing the problem of childhood obesity and an added benefit is that using local produce in school menus supports the Virginia Agricultural Economy.”


Now, for those naysayers who claim children will not eat vegetables, I beg to differ. My fresh green salad (made by my mother) was a hot commodity in the lunchroom with many friends vying for a taste (my best friend Nicole usually won out).

image: “St. Catherine’s event supporting Farm to School”

Comments (1)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment