Farm to School in Sonoma County
Momentum is building to introduce Farm to School programs in Sonoma County. Since February, a dedicated group has met monthly to discuss how to develop school programs in our area. The groups´ mission is to foster local food security, with Farm to School programs being a primary goal. Our group is still determining its name as we begin to focus on the essential logistics of building support and developing an active program. With representatives from the school, agriculture, food security, waste management, school garden, and child nutrition communities, the possibilities for success are promising.A school district in the town of Windsor recently started a salad bar program for its students. The relatively new food service director showed some interest in integrating local farm products into the districts meals, but isn't convinced local farmers can provide a steady supply of produce to meet her program's needs. The group has added this challenge to all of the others we have begun to sort through. On a positive note, Nancy May, food service coordinator for Healdsburg Unified School District is strongly interested in our efforts and has participated in our meetings. She and Caryl Burns, nutritionist for the Marin County Health Department, have obtained a $50,000 "Linking Gardens" grant from the California Department of Education. The grant serves to expand school gardens, get school garden produce into the cafeteria, bring farmers into the classroom, and kids out to farms and farmers' markets. A salad bar program will be started in Healdsburg schools this fall as part of the effort.
A forum is tentatively scheduled for September to bring all the interested parties together to explain our intentions and brainstorm on how to best accomplish our Farm to School goals. We would like to get parents, school boards, food service directors and personnel, superintendents, principals, food security activists, farmers, distributors, nutritionists and agency people under one roof. We hope this event will energize and motivate our intentions into actions.
To get involved, please call North Coast Regional Coordinator, Keith Abeles, at (707) 823-6788 or e-mail kda@sonic.net.
