Skip to main content

September is food literacy month

Did you know that September is food literacy month? This month long holiday might have started in California but there are plenty of events right here in Somerville for you to celebrate locally!



Are you curious about where your food comes from? Have you ever visited a farm and met a farmer? Do you cook food at home? Are you interested in making more informed decisions about food? Then this holiday is for you.

Here's a list of ideas to celebrate FOOD LITERACY MONTH!

~Read a book about food: "It's Not About the Broccoli: Three Habits to Teach Your Kids for a Lifetime of Healthy Eating"

Image via Amazon.com
 
 ~Visit a local orchard to pick your own seasonal fruits!

~Every Saturday from 9am to 1pm, you can visit the Union Square Farmers' Market.

~Every Thursday and Saturday you can visit Shape Up Somerville's Mobile Farmers' Market. Thursday markets are held at the Council on Aging at the TAB Building (167 Holland St) 1-3pm and North Street Housing (at North St and Powderhouse Blvd) 4-7pm. On Saturdays the market will be at the Mystic Housing development (530 Mystic Ave) 1-4pm.

~Eat tomatoes! The Somerville Public Schools Food and Nutrition Services and Massachusetts Farm to School celebrate tomatoes as the vegetable of the month.

 

 
~September 12-28 - Visit the Big E for some local shellfish.

~September 16 - Support our partner Groundwork Somerville at a fundraiser at Flatbread in Davis Square.

~September 27 - Join Groundwork Somerville on a bike tour of Somerville's Farms and Gardens!

~September 27 - Attend the Let's Talk About Food Festival in Copley Square, Boston. Discuss local vs organic. Learn some new recipes for fresh, healthy, family meals. Learn how to grow vegetables in your backyard. And much, much more!


Content provided by Karyn Novakowski, Somerville Farm to School Project Director.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Put your best FORK forward during National Nutrition Month

March is National Nutrition Month!  Each year the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics develops new topics to celebrate National Nutrition Month. This year's theme, Put your best fork forward, encourages us to consider that every bite counts. Even "small shifts in our food choices, can add up over time." Here in Somerville we are celebrating National Nutrition Month in a few ways. ~ We are releasing Veggie of the Month kits in each school's library! The kits contain books, taste testing supplies, and a binder with lesson materials for each month!  ~ We are visiting a few PreK-2nd grade classes to "taste-test" the veggie of the month: leafy greens!  In the classroom, we are reading Sylvia's Spinach and making a simple salad dressing to drizzle over spinach! (Be sure to check back later for the results of our visits!)   ~  Our  Wellness Champions and Farm to School Staff are posting bulletin boards and fliers around the schools!

Farm to School Month Kickoff - Corn Shucking Day 2015

It's October and that means Farm to School Month! We have a busy month of real food activities planned from Salad Bar Day coming up on Thursday, October 8 to School Garden week. We kicked off our celebration with our annual Corn Shucking event. Three thousand ears of corn were shucked during an intense 30 minute time frame. Corn was sourced through our produce vendor, Russo's and grown at Taveres Farm in South Dartmouth, MA. With hands and husks flying, students, staff, community partners and parents all helped to get the job done quickly. At the Capuano Early Childhood Center, our youngest students took their jobs very seriously. Some peeling on piece at a time. Over at the Brown School, the chilly weather didn't deter the volunteers and students from shucking outside.   Even our leaders, Superintendent Mary Skipper and Assistant Superintendent Vince McKay lent a hand at the East Somerville Community School. At each school,

Mindful Eating: Part 1

In order to digest your food properly, your body must be in parasympathetic mode, or in a state of non-stress. Kindergartners know this. Well, they might not know the scientific term yet, but during lunch they participate in 6 minutes of silence; a period they call "Mindful Eating". When asked why they like mindful eating, the children replied, because "it’s quiet”, “I can enjoy my food better”, “I get peace and quiet”, and "it’s calmly”. Kindergartener teacher Ms. Scrima, and other Kennedy School teachers have been implementing mindfulness in the cafeteria and their classrooms since last year. They are proud to have a lunch period that looks and sounds quite different from the chaotic cafeteria rush other classes often experience. While the students sit silently at the lunch table checking in with their emotions, their digestive systems are also benefitting. Physiologically, only when our bodies are in rest mode can the brain trigger the release of digestive