Corn Shucking at Breakfast

Somerville Food and Nutrition Services celebrated Massachusetts Farm to School Week with our annual Corn Shucking at Breakfast tradition on Thursday, October 2nd. Massachusetts Farm to School Week is an opportunity for schools across the state to celebrate the local harvest season.

Students at all Somerville elementary schools and Capuano were hard at work early in the morning to get 3,500 ears of local corn from Verrill Farm in Concord, MA shucked so that fresh corn on the cob could be served at lunch that day. Hundreds of students as well as countless volunteers, parents, teachers and staff members joined together to get this mammoth task achieved before the first bell!

This event brought together students from all grades as well as students with varied corn shucking experience. Older students enjoyed the task equally as much as the younger students, and were able to help younger students get the first difficult husk off the corn. Many students have participated in the event in past years and are veteran corn shuckers. Others have shucked corn but only in their home country. And still for others, this was the first time they husked corn and was a special opportunity to learn where corn comes from.

By the end of breakfast, not a single ear of corn was left unshucked, impressing all involved how quickly this major task was accomplished. All 3,500 cobs were ready to be cooked off by Food and Nutrition Services staff for lunch (not an easy feat either J)!

While the shucking morning was certainly a highlight of many students’ days, the best part was enjoying the sweet, juicy corn at lunch. Simply said, it was just “delicious!”

Content provided by Charlotte Stephenson, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grant Coordinator

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