Somerville Farm to School Project

A big congratulations to the following Somerville Public Schools, who are recipients of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Healthier US School Challenge (HUSSC) Bronze Award:   ·          Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School ·          East Somerville Community School ·          Arthur D. Healey School ·          John F. Kennedy Elementary School ·          West Somerville Neighborhood School ·          Winter Hill Community Innovation School   What does it mean to be a HUSSC Bronze School? Well, besides being among an elite group of schools, only approximately 7% of schools throughout the United States are certified as HUSSC schools, this means that these Somerville schools have been working day in and day out to go above and beyond the standards set forth for nutrition and physical activity.   The school kitchens are cooking up whole grains and fresh fruit and vegetables, and serving all of these in a tasty and visually appealing manner. And we’re n

Last fall was a very busy time for the Somerville Farm to School Project. We conducted sensory taste tests , apple tastings in our cafeterias , garlic planting days, special events like Food Day , and farm to school in class lessons. In fact, we were so busy that we are just finding time to post about some of our Fall 2014 activities! We hope the next few posts inspire you to think about warmer weather and working in the garden - spring is only 2 months away! In October and November of last year, first graders at the Argenziano School participated in a 6 week pilot farm to school curriculum. These lessons will be available to all first grade teachers in the Somerville school district as one of our farm to school curriculum kits. Working with the first grade teachers, we developed a science based curriculum that uses content literacy skills, cooking demonstrations and science experiments to teach students about plant parts and what they need to grow. These lessons were adapted from