Somerville Farm to School Project

On this very chilly morning, we were delighted to wake up to an Education Week article that has us thinking spring! Jane Hirschi, founding director of City Sprouts , shares her thoughts on the special learning opportunities that a school garden provides.  We were struck by the question: "Is garden-based learning a critical educational resource all students need, as important to children's education as computer labs and libraries?" Based on what we have seen in Somerville's school gardens, we think the answer is YES! June 2014 in the Brown School Garden

On January 13, 2015 Mass Farm to School Project held a regional conference in Worcester, MA. Attending the conference were food service directors, educators, policy makers, public health advocates and farm to school enthusiasts. Three inspiring keynote speakers kicked off the conference: Ruby Maddox, Assistant Director for the Miller Worley Center for the Environment at Mt. Holyoke College, Melissa Honeywood, Food Service Director Cambridge Public Schools , and Niaz Dorry, Coordinating Director of the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance . Each speaker, offering her unique perspective, reminded us of three basic, but indispensable truths. 1. Farm to school (and sea to school) programs rely on connections and relationships. Collaborations among teachers, food service directors, farmers, fisherman, and the larger community are vital to successful farm to school programs. No one person can create a farm to school program. We need support from three main sectors: cafeteria, cla

Our goal for 2014 was to expose Somerville students to new foods and flavors. We accomplished that by hosting sensory taste tests in all seven of our elementary schools.  Approximately 520 students (23% or 523 out of 2280 students) from our elementary schools participated. We reached 30 first through sixth grade classrooms with yummy fruit and vegetable based recipes. In June, students at the Winter Hill Community Innovation School tried a Spinach Strawberry Salad , in September students at the East Somerville Community School tasted Baba Ganoush made with eggplant from their school garden, and in October students at the Argenziano School sampled Hummus with vegetables . In November, ~330 students at five elementary schools tried a Moroccan Carrot Salad.  This recipe was a mixture of familiar ingredients coupled with unique spices and herbs. The sweet and sour salad was a great choice for a sensory taste test because it exposed the students to a new combination of flavors and text