Somerville Farm to School Project

Who likes Fish & Chips?   That's the question we posed to students at the Winter Hill Community Innovation School this past Wednesday.  Technically, we were wondering if they liked Baked Sole with a side of Sweet Potato Fries. It turns out that many of the students LOVED the fish and chips!  Over fifty percent of the students tried it. As they tried it, we gave them stickers to reward their bravery of trying a new food! They were also asked if they liked the fish and would eat it again. Eighty-one percent of the students surveyed would eat the fish again!   They also enjoyed sweet potatoes (not local), apples (sourced regionally from New York) and strawberries (sourced locally from Natick, MA). This special lunch was a Local Harvest Day pilot at the Winter Hill Community Innovation School. It marks the first time that Sea to School was a focus of school lunch here in Somerville. We hope to expand this program into other scho...

Last night we hosted our first benefit night at Flatbread Pizza in Somerville. We were overwhelmed by the community's support and thrilled to meet so many new supporters of the Farm to School Project! Thank you to the entire staff at Flatbread Pizza and those individuals and businesses who generously donated to our raffle! Boston Red Sox Tickets via John Welch Cambridge Naturals Gift Basket Midsummer Night's Green Farm Gift Box Flatbread Pizza hat and t-shirts Gift Certificates from Sarma Restaurant , O2 Yoga , 3 Little Figs , Bloc 11 / Diesel / Forge , Dave's Fresh Pasta , Flatbread Pizza , La Brasa , Magpie Gifts , Mahoney's Garden Center , and Porter Square Books . Thank you to everyone who supports our mission of empowering mindful eaters! Content provided by Karyn Novakowski, PEP Nutrition Education Coordinator, Somerville Farm to School Project Director.

On this very hot day, cool off by reading and listening to Farm to School inspiration! How does a school district source 50% local food? Listen to this episode of Inside School Food to learn how they are doing it in Portland, Maine. It's Farmers' Market season! Why not encourage your kids to try something new with a farmers' market scavenger hunt . Have you ever heard about Farm to Ballet? Read about it here .

Join the Somerville Farm to School Project for a fundraiser on Tuesday, June 16, 5pm to close at Flatbread Pizza, 45 Day St, Somerville. Enjoy a delicious Flatbread pizza and learn about the Farm to School Project. Whether you eat in or take out, we will receive a donation for every pizza sold! Raffle tickets for the following donated prizes will also be available: Boston Red Sox tickets Cambridge Naturals gift basket Midsummer Night’s Farm gift basket Gift certificates from Bloc 11, Dave’s Fresh   Pasta, Mahoney’s Garden Center, Magpie Gift Shop, O2 Yoga,   Porter Square Books, and Sarma Restaurant Bring your friends and family to support our mission of empowering mindful eaters!

On this sunny Friday, we bring you a little Farm to School inspiration from around web! Listen to a piece about a Kindergarten teacher in Queche, VT who is taking her students outside for one whole day! We are a little jealous of these solar gardening structures at Linton Springs Elementary Schools in Sykesville, MD. image via Whole Kids Foundation Setting up an outdoor kitchen? This video from the Edible Schoolyard Project tells you everything you need to know!

Save the date for a Somerville Farm to School Fundraiser! Enjoy delicious Flatbread pizza , Tuesday, June 16 from 5:00 to close. Eat in or take out ---either way, the Somerville Farm to School Project receives a donation for every pizza sold! This event supports the Somerville Farm to School Project, a project of the Food and Nutrition Services Department of the Somerville Public Schools. We work closely with kitchen staff, educators, and community based organizations to provide good food inspiration and education to students and parents so that Somerville's youth can eat will all day long! Explore the blog for more information about the Somerville Farm to School Project. Check back with us for more details about the benefit night!  

Spring is here and garden parties are happening in all the Somerville School Gardens! A few weeks ago, the Brown School held a Garden Party to kick off their school garden season. Under blue skies, students and their families turned soil and prepped the beds for planting. They also plant beans, snap peas, arugula, spinach, carrots, kale, Swiss chard, and lettuce.  Everything looks great and they should see their first seeds sprouting in less than a week! Content and photos provided by Shawn Szturma, Brown School Garden Parent Volunteer.

Our National Nutrition Month festivities continued last week at the Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park! Students continue to LOVE the veggie dip with 57% of the students trying the dip and 83% voting that they would eat the dip again! A special thank you to Argenziano parents for volunteering with us at this event and UMass Extension Team Nutrition for their continued collaboration. Results from previous taste tests can be found at the links below: Arthur D. Healey School East Somerville Community School Winter Hill Community Innovation School Contents provided by Karyn Novakowski, PEP Grant Nutrition Education Coordinator.

On Wednesday, April 1 the Winter Hill Community Innovation School was treated to a lunchtime visit by Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone and Superintendent of Schools Tony Pierantozzi. The Mayor and Superintendent were at the Winter Hill attending one of our National Nutrition Month Celebrations, which included joining students during lunch period and taking part in a taste test . In a speech to the students, both the Mayor and the Superintendent reminded students about the importance of eating fresh foods and whole grains. They emphasized that food is the fuel that gives our bodies energy to be physically active and stay fit. The Mayor challenged the students to be ambassadors for health in their own lives, encouraging friends and family members to "Bite into a Healthy Lifestyle."  Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi addressing Winter Hill students.   Mayor Joseph Curtatone reminding students to be ambassadors for health. The Mayor and Superintende...

After the long, cold, snowy winter it's hard to believe that spring is here.  Even after spending the winter under many feet of snow, garlic in the Kennedy School garden is starting to peek through the soil. Can you see the green? Garlic sprouting in the Kennedy School Garden The garlic was planted last fall by Roxanne Scrima's Kindergarten class. They waited patiently all winter to see if their garlic cloves would sprout. Today they visited the garden and planted more seeds in class.   We began our lesson by learning about plant parts and what seeds need to grow. We even pretended to be seeds! Then we looked at seeds from different plants: flowers, herbs, greens and fruits.   Students described the seeds first. The calendula seed looked like a worm or a snail. Many students thought the basil resembled coffee grounds. One student said it looked like "a period at the end of a sentence." Others pointed out that the mesclun was a ...

Over the past few weeks, we've been celebrating National Nutrition Month at our Elementary Schools. We've held taste tests during lunch and students are loving the veggies and dip! Newsletters and magazines have gone home with students so that they can share ideas with their families. Here we share five tips for eating well with your family:   Content provided by Karyn Novakowski, PEP Grant Nutrition Education Coordinator.      

We continue our celebration of National Nutrition Month with taste tests in our elementary schools around the city. Last week over 300 students at the East Somerville Community School tried our Vegetable Yogurt Dip . Eighty percent of them liked it and would eat it again!     Content provided by Karyn Novakowski, PEP Nutrition Education Coordinator.

A few weeks ago, Winter Hill Community Innovation School fourth grade students had the opportunity to taste test a modification of a popular menu item during their lunch period. Leslie Schmille, Framingham State University Dietetic Intern, invited students to sample Toasted Cheese with Trees, a grilled cheese sandwich with roasted broccoli. Grilled cheese with roasted broccoli Thirty-five students participated in the taste test as well as several staff members. Overall, the sandwich was well received by students with 77% voting that they ‘liked’ the sandwich.   Several students enthusiastically replied “Yes!” when asked if they would like to see the sandwich on the school lunch menu. Students stated they love the taste of broccoli and cheese together. Adding broccoli to the sandwich provides additional key nutrients for students, such as vitamin A and C as well as fiber. It also is a benefit to the department because it creates a complete menu item for a reimbursa...

Thank you to Farm to Institution New England for recognizing the hard work of the Somerville Family Learning Collaborative (SFLC)! In collaboration with the Somerville Farm to School Project, the SFLC held Literacy Pop-Up Events  at 8 Somerville schools in June 2014 that were attended by over 500 families. The events provided parents with creative ways to teach reading skills through the lens of food, from taste tests to grocery store scavenger hunts to food diaries and more. Thank you to the SFLC for their amazing work! The following is a repost from the Farm to Institute New England: The votes are in and we are thrilled to announce the winners in the Northeast Farm to School Recipes for Success Contest ! Grand Prize ($300 prize): Iron Chef – Salad Challenge Elizabeth Lichtenberg from Alton Central School in Alton Bay, NH Runner Up ($100 prize): Raising a Reader – Food Literacy Workshop Karyn Novakowski from Somerville Far...

On this snowy, chilly first day of spring we bring you a little Farm to School inspiration from around web! The Wisconsin School Garden Initiative shares ideas about choosing the right tools for children of all ages. They encourage us to "consciously create opportunities for our students to learn how to use tools, at every age." Watch the winning short films from this year's  Real Food Media Contest . We enjoyed the animated film, simply titled FOOD.  FOOD | 2015 Real Food Media Contest Winner from Real Food Media Project on Vimeo .

On Wednesday, March 11 we kicked off our National Nutrition Month Celebration at the Arthur D. Healey School. During lunch, we held a tasting of a Veggie Yogurt Dip . Students tried the dip on green, yellow and red peppers. Each student who tried the dip received an "I tried a new food today" sticker! They also had a chance to vote whether they would eat it again. Almost 200 students tried the recipe with an amazing 81% of them voting to eat it again! Thank you to Caitlin Kelly, PEP Grant Director and Leslie Schmille, Framingham State Nutrition Intern for helping out with the event. Content and photos provided by Karyn Novakowski, PEP Nutrition Education Coordinator.

During our National Nutrition Month celebrations we are featuring a savory Veggie Yogurt Dip (recipe adapted from Shared Appetite ). The dip itself contains carrots, spinach, kale and red pepper. Paired with red, green and yellow peppers it is definitely a "Go Snack"! Remember "Go Snacks and Salads" are snacks or salads that contain red, yellow and green (colors in a traffic light). When you see these three colors together on your plate, you know that you have created a healthy, nutrient packed meal.  Veggie Yogurt Dip   We paired our dip with tri-colored peppers but you can use cucumbers, carrots, or celery. We hope you try this recipe with your family! Veggie Yogurt Dip Recipe Ingredients 1 17 oz container Greek yogurt 3 tbsp. mayonnaise 1 tbsp. agave nectar (or honey) 1/2 cup kale, chopped 1/2 cup baby spinach, chopped 4 scallions, thinly sliced 1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely diced 1/2 cup carrot, grated 3 garlic...

This week we begin a series of National Nutrition Month celebrations with an event at each of our bronze award winning  HealthierUS Schools Challenge  schools: Arthur D. Healey School Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School East Somerville Community School John F. Kennedy Elementary School West Somerville Neighborhood School Winter Hill Community Innovation School National Nutrition Month, celebrated annually in March, is a campaign brought to us by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics . The theme for 2015 is "Bite into a Healthy Lifestyle," which encourages students and families to make informed choices about food choices and daily exercise. Here in Somerville, our schools are celebrating with a cafeteria taste test! We will be sampling a "Go Snack & Salad." "Go Snacks and Salads" are snacks or salads that contain red, yellow and green (colors in a traffic light). When you see these three colors together on your plate, you know that you have...

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...