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...

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...

This past Monday, we held our final apple taste test at the Capuano Early Childhood Center. Students had the chance to try Macoun and Cortland apples. This was a VERY close race with the Macouns (53%) barely winning over the Cortlands (47%). Our youngest students had a great time sampling the different apples. Thank you to Donna Perry for photographing the event and creating this beautiful bulletin board right in the cafeteria! Capuano apple tasters! A big thank you to Tracie Gillespie from UMass Extension for providing apple bookmarks to the students and helping at the Capuano Taste Test! And another big thank you to Charlotte Stephenson, Somerville Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grant Coordinator for helping at the Capuano and conducting many of the other taste tests. For results from all the other apple taste tests use these links: West Somerville Neighborhood School Winter Hill Community Innovation School Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School Art...

Two weeks ago we held an apple taste test at the John F. Kennedy School. Macouns and Cortlands were tried by 234 students (56% of those in attendance). The Macoun apple was the clear winner receiving 77% of the votes, leaving the Cortland with 23% of the vote.         Content and photos provided by Karyn Novakowski, Somerville Farm to School Project Director       

This week at the East Somerville Community School we tasted the difference between the green and very tart Granny Smith apple and the red and very sweet Fuji apple. Twenty-nine percent (183 out of 666) students participated in the taste test.   In yet another close race, the Fuji apple came out on top with fifty-six percent of the students choosing it over the Granny Smith which received forty-four percent of the votes. Content and photos provided by Lauren Mancini, FNS Director and Charlotte Stephenson, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grant Coordinator.

Have you seen this?   Where did it come from?     It’s a lime green MyPlate backpack and one may be lying around your house somewhere.   The backpacks were an incentive students received last year as part of the UMass Extension Nutrition Education Program .   Nutrition educators from UMass Extension have been found in classrooms across the Somerville school district since 2007.   Rotating to schools throughout the school year, a nutrition educator visits each classroom once a week for 5 weeks, teaching students from kindergarten to eighth grade about the importance of eating healthy.   Does nutrition education make a difference?   Go ahead, ask your 4 th , 5 th , or 6 th grader to tell you the nutrient found in the grains group and how it helps your body.   They will likely raise their arms like they are driving a car and show the actions for the word ‘carbohydrate’ and shout ‘it gives you energy!’ (You can ask your 7 th or...

A lot has been happening this year in the garden in the Benjamin G. Brown School. In this post we shared some of the first garden activities of the season. Parent volunteer and gardening guru, Shawn Szturma has been heading up the planting, maintaining, and harvesting in the garden. Below Shawn shares a few special entries from his garden journal. July We have mesclun/lettuce mix, basil and radishes ready to pick. Mesclun Radish August I just did some final cleanup yesterday on the Brown School garden before the school year.  When I stopped by, there were some local boys (5th graders) snacking on the tomatoes and pole beans in the garden.  As the garden steward, I thought that was perfect.  I told them to come back and graze anytime they saw something ripe and ready-to-eat. Cherry tomatoes   Pole beans   September Today, I brought some bok choy seedlings to the 2nd grade class at the Brown School (Mrs. Jaspe...

Our latest taste test was the closest yet!  Students tried the Spencer and Cortland varieties.       Seventy-nine percent of the students participated in the test. The students preferred the Spencer (51%) to the Cortland (49%).        Thank you to our volunteer, Jen Capuano for helping with the taste test!   Content provided by Karyn Novakowski, Farm to School Project Director 

For our third taste test we went to the Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School. We sampled Macoun and Cortland varieties.     Fifty one percent of the students participated in the taste test. Macoun apples won with sixty-nine percent of the students preferring it to the Cortland variety.    Content provided by Charlotte Stephenson, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grant Coordinator

On Thursday, October 23, the Somerville Food Security Coalition hosted Come to the Table—an exciting Food Day event at the Winter Hill Community Innovation School.   More than 150 kids and adults gathered for an evening of food and fun that included a raffle, fun activities, dinner provided by the Tufts Food Rescue , and a wealth of information about food security resources in Somerville. Enjoying a yummy dinner!   Activities for all ages were ample! SomerVIVA tested guests’ palates with a side-by-side taste test of bottled and tap water. To the surprise of many, the tap water was the clear favorite! Tap water taste test Attendees also marked their favorite grocery stores and markets on a map of Somerville, creating a unique view of food in the city. Our youngest guests enjoyed a coloring station that stressed the importance of eating plenty of fruits and veggies. Dot survey There were food samples, too! Community Cooks handed out tastes of their yu...