Farm to School Programs

glc4 posted a great comment last week after watching a classroom full of 3rd graders eat lunch! Thanks, glc4!

That's pretty horrendous, I must say. And the worst part, as you noted, is that the high fructose corn syrupy food they were eating were FROM HOME! Like, either they were packing their own lunches, or like their parental units were packing for them, and not packing particularly healthily. No fruits. No vegetables. Not even sandwiches, as you say! Sugar, sugar, sugar, it sounded like. Tsk, tsk! I am with you in fearing for these kids in 15 years if they don't learn better eating habits now! And no wonder it's hard to keep them focused on schoolwork during classtime! Poor teachers! And another tsk!

Again, the most amazing thing to me here is that the food was coming from home. School lunch programs have been long under fire for this sort of poor nutrition thing. Some school districts across the country have even signed contracts with "big bidness" to sell sodas and serve franchise fast-foods from McD's and Taco Bell and Domino's. They say it's "easier" or "faster" or "cheaper," but it sure ain't good for the kiddies.

In some parts of the country, parents have responded by getting organized and starting "farm to school" programs in their districts, linking schools up with local farmers who provide fresh produce for school lunches. This helps the kiddies AND it helps farmers. AND it helps build a stronger community.

For more information about Farm to School Projects - how they work and how to get one started in a school district near you - check out the Community Food Security Coalition's website:

http://www.foodsecurity.org/farm_to_school.html

Lots of good stuff there!

Of course, none of that helps directly with the problem of poor, parentally-packed lunches. Sigh. But maybe if one parent told another parent about what s/he saw in a 3rd grade classroom during lunchtime...and then that parent told another parent...who told another parent...well, maybe we could get some awareness raised at least. So, get talkin! Maybe over some triple certified fair-trade, shade-grown, organic coffee! And some freshly-baked, homemade apple pie (with apples grown at an orchard near you!) with some sharp cheddar cheese on top (from your local dairy!)

Yum! Now I'm hungry!

Until next time...eat well and be well!