5 minute read
FARM TO SCHOOL
ALABAMA FARMERS BRINGING FOOD TO THE TABLE
BY JESSIE SHOOK
For individuals so involved in agriculture, it’s hard to imagine a world where there is such a divide between farm to table. Does the next generation know where their food comes from?
Alabama is helping bridge that divide by offering schools the opportunity to participate in a Farm to School Program. “The Farm to School Program is a program that was started on a national level,” said Beth Spratt, Alabama’s Farm to School coordinator. “The focus of Farm to School is nutrition and agriculture education, school gardening, and local procurement. At the Alabama Department of Agriculture, we focus on the education and local procurement pieces of the puzzle.”
The main purpose of this program is for children to learn about, try and eat more local foods that they may not have been exposed to otherwise. “It is key for students to know where their food comes from for many reasons,” Spratt explained. “One of those reasons is to know that it doesn’t just come from the grocery store, that someone had to grow or produce it before it got to the grocery store. It is also important to know how far the food traveled before it got to their plate because that can speak to how ripe or unripe the product was picked or if the nutritional content is higher. All of this helps speak to the healthiness of the foods they are putting in their bodies to fuel their minds.”
Boozer Farms, located in Thorsby, Alabama, has participated in the Farm to School Program for four years. “I love knowing that the fruits and vegetables we produce are able to be enjoyed by children in our community and neighboring communities,” said Taylor Hatchett, owner of Boozer Farms. “From a business perspective, it is wonderful to have large volume sales that are close to home.”
This program creates a new market for Alabama farmers and a local fresh option for school cafeterias. “We constantly introduce farmers to school food service directors to make those connections,” Spratt said. “We ultimately incentivize the schools for serving local items … making it more feasible and enticing for them to do.”
Each individual school decides if they would like to participate in the program and the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries serves as the coordinator. They facilitate the exchange of information and connect schools to local food. “The school can have a direct relationship with the farmer or the farmer can work with the school’s distributor,” Spratt explained.
Boozer Farms supplies peaches, strawberries, cantaloupes, persimmons and cherry tomatoes to schools. She explained how seamless the farm to school process is. “The great thing about the Farm to School Program is that you can identify needs before a crop is even planted. This allows you to plan and plant according to what the schools want, which from a sustainable business approach is ideal. We identify the crop or crops needed as well as volume and once it is harvested and packed, I deliver it directly to the schools or to a distributor who handles the individual deliveries.”
The program also offers schools learning material for students to learn more about where their food comes from. “We have created materials for schools to use in the classroom that focuses on a different product being harvested in Alabama each month,” Spratt said. “This resource follows the common core teaching standards that teachers can use in the classroom.”
Additionally, Boozer Farms has given farm tours to cafeteria staff because she believes it is important for the adults to understand the important of sourcing locally. “Often times it requires a little more work to prepare fresh local fruits and vegetables compared to processed/canned/frozen items,” Hatchett explained. “The staff that prepares the food should know why the extra work they may do is so valuable. The farm tours are an opportunity for me share the importance of supporting local farms and gives me a chance to personally thank them for all they do to make the Farm to School Program such a success!”
The Farm to School Program is constantly growing with more schools buying in every year with more success stories. “I think anytime a child tries something new with an open mind is a success story. We know most kids like watermelon and strawberries, but what about kiwi or persimmons. Getting them to try those items is definitely a win!
