Fueling student success by providing nutritious meals at an affordable price while promoting sound eating habits that foster good health and academic achievement.
Fun fact: Brevard Public Schools Food & Nutrition Services serve over 10.1 MILLION meals per year.
Tomatoes| Bell Peppers| Cucumbers| Oranges
C&S Family Farms
Estrada & Sons
Sweet Life Farms
C elebratin g local food & local farmers! Florida Specialties
Florida is ranked the #1 state for growing fresh tomatoes.
3
Popular Types
1. Cherry
2. Grape
3. Roma
MANY Americans grow tomatoes in their own garden.
Florida grows 50% of all fresh tomatoes grown in the U.S.
Tomatoes take 60 - 100 days to grow from seed to fruit.
season crop that LOVE the sun.
Estrada & Sons was established in 2006. Estrada & Sons grow their vegetables on 1,000+ acres of land in Central Florida.
The tomatoes served at BPS are from C&S Family Farms & Estrada & Sons.
C&S Family Farms is a dual family-owned & operated group of vegetable farms.
C&S Family Farms has been farming for
C&S Family Farms Has 4 farm locations across Florida.
Estrada & Sons farm is located in Ona, Florida.
C&S Family Farms and Estrada & Sons both grow a wide variety of vegetables.
Florida produces over 300 MILLION pounds of bell peppers each year.
Most bell peppers are harvested by hand. Bell peppers can be 2 to 6 inches long.
sweet peppers.
Florida produces around 30% of all bell peppers grown in the U.S.
Bell peppers are in the same family as tomatoes, eggplant, and potatoes.
Bell peppers are a F R U I T.
ALL bell peppers are GREEN before they ripen.
Bell peppers transition from green to yellow to orange to red depending on how long they ripen.
Bell peppers get sweeter the longer they ripen.
Andy McDonald is the manager of Sweet Life Farms.
Andy has been farming in Plant City, FL since the 1970s.
Sweet Life Farms is located in Plant City, Florida.
Sweet Life Farms is a fruit & vegetable farm focused on quality produce over quantity.
Sweet Life Farms grows a variety of fruits & vegetables.
Sweet Life Farms vegetables are available year-round.
“We aren’t the biggest, but we want
Sweet Life Farms prioritizes quality produce over quantity.
Cucumbers rank 8th most valuable crop in Florida.
Cucumbers in FL are grown either outside or in greenhouses.
The U.S. is the 4th largest cucumber producing country in the world.
Cucumbers take 12 to produce fruit after being planted.
cucumbers are grown worldwide each year.
Cucumbers are 90% water.
Bees are essential for the pollination of cucumbers.
Cucumbers can grow 2 feet
Cucumbers are a
The large leaves on the cucumber plant provides shade for the developing fruit.
Florida Specialties is a group of South Florida vegetable growers
Florida Specialties was started Hilliard family in 1932.
Florida Specialties offer a wide started their business farming & ranching.
Florida Specialties is located in Immokalee, Florida.
Florida Specialties
“Florida
Specialties has earned a reputation for being the freshest, finest quality produce available."
More then 90% of America’s orange juice comes from Florida oranges.
Popular Types of Oranges:
1. Navel
2. Hamlin
600+ varieties of oranges.
85% of oranges are produced for making juice.
3. Valencia 3 oranges are harvested by hand.
Orange season is 9 months long! October - June!
tropical conditions for growing oranges.
Oranges need a lot of sunshine warm temperatures.
Started in 1926, Noble Citrus is a 4generation family farm and business.
Noble Citrus was started in 192 6.
Noble Citrus’ oranges are available year-round.
Noble Citrus was founded by William G. Roe.
Located in Winter Haven, Florida. in navel oranges. 4,400+ acres of groves. is a part of the 4th of the Noble Citrus.
Noble Citrus also grows grapefruits & blueberries!
Noble Citrus harvests all of their fruit by hand.
Lafayette and Okeechobee are Florida’s leading dairy counties.
Most of the dairy cows in Florida are Holsteins (the black and white cows), and their spots are unique like a fingerprint!
Cows chew their cud 50 times per minute.
How many times can chew in a minute?!
Cows can SEE almost and SMELL up to 6 miles away!
Most Florida dairy herds range 150 -
Florida dairy farmers byproducts such as citrus pulp, brewers’ grain and whole cottonseed that are consumed by the cows instead of ending up in landfills.
A Florida dairy cow produces about 68 gallons of milk each day.
Diary Farmers of America is a group of nearly 11,000 dairy farmers across the U.S.
dairy farms are family owned & operated. “We work to preserve the ability to pass down the farm to the next generation.”
DFA is a group of 5,000+ family dairy farms. Dairy Farmers of America is committed to practicing sustainable farming.
Florida is home to two DFA processing facilities.
DFA’s values include integrity, community innovation & quality. Dairy Farmers of America was formed on January 1, 1998.
Let’s shake some BUTTER!
2 cups cold heavy whipping cream 1 ounce plastic cups with lids
Pour 2 tablespoons of heavy cream into each portion cup. Place the lid on each cup, and distribute to students.
Shake the container until butter forms a soft lump. Continue to shake until buttermilk separates out of the lump and the container contains a solid lump of butter and liquid buttermilk. The process should take 3 to 5 minutes.
To strain, pour off or drink the buttermilk, leaving only the solid butter.
OPTIONAL: Remove the lump of butter, and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
For more information, visit FloridaMilk.com/in-the-schools
