Mountain Lake PBS is happy to be partnering with Cornell Cooperative Extension’s (CCE) Farm to School Educator! Meghan will give us monthly updates on Farm to School programming in the region tied to the Harvest of the Month. Each month we’ll highlight the local food and farms’ involvement within the cafeteria and the classroom.
Farm to School programs in the region are thriving! We see strong community partnerships through non-profit and service organizations working with Farm to School programs, immense support from state-wide programs, and a wide quantity and diversity of agricultural products that are available for schools to purchase. It is because of these reasons that we see so much participation happening in the three counties that CCE currently works with – 18 school districts and 3 BOCES campuses.
School districts in Northern New York are implementing the 3 C’s of Farm to School:
- Cafeteria – purchasing local food for the school meal programs, and providing taste-tests of these products to the students.
- Classroom – teaching agricultural curriculum in the classroom as well as growing greens and herbs in the classroom.
- Community – drawing in wisdom and knowledge from the greater community as well as farmers. This includes field trips, farmer visits in the classrooms, and gardening assistance from Master Gardener Volunteers.
Harvest of the Month: Tomatoes!
September is a busy month for schools! There are new classes, new teachers, and new routines to get accustomed to. Even though it is a busy time, many of the local schools still participated in the Harvest of the Month for September, tomatoes! We saw tomatoes on salad bars, topped on tacos, mixed into calzones and in a classic tomato and cucumber salad. Students picked the last of the ripe tomatoes in their school gardens, and learned facts both about tomatoes, and about the farms where they came from.
Ticonderoga CSD served up a tomato-cucumber salad with vegetables from Drinkwine Produce in Ticonderoga as a part of the Harvest of the Month.
Each month we’ll be recapping the great work being done in our local schools, so check back in! Next up…Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and kale.
For more information, visit http://essex.cce.cornell.edu/agriculture/farm-to-school
See you next month!
Meghan Brooks
Farm to School Educator
Cornell Cooperative Extension