Fresh ingredients at the Lilla Frederick Middle School. Thanks to Jay Manoli and his entire staff for a great pot of soup!

Boston Public Schools introduced a homemade Southwest Vegetable Soup featuring locally grown butternut squash last Thursday.  The soup, menued as part of the Farm to School Initiative’s Local Lunch Thursday Program, was warmly received by students and staff alike.  One Lilla Frederick School Student declared it “the bomb.”

Lunch looks delicious at Brighton High! Thanks to Annie Yong and her staff for sending this photo.

A hearty blend of squash, black beans, green beans and corn in a spiced tomato broth, the soup is served alongside a whole grain toasted cheese sandwich with milk and fresh fruit. In case you missed it, the Southwest Vegetable Soup will be featured again on the BPS cafeteria menu Thursday March 1^st.  Can’t wait until March?  Give the recipe below a whirl in your home kitchen.

BPS Southwest Vegetable Soup

• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 small onion, diced                              
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup peeled and diced butternut squash
• 1 cup diced tomatoes, fresh or canned                                                    
• 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 cup green beans                    
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn                                  
• 2 cups cooked black beans (1 can rinsed and drained)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Optional Toppings:

• Grated cheddar cheese
• Crumbled tortilla chips
• Low-fat sour cream
• Greek yogurt
• Diced avocado

Heat a medium soup pot over medium heat.  Add the oil and onion and sauté 1-2 minutes until soft and aromatic.  Add the garlic, stock, tomatoes, chili powder and cumin.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the squash is tender – about 30 minutes.  Add the green beans, corn, and black beans.  Cook an additional 5 to 10 minutes just until everything is heated through.  Season with salt and pepper, top with desired toppings, and serve. 

Sadie Richards, a FoodCorps Service Member, started with the Boston Public Schools’ Department of Food and Nutrition Services in late August 2011.  FoodCorps, a division of AmeriCorps, aims to reverse the trend of childhood obesity through engaging students in agriculture, educating students about food and nutrition, and facilitating student access to fresh fruits and vegetables grown by local farmers.  Since August, Sadie has been working with the Farm to School Team at BPS and coordinating the Dearborn Middle School Garden, which was generously donated (and constructed!) by a team from Fidelity Investments.    

Sadie teaches a gardening activity block twice a week – Monday and Friday afternoons – during which she and her students do everything from garden maintenance and planting to taste-testing, food preservation, and composting.  Thanks to the clever construction of protective plastic “hoophouses” (and our unusually mild winter weather), the Dearborn Garden is still green!  Growing under the white covers is a diverse mix of crops including radishes, kale, collard greens, lettuce, mustard greens, spinach, swiss chard, and pak choi.

When they are not tending to the raised beds, Sadie leads her students in a variety of food and gardening lessons.  For example, Andy Brooks, President and Founder of Bootstrap Compost, recently spoke to the group about his business, community benefits of composting, as well as the composting process in general.  Sadie led the group in an interactive activity which explored the 5 kingdoms in compost and the life cycle.  Later that week, students participated in a lunchtime collection of apple cores and orange peels for the school compost bin. 

In another recent workshop, Sadie’s students participated in a “pickle cook-off,” in which students tested two different recipes for pickled radishes.  The exercise not only flexed their kitchen skills, but also required some basic multiplication and knowledge of fractions. 

What’s next for the Dearborn Garden?  Sadie has plans for workshops in environmental and food justice, irrigation systems, and food and the media, as well as field trips to the Dudley Farmer’s Market, Boston Gardener, and Haley House.   Best of all, warmer spring weather will mean more time with hands in the dirt!        

Ms. Nestle analyzed the Farm Bill from a historical perspective, tracing its depression era origins to its modern day subsidy of large agribusiness, while Ms. Pingree provided both political context and strategy for transformation.  In attendance were several New England stakeholders including the Boston Public Schools Farm to School Team, The Boston Collaborative for Food and Fitness, The Maine Farmland Trust, The American Farmland Trust, The Food Project, Project Bread, The New England Farmers Union, The Northeast Organic Farming Association, and The New Entry Sustainable Farming Project.   

For more information on the Museum of Science Let’s Talk About Food Series, check out their website here. 

Visit Marion Nestle’s Blog, Food Politics, here. 

The Farm to School team has been busy serving up local produce every Thursday at all BPS Cafeteria Schools.  Before the winter break, we visited Boston Latin Academy in Roxbury where we sampled locally grown Macintosh apples.  Local apples are available all winter long thanks to cold storage facilities which preserve apples harvested in the fall.  Sweet and juicy, these apples were a favorite among students.

Last week, we visited the Dearborn Middle School in Boston’s Uphams Corner Neighborhood to sample locally grown cabbage and carrots shredded for a tasty coleslaw.  In addition to the traditional mayonnaise dressed slaw, we also sampled an Asian inspired coleslaw with a ginger-vinegar dressing.  Overall, students preferred the traditional slaw which was developed for Boston Public Schools by the Department of Food and Nutrition Services very own Milton Lashus. 

Here’s the Recipe for Milton’s Famous Slaw:

• 1 pound shredded cabbage and carrots (shred your own or buy a prepared bag in the salad section of the supermarket)
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 tsp mustard
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp sugar
• salt and pepper to taste

Toss together all ingredients in a large bowl and serve!

This week, on Thursday January 19^th, we’ll be heading to the Curley K-8 School in Jamaica Plain to sample Czjakowski Farm roasted vegetable medley – a blend of butternut squash, rutabaga, and carrots. 

Early in December,  the Department of Food and Nutrition Services tested 3 new soup recipes all loaded with fresh Massachusetts grown produce.  We sampled the soups with elementary students, middle school students, high school students, and staff, collecting surveys and feedback from each group.  We’re hoping to menu the most popular soup + a whole wheat toasted cheese sandwich for lunch in February.

The three contenders are:

Southwest Vegetable:  Black beans, corn, green beans, and local butternut squash in a spiced tomato broth.

Vegetable Minestrone: Local carrots and collard greens along with macaroni and garbanzo beans in a rich tomato broth.

Colombian Butternut Squash and Vegetable: Local butternut squash, carrots, and rutabaga in a cilantro spiked chicken broth with corn and green beans.

All three soups pack a punch in terms of nutrition with a full serving of vegetables in each 8 ounce portion.

And the winner?  By a hair, it’s the Southwest Vegetable.  49% of all testers want to see this soup on the menu, as compared to 43% for the Colombian Butternut Squash and Vegetable, and 37% for the Vegetable Minestrone. 

Look for the Southwest Vegetable Soup on the Cafeteria Lunch Menu February 2nd as part of Local Lunch Thursdays!

The first meeting, held on November 21^st, 2011, focused on the Salad Bars to Schools Initiative.  Students from Boston Latin School and East Boston High School spoke on a panel about the process of applying for and acquiring salad bars at their schools.  Instrumental to the process at East Boston High (EBH) was the Healthy Hood Club, which was founded by Cait Van Damm and Alison Smizer of the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center in 2010.  Read about the EBH salad bar story here.

The most recent BCFF School Food Subcommittee meeting focused on the source of school food – everything from USDA commodities, to local produce, to bread and milk.  The BCFF team participated in a farm to table exercise, lead by Kim Szeto (BPS Farm to School Coordinator), in which they were asked to map the progression of a variety of BPS lunch menu items from origin to consumption.

The next BCFF School Food School Food Subcommittee meeting is scheduled for January 23^rd from 4:00pm to 6:00pm at the Tobin Community Center and will focus on campaign building and organizing in order to promote healthy school lunch options and local food.  The meeting is open to all Boston area students, teachers, parents, Food and Nutrition Services staff, and community partners.  We encourage you to join the conversation! For more information about the BCFF School Food Subcommittee or to RSVP for the next meeting please email Kim at kszeto[at]boston.k12.ma.us.

We served up local broccoli at Hennigan Elementary School on Thursday November 3rd.  Paula Flaherty, the Cafeteria Manager encourages her students to eat their veggies by challenging them to show off their muscles!

Locally grown bosc pears were on the menu at the Timilty Middle School on Thursday November 10th.  Students LOVED the sweet pears served up by Jerrydene Odom, the Cafeteria Manager, and her entire team.

On Thursday November 17th, we visited McCormack Middle School to sample locally grown butternut squash as part of the school’s Thanksgiving meal.  Dale Feeney, the Cafeteria Manager, roasted the squash with salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a little brown sugar – delicious!

Last week, on December 1st, students at Orchard Gardens K-8 sampled coleslaw prepared by Kathy Carney, the Cafeteria Manager, and her entire team.  The coleslaw is made with fresh Massachusetts grown cabbage and carrots.  We heard scores of stories about a recent fourth grade field trip to The Farm School in Athol, MA as we chatted with students about the vegetables on their plates.  The field trip clearly left a lasting impression on everyone and helped the students make the farm to table connection. 

The Mother Nature Network listed BPS as one of the country’s 10 most impressive Farm to School Programs in a recent online article .  The article describes the BPS Farm to School Program’s progression –  from its incarnation in 2008 as a “Harvest of the Month” promotion in only 10 schools, to its expansion to all BPS cafeteria schools.  Edith Murnane, Director of Food Initiatives for Mayor Menino, said of the praise, “Not only are we one of the top 10 most impressive Farm to School programs, but we’re listed as No. 1.”

Read the full article HERE. 

Congratulations to the entire Food and Nutrition Services team on a job well done. 

Determining how to get locally farmed products to the school is often the biggest challenge faced by foodservice staff when instituting a farm to school program.

The most frequent issue cited by school foodservice staff when developing a farm to school program is difficulty transporting locally farmed products to the school. A number of factors should be considered when determining the most effective distribution method for your district, such as the district size, whether the district has centralized versus satellite kitchens, the schools’ storage capacities, and whether farm cooperatives exist in the area. Four distribution methods are outlined below.

Buy directly from individual farmers. Some school foodservice directors have built relationships with individual farmers and buy directly from them.

Advantages:
No middleman so challenges can be overcome quickly and easily
Foodservice staff learns what the farmer grows and can even ask for specific items to be planted

Disadvantages:
Individual farmers mean more paperwork, more phone calls, more coordination, more deliveries

Buy from a farmer cooperative. A cooperative consolidates multiple farmers’ products and distributes them together.

Advantages:
Reduces administration, paperwork, number of deliveries

Disadvantages:
May not be an option for all regions
Decreases personal contact with individual farmers

Buy from farmers’ markets. This model is similar to buying directly from farmers, but orders are given to the farmers a few days prior to the farmers’ market and are picked up by the foodservice staff on the day of the farmers’ market.

Advantages:
Ability to inspect before accepting the product
Gives an opportunity to see other growers and their offerings at the market
Can reduce costs since the farmer was already coming to the market

Disadvantages:
More time consuming since product must be picked up
Works only in regions where the school year and farmers’ markets coincide
Feasible only if the district has a truck and driver available

Order locally grown food through a traditional wholesaler. For this method, foodservice staff purchases from a distributor that offers at least some local products.

Advantages:
Often allows foodservice staff to maintain existing purchasing relationships
Reduces administration and time required to procure local product

Disadvantages:
No communication with farmers
Unable to guarantee product is locally sourced (can be mitigated by knowing the availability and seasonality of local produce and requesting access to buying records from the broker)

Because of the differences among school districts, there is not a one-size-fits-all or recommended distribution method. Each district, after taking an inventory of their resources and unique circumstances, can choose the distribution method that best fits their situation. For more extensive information on distribution models, see the USDA’s publication Eat Smart – Farm Fresh! A Guide to Buying and Serving Locally-Grown Produce in School Meals.

The Boston Public Schools Farm to School Project was featured in two Boston Globe articles from Tuesday November 1, 2011! Both articles were written by Globe Correspondent Michael Prager, author of Fat Boy, Thin Man, which chronicles his own transformation from obesity to health. 

The first article, “Changing Students Lunches, One Tray at a Time,” looks at the move towards scratch cooking and farm grown ingredients in several Massachusetts school districts, including Boston.  In the article, Prager features Boston Public Schools’ very own Derric Edwards, the Cafeteria Manager at the Dearborn Middle School, along with Kim Szeto, our Farm to School Coordinator, and Sadie Richards-Brown, our FoodCorps representative, cooking up and sampling locally grown collard greens during a recent lunch in Dorchester.  Prager explains, “Brown is showing off collard sprouts, which are unknown to students.  Students are surprised that the chopped broad leaves on their plates had such small beginnings.”  Read the full article on boston.com.

The second article, “Hadley Farmer’s Business is Growing Fast,” profiles Joe Czajkowski of Czajkowski Farm in Hadley, Massachusetts.  Czajkowski Farm is a major player in the Massachusetts Farm to School Project and one of our main sources of locally grown produce at Boston Public Schools.  Read all about the farm’s operations on boston.com. 

Your school system already utilizes sustainable practices when constructing and operating new schools. As a foodservice director you may have considered additional steps you can take to support the sustainability effort. Why not adopt a program such as buying local produce for your school lunch program (i.e., farm to school program)? A successful farm to school program partners schools with local farms and results in more nutritious and better tasting menu offerings, which in turn can increase school meal participation rates and contribute to the overall health of your students. In addition, purchasing directly from nearby farms supports the local economy and provides health and nutrition educational opportunities for students. All of these benefits sound great, but where should you start and what hurdles might you encounter?

Many resources are available to assist school foodservice directors with sourcing local produce for their lunch program.

The Farm-to-School Program is a valuable national network that connects schools with local farms. Farm-to-School provides myriad resources to help school foodservice directors get started. The Farm-to-School website provides information about building relationships with local growers, case studies from school systems that have already implemented farm to school programs, and tools for evaluating the program’s success.

I highly recommend reading USDA Farm to School Team 2010 Summary Report. This report summarizes the findings from fifteen school districts across the country that have already implemented a successful program – describing challenges encountered, along with real-world solutions. You may be interested to learn how various school districts overcame funding shortfalls, labor challenges, and facility modifications that are required to implement a farm to school program. The amount of valuable information and the number of ideas and solutions available to anyone interested in starting a farm to school program are incredible. Consider investing time researching the opportunity and take advantage of the resources that are available to you through the Farm-to-School program.

The potential positive impact of a farm to school program for your school system is enormous. Good luck, and stay tuned for additional posts about this topic!

DWH

Sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), National Food Day aims to bring together Americans from diverse backgrounds – parents, teachers, and students; health professionals, community organizers, and local officials; chefs, school lunch providers, and eaters of all stripes – to advocate for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way. 

Boston Public Schools is celebrating National Food Day with a special menu at all Cafeteria Schools featuring locally grown apples, from Lanni Orchards in Lunenburg, MA, as well as locally grown butternut squash and green beans from Czajkowski Farms in Hadley, MA.  We’ll also be serving baked pollock with lemon-butter, paprika, and parsley, a chef developed recipe which was featured at our back to school training for Cafeteria Managers. 

In addition to the special lunch menu, individual Boston Public Schools are marking the day with customized celebrations including local produce sampling and school garden activities. 

Join us for lunch!  BPS Cafeterias will be serving local butternut squash, local green beans, local apples and baked pollock on Monday October 24th to commemorate the day. 

The Department of Food and Nutrition Service’s own Kim Szeto was honored yesterday with the Massachusetts Farm to School Project’s Blue Ribbon Award for excellence and leadership.  Kim is the Farm to School Coordinator for Boston Public Schools and has grown the program from a pilot project in only 6 cafeterias to a mainstay on the lunch line of all 44 BPS cafeterias.  Last year, Boston Public Schools served over 35000 pounds of local produce to students across the city.  Kim, via Farm to School and the BPS Local Lunch Thursday program, has brought a myriad of fresh Massachusetts farm produce to our schools including apples, butternut squash, rutabaga, fresh strawberries, and much more. 

Kelly Erwin, the Director of the Massachusetts Farm to School Project, made the award to Kim at the City Year Headquarters in downtown Boston.  Ms. Erwin praised Kim’s dedication and perseverance as well as her ability to connect with students.  Several speakers echoed this sentiment, including Barbara Ferrer, the Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission, who remarked “Farm to School needs a champion. Kim is that champion.”

Representatives from Farm to School partners across the city and state were in attendance at the ceremony including: The MA Department of Agriculture, the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, The Boston Collaborative for Food and Fitness, The Boston Public Health Commission, The Mayor’s Office, Project Bread, and The Food Project, and The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation. 

Kim Szeto accepted the Blue Ribbon Award on behalf of the entire department of Food and Nutrition Services, noting that Farm to School would not be possible without the immense support of everyone in our central office and all of our cafeterias. 

From all of us at the Department of Food and Nutrition Services, Congratulations Kim!  Thank-you for everything you have done over the past several years to make Farm to School a success in Boston Public Schools.  We are looking forward to another terrific year ahead.   

Wally and friends from the Dearborn in their new school garden.

Thursday September 22, 2011, Dearborn Middle School celebrated MA Harvest for Students with a very special guest: Red Sox mascot, Wally the Green Monster! Wally along with other distinguished guests, including City Councilors John Connolly and Tito Jackson, School Committee member Mary Tamer, and Edith Murnane, Director of Food Initiatives for the Mayor, encouraged students to fuel their minds and bodies with healthy foods such as the locally grown green beans on the school lunch menu.

The auditorium roared with excitement for Wally the Green Monsteras he was introduced as a “champion for eating his greens”. Wally gave two thumbs up for locally grown green beans and high fives to all the students as they filed out of the auditorium and up to the cafeteria.

Jose Duarte, Principal at the Dearborn, encouraged students to try these healthy options in the cafeteria and emphasized the importance of making healthy food choices by comparing eating well with putting good quality gas into a nice car. “You wouldn’t put cheap gas into a really nice car, would you? What happens if you just eat a big bag of chips from the corner store?” Duarte asked the crowd of middle school students. A few student from the back responded, “You’ll probably crash!” BPS Farm to School Initiative is not only increasing the availability of healthy options in the cafeteria but is also educating students about the importance of making healthy food choices and how these healthy foods are grown through their new school garden.

Wally 'high fives' students at the Dearborn on their way to the cafeteria.

Dearborn Middle School is one of Boston Public Schools’ 44 full service cafeterias that served up a share of the local harvest with Massachusetts grown apples, pears, collard greens, cabbage (homemade coleslaw), broccoli and roasted green beans this week.

Every Thursday is Local Lunch Thursday in all of the BPS’  full service cafeterias.  So look out for more locally grown items on the lunch line every Thursday this year!

Through a partnership with Mass Farmers Markets, we’ve put together walking maps from BPS schools to a few nearby markets. Check out these maps on our Resources page.

Many farmers markets are open from June through October.  Take a walk on over to the market after school and check out what’s in season!

For a more extensive listing of farmers markets in the area check out the Mass Farmers Market website.

Reminder: Tomorrow is Local Lunch Thursday! So get in line and try the roasted green beans!

Meet Joe Czajkowski from Czajkowski Farms in Hadley, MA:

ACRES FARMED: 300, 1/2 organic and 1/2 conventional
FARMING SINCE: Farm founded in 1914
CROPS: Blueberries, carrots, cherries, peaches, peas, raspberries, squash, strawberries, sweet corn, sweet potatoes, tomatoes
EQUIPMENT: Four John Deere tractors, three Farmall tractors, two Landini tractors, assorted trucks, peeling and cutting equipment
FARM ANIMALS: A rabbit named Strawberry
CONTACT: www.czajkowskifarm.com

Did you know…There are over 100 farms in MA that sell their products to public schools and universities in MA! For more information about farms in MA that are selling to schools, check out the MA Farm to School Project.

Why Massachusetts Grown?
It’s fresh and delicious and healthy for you too! Fruits and vegetables picked at the peak of their season are packed with flavor and nutrients!

Did you know…
217 public school districts purchased locally grown products for their lunch lines last year. Boston Public Schools was one of those school districts!

Chef Stephen Menyhart working one on one with our staff in the kitchen

Every year, BPS Food and Nutrition Services hosts a back to school training for all of our cafeteria managers. Over the course of 4 days, managers review everything from inventory control to new nutrition guidelines, to culinary basics to get ready for the school year.

One of the highlights from this year’s training included a day long culinary component led by 3 of our partnering chefs and one of our Field Coordinators.  During this training our chefs reviewed basic knife and safety skills and prepared a few recipes from this year’s lunch menu with our managers.  Many of these recipes reflect the department’s move towards “semi-scratch” cooking that incorporates some lightly processed products and some fresh ingredients.

Chef Kirk Conrad leading a team of cafeteria managers in the kitchen

 The kitchen filled with tantalizing aromas as managers worked together in teams to prepare an assortment of dishes including a butternut squash bisque, roasted green beans, sautéed collard greens (all of which were locally grown!), baked Alaskan Pollock (an unbreaded filet), and teriyaki chicken (also unbreaded) over brown rice. The result was a delicious feast and a team of managers who were equipped with new skills and recipes, ready to recreate these dishes in their own cafeterias.

Look out for these tasty recipes on the lunch line this year!

Arlene Whyte, Cafeteria Manager at King K-8 School

Minneapolis – Farmers, ranchers and other food producers are interested in providing more of their fresh, locally grown food to Minnesota K-12 schools, according to a new survey released today by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).

The survey, completed by 67 small- and medium-scale producers and multi-farm collaboratives, showed strong interest in selling more locally grown foods to Minnesota K-12 schools and broad support for educating students about local food and farming issues. Ninety-five percent of respondents indicated that they are either “very” (60 percent) or “somewhat” (35 percent) interested in selling to K-12 schools. When asked about the reasons for their interest, respondents’ top three reasons were to “educate children about the food system,” to “increase access to healthy, locally grown food” and to “[generate] new revenue for my farm.”

“Farmers’ enthusiasm, not only for supplying locally grown food to schools, but for helping our young people understand where and how their food is grown, is very encouraging,” said IATP’s JoAnne Berkenkamp. “The number of Minnesota school districts engaged in Farm to School has risen from just ten in 2006 to 123 districts in 2010. This represents a terrific new opportunity for farmers and schools to partner more closely in making fresh, local foods available to K-12 students around the state.”

“The benefits of building connections between Minnesota farms and schools are clear,” said Minnesota Commissioner of Agriculture Dave Frederickson. “Our students, our farmers and our local economy all win when local farm products reach school cafeterias.”

Among the respondents who have sold to K-12 schools in the past, 50 percent described their experiences as “very successful,” with 37 percent calling the experience “somewhat successful.” Key challenges include meeting schools’ particular product specifications and volume needs, and building closer relationships and purchasing mechanisms between farmers and school food buyers.

As one farmer put it, “Tremendous opportunity exists, and it’s exciting to see it beginning to come together! As some of the hurdles are addressed, the growth could be terrific.”

The survey is part of IATP’s ongoing Farm to School initiative and compliments a similar survey of Minnesota K-12 foodservice directors released in March 2011. The full survey results and more information about IATP’s Farm to School initiative are available at http://www.iatp.org and http://www.farm2schoolmn.org.

In each class, students learn proper technique and the basics of cooking while preparing a full, wholesome meal. In the class we attended, students created a tasty, fresh salsa, guacamole, and chicken quesadillas. Kids Can Cook makes sure that the meals they prepare with students are both appealing and healthy. At the end of each class, the students pack up the meal to take home and share with their family. This encourages students to share what they’ve learned and to spend more quality time with their families.

Check out more about this amazing organization!

One question in the 30-second cafeteria surveys asked, “What would get you in the lunch line?” Here is a word cloud made from the over 500 responses received.  As you can see, perennial preferences like pizza and fries were some of the most frequent responses. On the other hand, it is great to see students requesting so many fruits, vegetables and other healthy options.