Arithmetic and…agriculture? Decades ago, children would drop out of school just to help their families with the heavy load of farming. Working the land was passed from generation to generation. However, with the convenience and abundance of fast food restaurants and the frozen section of the grocery store, many have forgotten where their food is actually coming from. As part of the ongoing initiative to reconnect families with the food they are eating, Fayette County Public Schools has received a federal grant for the purpose of teaching students about farming through a Farm to School program.
The goal of the $45,000 grant, awarded by the US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, is to help students understand the connections between local food and science, agriculture, nutrition and health, according to a press release on the Fayette County Public Schools website. The federal grant will enable FCPS to expand its Farm to School program district wide.
This “planning grant,” gives the Farm to School team a chance to see what works and what does not so that they may better execute a strong program, according to Marty Flynn, Child Nutrition Program Coordinator for the school system. Flynn states they will use this grant “to identify barriers and necessary processes to implement the Farm to School program in all schools.” Lane states, “during the next year, FCPS will be part of a cohort of schools and districts planning robust Farm to School programs and sharing their processes, successes and lessons learned.”
Flynn explains that they “have done taste tests with local foods in many of our schools, mostly elementary. Students have tried locally grown heirloom cherry tomatoes, asparagus, strawberries, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, delicata squash, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, eggs, cheese, kale, Swiss chard and apples.” Not just a fun snack for the students, the tests are also quite informative. Flynn elaborates, “During these taste tests, students are provided information about the food item, how it grows, where it grows and about local foods.”
The students are prepped, and now the school has the funding. Over the next year, Lane says, “FCPS representatives will attend monthly webinars and a springtime face-to-face meeting, use USDA’s Farm to School modules to develop an implementation plan, and participate in an online communications and sharing forum.” Not only will students and FCPS employees be learning about local food, but they will also become part of a community nationwide with other schools trying to formulate the same program.
As far as the local community, the program already has many supporters. Lane includes “Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, the Cooperative Extension Service, the Farmers’ Market and the College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky” in her list of “coordinating partners.”
Lexington has already proudly waved the flag of support for the local food economy, so it is no surprise when Flynn states, “FCPS is a very progressive school district and we want to provide students with the best and healthiest foods possible in order for them to learn at their highest level. It is also important for them to learn about the impact of using/purchasing local foods on our local economy and the environment.”
Most local food producers in this area would agree that the biggest conflict they face is educating consumers. With the ever accumulating evidence that what we eat dramatically affects our health and with the growing interest in supporting the community through locally grown products, this program has the potential to truly change the way Fayette County is eating. The children will most likely take what they learn home and discuss it with their parents, passing on the knowledge and effectively changing the world, one locally grown vegetable at a time.