Jersey Fresh Farm to School Week Tookit

The folks at the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Division are posting a toolkit for schools to use for Jersey Fresh Farm to School Week.  Visit the link here.

  • Use a school garden to incorporate week-long lessons in all subjects
  • Place signs on the serving lines about the farmers that provided the fresh produce.
  • Advertise the usage of Jersey Fresh agricultural products in school meals
  • Highlight one local product each day and incorporate it into all school activities
  • Plan and plant a school garden / edible schoolyard
  • Send recipes and nutritional information home to parents
  • Taste-test new foods / varieties during lunch times – provide incentives for students to taste predetermined amount of new foods
  • Hold a Health and Nutrition Fair
  • Read food-related books to younger children
  • Invite farmers to talk about their farms / the farming industry so children can meet a “real” farmer
  • Invite a local chef / culinary school students into the school to prepare local products
  • Work with nutritionists from local health facilities / cooperative extension
  • Show students how plants can grow without soil – hydroponics, seeds in glass / see-through containers
  • Create a Bingo game using the stickers found on fruits/veggies – students must have eaten the piece of fruit/veggies
  • Have students write a story using a fruit/veggie as the main character
  • Decorate the school with students’ artwork involving healthy eating
  • Ask the Art Department to do a still life with locally grown veggies and have the kids do drawings or paintings of it to put in the cafeteria.
  • Host a Fall Salad Bar: Items available in NJ in September/October include:
    • arugula
    • beans
    • beets
    • bok choy
    • cabbage
    • carrots
    • cauliflower
    • chard
    • Chinese cabbage
    • lettuces
    • onions
    • peppers
    • scallions
    • sweet corn
    • tomatoes
  • See the local procurement link for sourcing local resources.
  • Hold a Farm to School Recipe Contest: send home a note to parents explaining what F2S Week is and asking them to send in a recipe with produce available in September for a competition. Provide the seasonality listing so they know what is in season. The winner could have their recipe featured in the cafeteria during F2S Week.
  • Raise money for the school garden or other food/nutrition related effort. Sponsor a fundraiser with apples from the school’s normal distribution or go to an aggregator or farm who can source locally and sell apples for fall distribution. Take names and orders during farm to school week and schedule distribution in October when supplies are more ample.
  • Instead of french fries, feature roasted potato wedges or coins.
    • Wash potatoes and cut into desired shapes. Place in bowl and douse with olive oil and kosher salt accordingly. Heat oven to 450 degrees and spread potatoes in sheet pans to cook for 30 minutes. Check to browning and to see if more time is needed, depending on type of potato and how thick they were cut. Flip and finish cooking to desired crispness.
  • Go on a field trip to a local farm that supplies you with your produce.
    • Have the farmer explain the growing process and how food ends up on your plate.
  • Enlist the help of your school’s t.v. or radio station
    • Feature a kids’ oriented food/cooking segment – kids talking to kids about easy recipes and other food features. OR, have the school communications class prepare this feature as a project
  • Encourage students to write about Farm to School week in your school newspaper.
  • Have an essay contest on Why I Should Eat More Fresh Fruits and Vegetables.

Have a successful story of your own? We’d love to hear about it! Send us your story and your experience could be shared in an upcoming issue of our Monthly Newsletter!

Submit your story to info@njfarmtoschool.org today.