Princeton's Riverside School is the home of the largest public school garden in New Jersey, including over a dozen "outdoor classrooms" and a vegetable garden for the benefit of our local food pantry. Through a garden residency funded in large part by the PTO, Riverside students pre-K through grade 5 learn in the gardens on a regular basis, enjoying hands-on lessons in science, mathematics, language arts, environmental stewardship, community service and more. 

According to Dorothy Mullen, founder of the Riverside Gardens, "Our children plant, tend, harvest and taste - experiencing real food as it grows in nature.  We also have a training program for Master Gardeners who want to start gardens in their own school districts.  We host tours and workshops for staff, parents and volunteers from all over New Jersey, helping them start up, sharing lessons, and giving members of our larger community a beautiful view of what it's possible to do with a relatively small budget and many willing hands."

The Riverside School routinely conducts garden tours, as they recently did on May 18th.

There are several upcoming tours over the summer, including the following dates:

• Saturday, July 2 at 10:00 AM
  
• Saturday, August 6 at 10:00 AM
  
• Friday, September 2 at 10:00 AM

Get your questions answered:

• How do you match garden activity to lessons based on standards?
  
• How do you attract funding?
  
• Where do you find garden educators?
  
• What does it cost or what can I do with $1,000?  $500?
  
• What about summer?
  
• How do I attract community support?
  
• What are the health benefits?
  
• How do school gardens affect environmental awareness?

For more information or to make your reservation, please contact Dorothy Mullen at Dor@TheSuppersProgram.org or (609) 921-0441.

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May 24 – Giamarese Farms

The Farm to School Farm Tours hosted this spring for food service professionals and distributors were enjoyed by over 40 attendees who visited farms in Pittstown, East Brunswick and Woodstown. Strawberries were the highlight of a few of the tours, as strawberry season (sadly ending now...) hit right at the time for the visits.

There will be more farm tours scheduled in September and October to celebrate Farm to School Week and Month.

Stay tuned...

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Chef Annmarie Chelius - Academy of Culinary Arts

My name is Chef Annmarie Chelius and I teach at the Academy of Culinary Arts in Mays Landing, NJ. I teach both pastry and hot foods to students who range in age from 18-65 years of age.

Many of my students often comment that for a pastry chef, I am pretty small! I explain to them that I watch what I eat in order to maintain my optimal health. I believe that I must model for my students how important it is to eat well and exercise often. I also model this behavior for my ten year old daughter, Victoria. I feel a great sense of pride when I see how healthy she eats. She often wants to help me in the kitchen.

Victoria has always begged me to go to her school and demonstrate for her friends how to cook and bake. After spending some time on the computer, I stumbled across the "Let’s Move" program initiated by Michelle Obama last June. I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to share my skills and enthusiasm with students who may not be exposed to a healthy lifestyle in their own home. Initially, I matched myself with Absegami High School which is located in Galloway Township, NJ. The culinary arts instructor, LizAnne LaRocca is a dynamic individual with tons of energy. I knew we would work well together. She and I met several times to discuss entering the national contest, sponsored by the "Let’s Move" program. We both decided to enter a recipe which fell into the grains and legumes category. Her students and I thought about the following before we made our final decision.

1. The ingredients had to be easy to purchase/inexpensive
2. The product had to be easy to make due to time constraints of the food service workers
3. The final product had to be served warm

Ultimately, we decided on the veggie stir fry with edamame spread.

When I did a demonstration for the students they absolutely loved it! I was quite surprised at their reaction but they all commented that they could easily prepare this at home for themselves. Unfortunately, we did not place in the competition, however, we were one of only 340 schools in the entire country who competed.

With such a great response from the high school, I decided to “adopt” Ocean City Intermediate School located in Ocean City, NJ. This past March, I visited Mrs. Linda Spengler’s 4th and 5th grade classroom to do a demonstration on some healthy recipes. I love going into the lower grades; the student’s are always so excited that a real live chef is in front of them. Plus, my big chef hat makes me look so imposing.

During my demonstration we discussed kitchen safety, sanitation principles and made some yummy treats. The local paper stopped by which made the student’s even more excited. They all wanted their picture taken with their chef hats on. The student’s were eager to answer my questions and begged to participate when asked if anyone would like to assist me.

My second visit this month consisted of a small lecture on the parts of a plant and which vegetable came from which part. Mrs. Spengler prepared a wonderful vegetable buffet utilizing assorted cooking techniques and we all did a taste test. Then the student’s rated the ones they like best; the asparagus with parmesan cheese won, with sweet potatoes coming in as a close second.

One of the best parts of my experience was assisting Mrs. Spengler in acquiring new cookware from the "Let’s Move" program. She and I have plans to meet and unwrap the new items just in time for the next group of little culinarians in the fall. I look forward to spending more time with both teacher and student in the coming year. We will be planning something special for the National Farm to School month in October.

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Cultivate the Curriculum is a one- day workshop designed especially for teachers, by a former third grade teacher. Come and learn how to get started on this wonderful journey with your students.

This workshop will cover everything from choosing a location for your garden (even if it's indoors), to managing your time in the garden (as well as your class), to incorporating every subject into your garden learning time.

The workshop is Thursday, July 21, 2011 from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM at the Rutgers EcoComplex in Bordentown, NJ.

For more information and registration, CLICK HERE

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Plate to Politics is a new collaborative project of The White House Project, the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES), Rural Women's Project, and The Women, Food and Agriculture Network. Plate to Politics is a nationwide effort to support and strengthen the national leadership role of women transforming our nation’s food system, from the federal agriculture policy agenda to what’s on our family’s supper plate.

If you would like to connect with other women leaders, tell them about your leadership goals, volunteer to intern, attend a leadership training, get involved, take your leadership to the next level and even run for office - from your local coop board, to county commission, to Congress, then CLICK HERE for more information on how to get involved.

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“Lunch Bytes” is a 20 minute webinar series packed with bits of information related to Farm to School programs and partnerships. Scheduled at 1:00pm ET the second Tuesday of every month, you can easily work it into your routine!

Making the Most of Farm to School Month
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

Last November the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution establishing October as National Farm to School Month. This webinar will discuss resources and tips for making the most of this great, community-building opportunity.

The cost is free. REGISTER HERE

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The USDA Farm to School website has been updated to include the following:

Information regarding the impact of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 on Farm to School in the legislative history document on the following webpage: CLICK HERE

 

A list of evaluation tools that can be used to set goals and assess the impacts of your farm to school related activities. Those evaluations tools, as well as available USDA Grants and Resources, can now be found on the newly created "Grants and Resources" webpage: CLICK HERE

A new "FAQs" webpage consisting of frequently asked questions the USDA Farm to School Team has received through various conferences, emails, phone calls, site visits and webinars. The FAQs can be found at the following webpage: CLICK HERE

Should you have any questions, please contact the Team at farmtoschool@fns.usda.gov

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By Zac Schaffner

On May 17, 201 the Rutgers Food Innovation Center held a round table discussion with 10 New Jersey school district food service directors to discuss the creation of products under the USDA FSMIP Grant.

The goal of this meeting was to find new products for school lunch programs that not only meet the nutritional and purchasing requirements of the Child Nutrition Program but that are also enjoyable, safe, affordable and made from locally grown 'Jersey Fresh' produce.

The panel addressed many of the issues that New Jersey schools currently face including the high cost of healthier foods, the eating habits of students outside of school as well as storage, food safety and labor restrictions in cafeterias.
Food service directors selected to participate in the discussion came from rural, urban, high and low income-level school districts across the state.

The discussion yielded a number of beneficial revelations including confirmation from all that attended, their interest in convenient menu items made from locally grown agriculture and the desire to put more 'home-cooked style' meals on the menu.

The Center is now making preparations to begin the product development stage for delicious school menu fare featuring agricultural products grown in our great Garden State! More to come.

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