Winning a statewide award sent a clear message to NUSD Nutrition Services Department recently: Its push for fresher cafeteria meals and healthier eating habits not only is paying dividends with kids but serving as a model for other districts.
NUSD won a Golden Seed Grow Award last month from the California Farm to School Network for emphasizing fresh, locally grown food in its meals and offering hands-on nutrition education to students.
“The Golden Seed Awards provides a platform for winners to share innovations and best practices,” said Allie Hoffman of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, the farm-to-school network’s parent group.
NUSD was the only Sacramento County school district selected for the Golden Seed Grow Award, which went to five districts statewide.
“This award recognizes Nutrition Services’ commitment to partner with local farmers, to provide hands-on nutrition education opportunities, and to expand Farm-to-School efforts throughout the District,” said Rylee Welly, Nutrition Services coordinator.
NUSD’s honor would not have been possible, Welly said, without the “amazing farmers that we partner with throughout the school year.”
NUSD began buying directly from California farms several years ago and has increased that practice significantly: About 90 percent of the district’s fruits and vegetables now come from California farms, as do foods for creating at least one cafeteria entrée item per week.
Through NUSD’s farm-to-fork push, students get fresher foods, farmers get new sales, California’s economy gains, and environmental benefits accrue from less packaging and transport of school cafeteria foods.
NUSD also has created partnerships in which six local farms help promote healthy eating habits and educate students about farming and nutrition. Last month, for example, Vierra Farms of West Sacramento hosted a group of secondary school students – culinary arts enthusiasts – who observed and asked questions about food picking, packing and shipping.
“In education, we are in the business of teaching kids about things they don’t know they love yet,” said Vince Caguin, Nutrition Services director. “This is as true or fruits and vegetables as it is for math. Taking our students to the farm shows them all the passion and hard work that goes into agriculture.”
NUSD sponsored free farmers markets in October – National Farm to School Month — at H. Allen Hight, Leroy Greene Academy, Heron and Natomas Park Elementary schools. The latter held a school assembly at which farmer Shawn Martini of Vierra Farms answered kids’ food-related questions.
To encourage healthy eating habits, NUSD passed out slices of persimmon Oct. 24 at every campus and encouraged students to taste them. At Two Rivers Elementary, students participating in the edible fun – called a “CRUNCH” activity – received a sticker or pencil as a token prize. The fruit was purchased from Garibaldi Farms of Stockton for the event honoring National Farm to School Month.
Other NUSD Nutrition Services activities during the past year have included a free-barbecue-lunch community party that attracted about 1,300 people to celebrate NUSD’s summer meals program; and an educational experience last Thanksgiving in which 42 high school students – most of them culinary arts enthusiasts – toured Vierra Farms. Seven of the students, from Discovery High, later helped cook NUSD’s Thanksgiving holiday meal for more than 4,000 elementary school students.
What’s left to tackle? School gardens, perhaps.
“Nutrition Services hopes to continue to grow the Farm to School program,” Welly said. “We would like to collaborate with school sites throughout our District on ways to incorporate school gardens into the classroom and cafeteria education curriculum.”
