Food Security United States Project #33675

Fresh, Local Food for North Carolina Students

by Farmer Foodshare

Fresh, Local Food for North Carolina Students

Project Report | Sep 10, 2019
The votes are in!

By Kate Rugani | Project Leader

Students give fresh veggies a big thumbs up!

If you have school-aged kids, or well...if you live anywhere near kids...you can’t have missed that it’s back-to-school time. The airwaves are full of promos for backpacks and new outfits. Advertisers don’t spend as much time talking about school lunches, though.

And yet that’s perhaps where the greatest need lies. More than 60% of kids attending Durham Public Schools qualify for free- or reduced-price lunch. They depend on school meals for their daily nutrition.

Your support has been making it possible for them to eat well and learn to make healthy food choices.

Here’s the impact you’re having:

During the 2018-19 school year, Farmer Foodshare delivered fresh, North Carolina-grown produce each week to all 47 Durham Public Schools, ensuring that all 33,000 students had regular access to the freshest, most nutritious food possible.
With support from cafeteria managers, we conducted 38 taste tests at 18 elementary schools and 2 pre-K’s through our Food Ambassadors program. All told, more than 8,000 students participated!

Those 8,000 kids had an opportunity to sample and learn about a variety of veggies. And then they voted -- loved it, liked it, or “maybe next time.” The big news -- they’re fans!

When the students tried kale, 79% liked or loved them. Collards: 75% thumbs up. Sweet potatoes: 76%! Surprisingly, the kids were less excited about the butternut squash, one of the sweeter options. Only 66% of students liked or loved them. We think it might have something to do with the consistency, and that with a longer cooking time, the kids may enjoy them more.

Encouraging kids to make healthy food choices is a big part of the strategy for Food Ambassadors, and we also learned a few things along the way that will influence our strategy going forward:

Conducting taste tests on Friday / Fry Day makes for some pretty stiff competition. We ensured that every kid sampled the produce by giving the kids a cup of veggies (and again, they liked them!), but left to their own devices and a binary choice, most kids will still pick fries over veggies.
It doesn’t have to be a binary choice! School nutrition staff want kids to feel free to choose as many items as they’d like, but sometimes teachers present the options as “this or that.” We advocate reframing the choices as “would you also like…?”
For the learnings to stick, kids need more frequent exposure.

During the 2019-20 school year we’ll be heading back to Durham Public Schools with food deliveries each week. And we’re already scheduling taste tests with cafeteria managers! But on the theory that less is more, we’ll be conducting taste tests at fewer schools with greater frequency.

If you live in the Durham area and would like to join us, you can come see taste tests firsthand -- we always need volunteers! But even if you’re farther away, your support makes a huge difference.

Please consider renewing your gift so that we can continue to support these kids in the year to come!

Who doesn't love collards?

Students vote on kale!

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Jun 6, 2019
Serving up Smiles

By Kate Rugani | Project Leader

Kids sample butternut squash at school

Farmer Foodshare partners with many volunteers and representatives from other organizations to expose kids to the fresh, local produce we deliver to their school cafeterias. Your contributions make this work possible -- thank you!

Today's report begins with a missive from Annie Kersting, an Americorps Service Member hosted by Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, who recounts her experience volunteering at a recent cafeteria taste test.

* * * * *

I precariously push a cart of carefully arranged paper cups down the narrow aisles of the Holt Elementary School cafeteria. As soon as I make eye-contact with a familiar face, a whole table of small bodies leap from their seats to a chorus of "Ms. Annie! Ms. Annie!"

I am overwhelmed and warmed by their enthusiasm, and after I remark so to their teacher, she nods knowingly, "first graders will do that."

I have been visiting their classroom for five months now teaching short lessons on food nutrition and growing food in our school garden through Inter-Faith Food Shuttle's Urban Agriculture Education programs and the FoodCorps Americorps program. Our latest lesson was on the squash family and learning about pumpkin's oddly-shaped cousins.

We ended the lesson with a school-wide taste test of butternut squash with Farmer Foodshare. The first graders' review of the cinnamon- and sugar-roasted vegetable was resounding approval, their affection for the new food intertwined with their enthusiasm for interacting with an exciting visitor.

The third graders I visit next are not as easily impressed. Many show us thumbs sideways, an indication of "it tasted ok" on our taste rating scale. Braedyn, who oversees Farmer Foodshare's taste test program, confidently leans into a table and recounts his childhood hatred of coconut, and then his change in preference as he got older and enjoyed it.

Our message to students: you don't have to like everything you taste, but don't be afraid to try it.

I work with the hope that students are learning to be open-minded about new foods and aware of how food choices affect their health. I am learning that it is not just multiple exposures to vegetables that fosters this, but the people involved (teachers, cafeteria staff, and exciting visitors like Braedyn and other Farmer Foodshare staff and volunteers, as well as myself) to ignite enthusiasm and tell stories that make the food familiar.

* * * * *

And speaking of the amazing cafeteria staff...

The cafeteria teams at Durham Public Schools work long hours to make sure that all 33,000 students receive fresh, nutritious meals every single day. They do so with only minimal supplies and very little funding -- it's a challenge, and they do it with a smile because they truly care about the kids.

So we thought it would be nice to let them know how much we appreciate them.

Donors like you mailed in notes of encouragement, and we were able to drop off those little valentines at all 47 schools this spring. The result: big smiles to serve up with all that butternut squash.

* * * * *

Your support makes this work possible, and it's endlessly rewarding. We are gearing up for another school year filled with fresh veggies. Please consider supporting the kids in choosing fresh food with a donation again this year. Thank you!

Kids vote on their impressions of butternut squash

Cafeteria team!

Notes of appreciation for the cafeteria team

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Mar 11, 2019
What happens when you feed a preschooler kale?

By Kate Rugani | Project Leader

Preschoolers enjoying kale!

Here’s a question for you. What do kale and buttermilk have in common?

Typically, not a whole lot. But today, they’re emblems of the change that’s happening in our local food system. All because of your belief that everyone deserves access to fresh, local food.

Last month, Farmer Foodshare’s Wholesale Market began delivering boxes brimming with kale to 11 preschools participating in the nutrition program DINE for Early Care and Education through Durham County Department of Public Health. Each week this spring and beyond, those preschoolers – all 369 of them – will enjoy fresh, seasonal produce as part of their meals.

Kale for preschoolers? Yes!

If we expose kids to nutritious choices early on, they’re more likely to choose them as they grow, particularly if families get involved. That’s why some of the centers sent whole bunches home with the kids. And of course, the children also tried it in salads and smoothies.

Their reactions were priceless! (Check out the pictures!)

With your support, even our youngest kids get to experience fresh food.

And the buttermilk?

Nearly 600 quarts of Carolina Culture buttermilk brought a bit of tangy creaminess to chicken and dumplings during last month’s Durham Bowls event at Durham Public Schools.

Through this project created by our friends at Food Insight Group, local chefs and cafeteria managers are teaming up to construct unique meals featuring local produce and amazing flavor. Because of you, Farmer Foodshare can source North Carolina vegetables – and yes, even dairy – for each bowl.

With your support, local farmers get access to new sales opportunities.

You are the key to changing our food system for the better. Thanks for continuing to support this project!

Preschoolers enjoying kale!

Chicken & Dumplings Bowl

Links:

Video: Kids try the chicken & dumplings bowl

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