For several years, more than 30% of the food served to Red Hook Central School District students has come from suppliers in New York.
It’s not only satisfied a state initiative allowing Red Hook to obtain additional funding, it’s put healthy ingredients on trays across the district and embraced the farm to school movement.
But, reaching that mark is an annual challenge and simply giving students healthy food doesn’t teach them anything about it.
That’s why Red Hook officials joined dozens of school district representatives from across the region at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park Wednesday morning for the Upper Hudson Valley Farm to School Gathering. The event, which was organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension in association with the state Education and Agriculture and Markets departments, brought together food service directors, administrators and kitchen staff from many area school districts to explore growing the farm to school movement, share resources to help facilitate that growth, and spark discussion among the professionals who make it happen.
The Red Hook contingent included new Food Service Director Sam Pride, Assistant Superintendent for Personnel and Operations Dr. Erin Hayes, Red Hook High School Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher Carole Anne Miles and Frank McCann, the head of Linden Avenue Middle School’s kitchen.
“It’s great to network with other public schools to see how they’re doing the farm to school initiative, finding ways that they were able to increase that local share,” Hayes said. “But also, how we are teaching kids about nutrition and where their food comes from, and working on that wellness piece of it is equally as important. There are a lot of kids that just don’t know about nutrition at all, or don’t understand that a carrot comes from the ground, for example, and how much healthier it is to eat locally.”
Though Red Hook has exceeded that state benchmark – known as the New York 30% Initiative – Pride said his goal is to increase the percentage of state-produced foods served to students “without breaking the budget. That’s the trick.”
The district is also continually looking for ways to incorporate creative events and educational programs to spark interest in healthy eating. For example, departing Food Service Director Larry Anthony last November created a menu almost entirely consisting of New York products – a feat Pride will replicate this year. Anthony also brought a calf to several school events to pique awareness of Hudson Valley Fresh dairy products, an effort that was mentioned in the summit’s morning introductory address.
The gathering grouped attendees by job responsibility for different tracks of education. While Food directors and administrators shared big-picture ideas and discussed sourcing, there were separate rooms for those focusing on elementary or secondary education to learn how to teach farm to school concepts. There was, of course, ample action in the kitchen area, where representatives of several districts practiced creating menu items composed of New York-sourced ingredients.
Vendors operated tables where attendees could sample local products, from tomato sauce and apples to tortilla chips and venison. Pride found several products that may soon show up on Red Hook students’ trays, including Wildkale ravioli and meatballs, and Home Farm’s purple and red potatoes.
“I’m making face-to-face connections with all these different vendors,” Pride said. “Establishing those relationships will be really good.”
Food samples were far from the only thing being shared Wednesday. Cornell Cooperative and state representatives connected attendees with links to such resources as lists of local producers, directions on how to procure product bids, and a trove of recipes incorporating local ingredients. And, other food service directors shared their strategies for increasing the amount of local food in meals, such as baking their own bread.
Pride pointed to the Rockland Central School District’s practice of processing and storing food throughout the summer as one strategy he may be able to initiate in Red Hook.
In the elementary and secondary sessions, the educators discussed how foods can be tied into lessons in history, science and math, extending the food to school ideas throughout a school day. The elementary group used flash cards and a cloth map to discuss geography and the idea of how food and farming changed human development.
“I loved hearing some of the ideas from different schools about the things they were doing and how we could partner with the community,” Hayes said.
Anthony, who is transitioning to working with Cornell Cooperative Extension, led the kitchen training. The elements they produced became the lunch served to attendees.
“We’re reading recipes, learning portion sizes, food-safety components to the recipes, the things to know for a school-setting,” Anthony said. “We’re using all local ingredients, where possible.”
At Red Hook, Pride already has several events in mind to embrace farm to school ideas. In addition to that all-New York menu in November – which will be highlighted by a full Thanksgiving-style turkey lunch – Cornell Cooperation’s Region Roots Culinary Training Brigade Team will be visiting Mill Road Elementary School for a targeted workshop day. Pride is also looking into creating a tighter relationship between the school gardens and the kitchen menus.
By the end of Wednesday’s sessions, he was already envisioning a new event:
“We could create some sort of event where local vendors come in to sample their wares. And, we could invite the community in and all of our school system’s benefactors to taste and interact with these people,” Pride said. “That’s how you get the snowball rolling.”