This year’s Budget Expo will have an entirely new flavor.
A full Farm to School Showcase – an opportunity to learn more about the Red Hook Central School District’s locally sourced school meals and our farm to school approach in general – will be included in this year’s expo on May 7.
The expo, which this year will be held at Mill Road Elementary School at 5:30 p.m., is an opportunity each year for residents to visit the district and learn more about all the programs offered to students, through demonstrations, display tables and discussions with students and staff. It’s held directly before the annual Board of Education Public Hearing for the annual budget proposal at 7 p.m.
The inaugural Farm to School Showcase will occupy the grades 3-5 cafeteria. Food Services Director Sam Pride has invited roughly 50 local farmers and area food vendors to attend, and he’ll be registering the complete list of vendors through April 22. Some invited are already providing food to the district for school meals – helping the district each year reach its goal of having more than 30% of the food it serves students come from New York – and some are prospective vendors. Any vendor interested should contact Pride at schoolmeals@rhcsd.org or 845-758-2241 ext. 38010.  
The idea is to allow district families and all residents a chance to speak to the vendors and sample the food available to students each day. Pride said attendees will help influence what the district offers in the future.
“Some of these vendors coming, I’ve not bought anything from them, ever,” he said. “Before I start buying it, I want more input from the community. … Students can come and vote on their favorite products that we will hopefully be able to include in our menus in the coming year.”
Pride noted, attending the expo and meeting with local farmers doesn’t only support the district’s mission.
“We also want to support the community around us – the greater agricultural systems in our area,” he said.
Outside of the Farm to School Showcase, the expo will also provide residents an opportunity to experience some of the new programs and projects proposed in this year’s budget, including the new Winners Circle Project and the welding career and technical education pathway at the high school and the bus garage renovation project. More details on what will be available at the expo will be announced soon.
In the meantime, Pride has advice for attendees:
“Come Hungry,” he said. “Everybody gets to eat and try new things.”