Fresh Food for Concord School

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Created on Friday, 20 October 2017 17:29

Written by Andrew Clark

CONCORD— The Farm to School program has been around in the Green Mountain State since 2007.

The program is designed to educate students about food systems and healthy eating habits through hands on experiences.

"I'd like to recognize how important the Farm to School program is to Vermont. Farm to school has always been a source of pride for our state, and that pride grows from the program as it gets stronger," said Governor Phil Scott.

The Concord School was a recipient of a Planning Grant for the 2017 grant year.

The school has partnered with Roots Too Farm in East St. Johnsbury during this first year of the grant.

Susan Monahan, of the farm, says the partnership is a good idea and she has helped the Concord School with some supplies, 'I donated some things to some of their initial meetings, but they are working on getting more local fresh veggies into the cafeteria."

Monahan also says that getting kids to eat healthy is important, "there are all these studies about how important it is for their attention span, and just having access to nutritious fresh foods."

"Getting kids interested and excited about it is just the way to promote healthy eating," Monahan went on to say.

Allison Barney is a cook for the Concord School and says that this grant is huge for the school, "It is really nice to get to serve fresh grown veggies, and they really like learning that is not from far away."

Barney also says that the kids are starting to understand where their food is coming from, "They get really excited about it when we can say hey it's from the local farm."

"You know the local food initiative through the snacks and through the lunches has been really useful," said Jim Ragan a kindergarten teacher at the Concord School.

The school is making an effort to utilize this program in the classrooms as well throughout the year.

"We are all working toward the same goal," said Judy Ross a teacher at the Concord School.

"A big part of it is understanding where the food comes from," said Ragan.

The school is also trying to work with the Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District to try and get a compost shed for the future.