Garden-To-School: A Local Success Story
Decatur Metro | June 3, 2010In a recent newsletter, the Oakhurst Community Garden spelled out a specific example of how the organization is bringing local vegetables into Decatur’s schools. Love it!
The end of the school year is often filled with celebrations of student learning, field games, and farewells to friends and teachers alike. At Oakhurst Elementary, the community came together to add one more ingredient – fresh greens.
The Beginning
In April, the Oakhurst Community Garden Project’s Youth Program Manager, Myriam Van Dorp showed these elementary student how to plant and grow Red Russian, Lacinato, and Siberian Kale as well as Swiss Chard in their 6 vegetable beds. As it turned out, the vegetables did so well that there was more than anyone expected! The students harvested 2 ½ beds of the greens a few days before the final bell.
The Harvest
The swiss chard harvest went straight to Renfroe Middle School to help supplement their end of the year cookout and the kale harvest was brought to the Oakhurst Community Garden Project (OCGP). Two student interns from Paideia went to task to prepare kale for cooking. They cut off roots, soaked the greens, washed them, and chopped them up. One huge bag of “straight-from-the-garden” kale had become “ready-for-the-kitchen” in a short amount of time.
The Cooking of the Greens
On Wednesday May 26th, OCGP staff brought the Kale back to Oakhurst Elementary to be prepared by the nutrition staff who had agreed to prepare the greens using one of their recipes. The goal was to give all the students in the school the opportunity to taste the fresh greens they had grown. The table was set and it was time to eat.
The Test
As the students came into the lunchroom and picked up their lunches, student and parent volunteers helped to offer students samples. Once students sat down and had the opportunity to taste the greens, the student data collectors went from table to table to collect data on the students reactions. It was a fun event and many students were excited to eat the kale they grew. Over 50 students asked for 2nds, 3rds, and even 4ths!
The Results
They say numbers don’t lie. Well, here they are. The kale was offered to 299 students on that day. Of that number, 77% of the students participated in the taste test. Of the students that tried the kale, 71% said that they liked it and 58% said they would eat it again.
A Success
What made this such a successful event was in how partners in education came together to creatively market undisguised greens to the students. We praised them for trying something new and told them it was okay if they weren’t ready yet. A special thanks goes out to Oakhurst Elementary staff and faculty and City Schools of Decatur Nutrition Director Allison Goodman for being open to this collaboration and to the Paideia interns who helped.
Next on the menu….
What will the students be tasting this fall? Stay tuned and we will keep you posted.
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“They say numbers don’t lie.”
Very Interesting. I remember the same thing happening at Decatur High School. The cafeteria staff prepared a Caesar salad made from local produce. A member of the Farm To School program asked students and staff about the salad. “This is fresh lettuce from local farms. Do you like it? Would you eat it again?” Most of the students who ate the salad said it was delicious. One faculty member told me privately, “It taste like Caesar salad to me.” I thought the salad was terrific but I also think Chick-Fil-A is good.
It is true that in some cases, numbers don’t lie. I hope that the school board keeps an eye on the rising cost of a lunch program that could rely more and more on expensive, locally grown food (whatever that is) than good but cheaper food from around the country. Taxpayers would be wise to keep those numbers in mind.
What matters here is not cost, per se. It’s community values, and determining together what those values are. Maybe cost is what we prioritize and, if so, so be it. But my gut tells me that much of Decatur prioritizes health and safety at or above cost.
As Eric Schlosser spells out in Fast Food Nation, where he details the quality of meat supplied to school systems in order to meet cost demands, sometimes you get what you pay for. And, no matter how low the cost, I’m not sure all of Decatur wants to pay for fecal contaminants.
A perfect segue to another item on the school board’s agenda for next week – raising the cost of school lunches .25 cents. See action item “B”.
And yes, the nutrition program is cited as part of the reason for the increased costs, along with general increases in food and labor costs.
Money well-spent in my opinion, especially since lunch prices are still consistent with other metro school systems.
I don’t have any hard stats here at my fingertips but just because a head of lettuce from California may be “cheaper” than a locally grown one doesn’t mean there aren’t other associated costs. Think of the underpaid field worker who picked it. Think of the applied chemicals and pesticides. Then there’s the fuel burned to keep it refrigerated and shipped across the country. And let’s not forget the glut of questionable taxpayer-funded federal farm subsidies (I’m looking at you, corn industry). And did I mention the relatively bland taste compared to most locally grown produce?
So cheap? Yes. Costly? You bet.
And for the record, I AM a bit of hypocrite in that I do occasionally indulge in non-locally grown chocolate, pineapples and out-of-season tomatoes…but I’m trying!
Wish you could have heard my son talk about the “kale day” at school! I am so thrilled about the partnership of the OCGP and Oakhurst Elem.
I’ve found that kids are quite into vegetables–especially when they grow their own. Alas, most of the kids meals at our restaurants in Decatur (and we eat out a lot) specialize in the most unhealthy options on the menu. You want your kid to be able to eat off the kids menu because it is usually sized more appropriately (and costs less). At Farmburger my kid tried to substitute fries for salad. No go (I even offer to pay an up charge). I don’t get why every kids meal is fried chicken/burger/hot dog with fries and a cookie. Hey Decatur restaurants–we eat out ALL the time. How about some healthy sub options for kids? We want veggies!
I agree. When I take my children out, I want them to try new foods, not be restricted to chicken strips and fries. It would be great if restaurants would offer 1/2 orders of regular menu items for kids. When kids are young is the best time to teach them to make healthy eating choices.
Why not just order for the kids off the regular menu ? Our kids were always veggie eaters and never loved the fried stuff. We rarely ordered off the kids menus for them. Let them split the salad or veggie side if the portion is too big. You pay a bit more but your kids will not become hooked on salty, greasy food.
IMO Farmburger is lacking on healthy options for adults, too.
That’s a good idea…of course they would actually have to agree on something. Sharing and healthy eating, I like it!
We do usually order off the regular menu–it is just portions are so big–not so good for regular dining out. And we all like different types of food so we don’t tend to share as much (and we only have one kid). Don’t worry–we have adapted to every single restaurant in Decatur!
And we avoid the crud. I just think that the restaurants should rethink kids meals. . . .
As a Decatur High School graduate who also attended Renfroe Middle School and Glennwood Elementary back in the K-5 days, it is upsetting to hear a DHS teacher or former teacher put money ahead of children’s health. Times are hard every where and have hit public school budgets across the country really hard lately with drastic cuts in funding, but the OCGP is doing a great service to the community to help make our children not just healthier, but good stewards of the environment as well. Locally grown food may cost more when bought from local farmers, but the fact is it takes more time and effort to grow healthy food. I am sure that the Oakhurst students can back this up and it sounds like they got much more than their money’s worth tending and harvesting the garden.
As a former student and soon to be parent of a city schools of Decatur student, I am very impressed with the partnership and hope that my son has the opportunity to experience this program. It is is cheaper to buy everything from Sysco and other mass market distributors but as another person alluded to in their comment we are feeding our children essentially pesticide sprayed cardboard with no original taste and artificially induced and ripened colors. But hey it’s cheaper, right? Educators especially should know that it is not all about money.
As a family that has recently become so-called locavores, I can attest that growing our own food and going to local farmers markets has sparked a new love of eating healthy foods in my son, who now is thinking critically about what he eats and where it comes from and he is only FOUR. Our food budget did increase a bit, but we are all feeling better and have more energy. As a former student, I am impressed by the program and saddened and depressed that a CSD staff member or former staff member (Coach Billingsley may have retired recently I am not sure) are not supporting this program. Shame on you Mr. B! Andd keep of the good work OCGP!