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Groundbreaking Farm-to-School Initiatives Get Boost from Grant

Students sample a new salad recipe made from kale grown in NYS.

Students sample a new salad recipe made from kale grown in NYS.

The NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets recently announced that the Ken-Ton School District Food Service Department will receive a $100,000 two-year grant through the Farm-to-School Program. This will support Ken-Ton’s groundbreaking efforts to connect schools with farms, increase the use of locally-sourced products, teach students about where their food comes from, and inspire them to eat healthier.

Ken-Ton’s efforts include exciting new menu items, recipe demonstrations and taste tests in school cafeterias, classroom lessons, large-scale family events, grow towers in schools, cook kits for families, and more. Spearheading this work is the Ken-Ton School District Food Service Department, under the leadership of Director Kim Roll, and Nicole Zugelder, a former physical education teacher who is in her first year as the district’s Farm-to-School Coordinator.

Farm-to-school coordinator positions have become increasingly more common in school districts across the state, though these individuals typically focus on product procurement and communication with farms. Ken-Ton is going far beyond this by educating and engaging students and families, which has been singled out as a model for school districts throughout the state.

“This work is connecting cafeterias, classrooms, communities, and kids,” Zugelder said. “Most of the students are four generations removed from working on a farm. They don’t have a deep connection with the food they are eating. They don’t know much about where their food originates and what happens before it gets to the grocery store. Now, there are meaningful conversations happening about school food where the kids are leading the learning.”

A major component of this initiative is the Harvest of the Month program. A different theme is identified each month which inspires a healthy new recipe featured on the lunch menu, such as this month’s broccoli salad made with dried cranberries, cheddar cheese, red onion, and a honey yogurt dressing. Leading up to this, Zugelder travels throughout the district educating students about the ingredient, providing recipe presentations on specially designed demonstration tables, and then allowing students to sample the finished product and provide helpful feedback.

Each month, a different school will have a cook-kit related to the Harvest of the Month theme which will be available for students to bring home to continue the learning. For example, September’s theme was apples, so free baked-apple cook-kits with high-quality farm-fresh apples, butter, and cinnamon were sent home with Franklin Elementary students along with recipes and instructions.

Zugelder is also visiting classrooms to educate students about where their food comes from. One recent lesson covered the entire life cycle of a pumpkin from seed to harvest and how it ultimately ended up as an ingredient in pumpkin pie. The team is also organizing large-scale events such as the district’s immensely successful Harvest Festival, which took place October 17th and had several hundred students and family members in attendance. Next up is "Farm Story Time," a special event at Kenmore Library for Gr. K-2 students on Thursday, November 7th which will feature story readings and a farm-related activity and craft as well as a snack to bring home (call Kenmore Library at 716-873-2842 to register).

The Farm-to-School Grant will also allow the district to incorporate more locally sourced items produced right here in NYS. It’s much more than just fruit and vegetables, too, spanning a wide variety of products from honey and maple syrup to beef hot dogs and potato chips. Additionally, the grant will enhance the Food Service Department’s annual Culinary Camp, where new recipes and dishes are developed. Meanwhile, grow towers will be in all the middle and high schools providing ingredients such as herbs, lettuce, and strawberries for the taste-test demonstrations and giving students a greater understanding and appreciation of the food they are trying.

Much of this work took place last year, but the grant is allowing the Food Service Department to take it to the next level. And it’s beginning to pay off with breakfast/lunch participation numbers on the rise, bringing more state/federal funding to the district.

“Students are much more likely to try a new menu item when they've already tasted it and learned about it,” Roll said. “All this excitement and engagement is inspiring students to want to try what the school cafeterias have to offer. This is resulting in more students than ever before taking part in the breakfast and lunch program. It’s teaching students to be healthier, too, and to eat a balanced diet which includes more locally sourced products.”

Ken-Ton is one of only 16 organizations or school districts across NYS to receive a grant through the Farm-to-School Program, and one of only two in WNY. The purpose of the grant is to help organizations build capacity to ensure long-term sustainability and impact for farm-to-school programs as well as provide opportunities for students to learn about local agriculture and the food system and increase access to healthy, locally-sourced foods.

"In New York State, we’re lucky to have some of the highest quality agricultural producers in the world right at our fingertips," stated NYS Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball. "New York's Farm-to-School Program incorporates fresh, locally grown foods into school menus while increasing students’ understanding of where – and who – their meals come from."

Special thanks go out to Grant Coordinator Connie Miner who helped secure the grant as well as the Ken-Ton School District Wellness Committee, Wagner’s Farm Market, NYS Sen. Sean Ryan, Assemblyman William Conrad, Edison Elementary PTA President Deanna Robey, and Cheryl Bilinski of the Cornell Cooperative Extension, who wrote letters of support for the district’s grant application.