Very excited about the progress and plans for our upcoming conference: Sow, Reap, Prepare, Eat! – a Farm to School Conference here in the Upper Valley on November 19 at the Lebanon HS. As organizers, we are very greatful to our sponsors and partners who are helping make this a success, including:

Dear Upper Valley FTS participants, friends and colleagues,

In this post-Irene period, I realize that the back-to-school frenzy is beyond compare this year – with flooded classrooms and cafeterias, eroded roads and so many in our community experiencing great losses – on their farms and homes. My thoughts are with those of you who were personally impacted.

In our Back to School Edition of the Upper Valley Farm to School News,  I share some updates and news related to farm to school efforts in the Upper Valley and beyond, and as always extend the offer to help make connections that will support and sustain those efforts.  This summer I had a chance to work with some of you on several exciting project which are featured in this newsletter.

In addition, I have been working on a new initiative, the Farm to Institution New England (FINE) collaborative. As project coordinator for this region-wide effort, I have the great pleasure of working with FTS state leaders from around New England and am learning a lot about some innovative programs taking place in other states as well as region-wide initiatives.  I look forward to providing information on these back in the Upper Valley.

Please let me know about updates that you would like to share in upcoming editions of the UVFTS news–stories, photos, success and challenges. Best wishes on back to school re-entry, garden clean-ups and harvest time … and of course in dealing with Irene aftermath.

–  Peter Allison, UVFTS Director

Statehouse Awards and Recognition for Area Farm to School Programs

By Peter Allison

The Farm to School programs at Woodstock,  Hartland, Randolph and Tunbridge Elementary Schools received high praise – and cash –  at the Vermont Farm to School Awareness Day on January 20 in the Statehouse.  Jason Drebber, 6^th grade student from Woodstock Elementary, was one of four Vermont students asked to speak about the impact of his school’s farm to school initiative. Jason sited frequent taste tests, a new salad bar in the cafeteria, field trips to farms and the school garden as meaningful experiences for him and his classmates in his presentation to a packed house of legislators, state agency officials and school teachers, parents and students from a dozen other Vermont communities.

The annual farm to school event is a showcase for farm to school programs that have received grants from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture and is also the forum for awarding the current crop of funding. Woodstock Elementary received a Farm to School implementation grant in 2010.  Hartland Elementary and Woodstock High School received grants in 2007, the first year of the program.  This year, Randolph Elementary School received a $15,000 Implementation Grant and Tunbridge Elementary received a $1,500 Planning Grant.

This year, the Farm to School day was combined with a new twist, the premier of winning videos in the first Vermont Farm to School video contest. Hartland Elementary School’s video submission was one of three winners, netting a $200 cash award.  Seventh grader Noah Morse worked with the Hartland Farm to School Committee and CATV in White River Jct. to produce the video which can be seen on the Hartland Farm to School website: www.hartlandfarm2school.org.

As testimony to the many and diverse benefits of farm to school programs, the heads of three state agencies –  Education, Agriculture and Health — all spoke at the forum, praising the role of farm to school in advancing their agenda’s.  Education commissioner Armando Vilaseca highlighted the hands-on learning opportunities with farm to school, and the fact that healthy kids are better learners.  Newly appointed Agriculture Secretary Chuck Ross emphasized the importance of school support for local farms in their hot lunch programs, and the need to engage a new generation of farmers. And Dr. Harry Chen, the new Commissioner of the Department of Health extolled the virtues of nutrition education and deeper understanding by students of where their food comes from in the fight against obesity.

Coming Up: Comprehensive FTS Workshop on February 3

The Upper Valley Farm to School Network is co-hosting a workshop on Thursday, February 3^rd from 3PM to 7:30 PM with Vermont FEED and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Windsor and Orange County at the South Royalton High School.

The workshop, “Growing Strong Roots in an Evolving Farm to School Landscape” will include presentations on critical farm to school issues, such as integrating local food in school cafeterias, growing school gardens, connecting local food and farm themes with the curriculum, and making the most of farm visits.  Many area school educators and farm to school coordinators will be involved in making presentations and leading discussions, including: Michele Shepherd, 3^rd/4^th grade teacher at Reading Elementary, Janet Cathey, art teacher from Hartland Elementary, Lalita Karoli, FTS coordinator from Woodstock Elementary, Deanne Fitzpatrick, Kindergarten teacher at Bridgewater Village School, Melissa Fellows, middle school science teacher at Woodstock Middle School, and Amy Richardson of the Hartland Farm to School Committee and NOFA VT Community Mentor.

More information about the workshop can be found at: www.uvfts.org/events

Adapted from an article submitted to the Vermont Standard, as part of a series on area farm to school programs. Peter Allison is the Director of the Upper Valley Farm to School Network  www.uvfts.org, peter@uvfts.org.

Upper Valley Farm to School Network

Notes from Summer Gathering – August 3, 2010,

Cobb Hill Farm and Community – Hartland, Vermont

Participants:

Leah Tofolson, Sarah Bowering and Ruth Fleishman (Hartford Memorial Middle School), Keenan Haley and Meg Hopkins (Sharon Elementary School and UVFTS Steering Committee), Rima Nickell (Lyme Elementary School and UVFTS), Beth Carlson (Windsor State Street School), Chloe Powers (Barnard Academy and Red Clover Camp), Brooke Newsome (Woodstock Union High School), Peter Allison (Hartland Elementary School and UVFTS), Gretchen Czaja (Woodstock Elementary School), Abby Nelson (VT FEED and NOFA VT), Chuck Fenton (Reinventing the Meal & UVFTS Steering Committee); Don Seville (Sustainable Food Lab and UVFTS Steering Committee); Judith Bush (Cobb Hill Cheese maker – ex officio, Farm Correspondent participant); Bridget Hardy (UVFTS event coordinator).

Email updates from Cat Buxton (Cedar Circle Farm), Amy Richardson (Richardson Farm and NOFA farm mentor), Kate Remainis (Newton School in Strafford); phone update from Abbey Willard (Randolph FTS and White River Conservation District).

Upper Valley FTS Program Updates:

Hartford Memorial Middle School:  Are using the school garden, and Colonial herb garden, planting ancient grains for use in social studies class; interest in integrating more local food in school lunch and using gardens more – also working with other middle school teachers on FTS curriculum ideas.

Lyme (NH) Elementary School: Rima is working for UVFTS through an arrangement with NH Able, a senior employment organization. Her first efforts will be to coordinate FTS efforts in Lyme along with their team teachers, parents and staff.  Her first efforts are focusing on local foods in cafeteria as well as using the new garden as a teaching tool.

Sharon Elementary School: Sharon is in its 7^th year as a FTS school, with comprehensive efforts in the garden, cafeteria and classroom. This year they added a “Farm Rally” program, getting students out to farms with video cameras, and also started a farmers market at the school, which raises funds for their program.   Megan and Keenan are interested in finding more parent involvement strategies and doing what they are doing as well and efficiently as possible.

Barnard Academy: Chloe worked with various classes this year on FTS projects.  With a Garden for Learning grant they involve students in the community garden at Silver Lake, which is then tended by the Red Clover Camp in the summer.  Barnard does not have a cafeteria, but the local country store caters a lunch once a week – this year, they will feature local food once a month.  Classrooms have been taking field trips, and the 5^th grade participated in the Trek to Taste event in June with a bread making and honey display.

Woodstock Union High School: There are a variety of entities at the HS involved in related activities, including FTS, Agriculture Club, Earth Beat, and Vermont Youth Conservation Corps.  There is a new 20’ x 40’ garden at the school, and VYCC has 2 rows of squash at a local farm for use at the school cafeteria.  There is a community FTS volunteer in addition to Brooke and Katrina Jimerson, art teachers who have led the program.  Focus for coming year is healthy snacks to make and sell.  The HS also participated in Trek to Taste, making wood fired pizza on Mount Tom.

State Street School, Windsor VT: The SSS FTS grant ran out in June. Beth is working to keep the program up and running.  A new principal is starting in the fall.  The school started additional raised beds on the school grounds, and expanded gardens at the nearby senior housing complex.  The cafeteria director brings food waste to the Windsor Correctional Facility where it is composted.  Lots of field trips and classroom activities.

Woodstock Elementary School:  Gretchen reported that after many years of nipping around the edges of FTS, WES hit the ground running this past year.  FTS coordinator Lalita Karoli has been a great leader, helping increase use of local food in cafeteria, purchasing a salad bar, increasing school gardens, holding parent workshops and involving kids in lots of taste tests and food related lessons.  WES received a VT FTS grant in 2009 that runs through this Dec, and also received support from Ottauquechee Community Partnership via a VT DOH grant.

Hartland: Peter noted that 9 Hartland staff attended the VT FTS workshop at Shelburne Farms in June. (HES was invited to apply to send a team and was one of six selected from around the state.)  HES developed a 6 part plan to: establish a formal FTS committee, increase use of local food in cafeteria, integrate FTS in at least one unit for each grade, relocate and expand school garden and compost operation, increase communication and fundraising (as school is not funding FTS in school budget this year).  The Hartland Farm Fest raised $2000 for FTS this May.

Newton School (Strafford): Kate Remainis by email: I would like to create an evaluation tool to use to assess student’s work in Garden Class.  I am happy to take this on, and create a document to share with other teachers and programs.  Much of it can come from the VT State Frameworks that teachers use for each subject.  I wonder if you have thoughts on other folks who would like to help me with this project, or if something similar has already been done. At this point, my students receive a grade for garden class and it’s mostly participation based, but I would like to brainstorm some actual garden skills, such as proper tool use/ tool safety and care, demonstration of care when walking in garden, etc.

Randolph Elementary School: Abbie Willard reported by phone: Strong local food group at the school.  Started a “Farmer for Every Classroom” program last year, which involved all grade 1-6 classes and about 15 farmers.   Included visits to farm, and farmers came to welcome event in fall and picnic celebration in spring with student presentations and food serving.  Last year Randolph had FTS as school theme/ same this year.  Working to refine Taste Test template. Had VT FEED do training for schools with funding from VT FTS grant.  Looking for more guidance with farm tour, goals and ground rules, etc.

Cedar Circle Farm:  Cat Buxton emails: Have 3 dinners in the field in August, a tomato tasting, and showing of “Silent Voices.”  Thetford School and Community Gardens are looking fantastic.  Plans in place to expand school garden and composting with help of Highfield’s Institute.  Farm tours are increasing in popularity.

NOFA-VT Farmer Correspondence Program: Amy Richardson emails: Remind people of the farmer corresponcence program – letter writing with farmers to school classes, and students to farmers. Contact Amy at: farmtoschool@yahoo.com

VT FEED: Abbie Nelson mentioned upcoming Vermont FTS grants from the Agency of Ag, and Community-School Garden Grants that will be administered by VT Community Garden Network.  VT FEED offers many services to schools in areas of curriculum

UVFTS Activities and Program Discussion

Workshops and Forums: Last year UVFTS held 6 workshops and forums for FTS coordinators, teachers and food service staff.  Peter asked for input on topics for workshops in the coming year. The following were suggested:

• Farm to Cafeteria – we did a FTC workshop in January 2010 and it was very successful (43 participants from 18 schools including 9 food service staff.  Planning two workshops this year; one in the fall in NH, and one in January in VT.
• School gardens – we co-hosted a school-community garden workshop with Valley Food and Farm in March.  Suggestion is to hold one in fall around garden planning and one in March about planting and summer strategies.
• Virtual FTS! – In March UVFTS teamed up with Catalyst Webworks to provide training on setting up “YourFTS” pages on the UVFTS.org website.  8 participants came and some others received training off-site. Many schools have expressed interest in starting new pages this year.
• Middle School FTS Teacher Forum – Hartford, Woodstock, Hartland, Springfield, Sharon Academy all have some interest in integrating FTS more into the middle school curriculum.  Early fall seems like best time to have this gathering.
• FTS and Related Arts – lots of ideas how art and music can tie into food and farm themes.  And lots of area art and music teachers have done so – it would be great to have an exhibit of UV FTS art projects – and music!
• FTS teacher and coordinator Forums – informal gatherings for grade teachers and FTS coordinators to share their FTS curriculum, projects, activities and lessons
• Wellborn Ecology Fund Conference – UVFTS has helped coordinate a FTS workshop at this March event the last two years – with lots of help from FTS leaders in VT and NH.  It would be useful to think about how to use this venue that already pulls over 100 place-based educators from the region together.
• Parent and Community Involvement – Peter will send out a list of activities that parents and volunteers can be involved in, and post on the UVFTS website as well. This will serve as a guide for involving volunteers – and can inform any training or idea sharing we do down the line.
• Fundraising – lots of questions about where to generate funds to keep FTS programs going and sustainable – hoping to connect with New England Grass Roots Environmental Fund on some training around this, as well as to generate a pool for FTS mini-grants.
• UVFTS Conference.  In April 2009 we had a conference co-sponsored with VT FEED at Billings Farm – there were 100 people from 22 schools from both NH and VT. We had a panel and then 4 breakout sessions, dinner (that we made) and time for school teams to plan together.  Thinking about doing this again – will need a bigger venue as we maxed out Billings Farm.
• The Trek to Taste on the Trails of Woodstock has served as a showcase for FTS programs the past two Junes, and is scheduled to happen again in early June 2011.  We will announce this event and any related mini-grants available much earlier this year.

Website and e-Newsletter:

Last year, the UVFTS website was revamped and Peter started sending monthly e-newsletters in January.  The website has sections for “YourFTS” – pages or UV school programs, Links, Tools, Events and a Blog – I think both the website and e-newsletter were a good start, and they have the potential to be much more robust and utilized.  Hoping to expand/improve them both this year.

Site Visits and Organizational Assistance:

Over the past two years I visited over 20 schools – in some cases just to see your programs in action, in others to participate in meetings or events.  The organizational assistance requested most includes: working with school cafeteria to integrate local and fresh food more into lunch and breakfast programs, curriculum and activity ideas, getting started, increasing commitment and involvement from administrators, parents and community and fundraising.

At each school I visit (as well as some others that I create a FTS Profile – essentially an entry in a database with information about the school, lunch program, existing FTS-like classes, field trips, and activities, school committees, local farmers, and other information that may help a school evaluate its existing resources and opportunities.

I find these visits to always be useful to me – seeing how different schools are organized and where the energy is for FTS – sometimes it comes from a teacher, others the principal, food service staff, parents or other community members.  It’s really exciting to see how that energy can travel to other parts of the school community.   And in some cases, the initial champion has moved on or away – leaving a hole to fill.  As more schools start FTS programs, this may be an area that we as a Network can help to fill – by lending support, guidance and enthusiasm to rekindle a program.  That’s the goal anyway.

General Networking

I am making it a point to connect with many partner organizations in order to keep up with what is going on in our region and outside of it.  VT FEED is an amazing resource in VT, as is the emerging VT FTS Network – I encourage all to subscribe to their email lists.  In addition, NH FTS is developing some wonderful programs and is actively working with UVFTS in the Upper Region to expand our reach and efforts.  This past May I attended the national Farm to Cafeteria Conference in Detroit, along with 700 people from around the country – great perspective on what is going on elsewhere – and how much our region is doing already.

In our Upper Valley, Vital Communities – Valley Food and Farm Program – is an amazing resource.  In addition to Tidbits, the Flavors of the Valley, the paper and on-line version of Valley Food and Farm Guide, they are now organizing monthly Valley Food and Farm Council meetings that feature monthly topics.  The Wellborn Ecology Fund, Ottauquechee Community Partnership, Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historical Park, Upper Valley HEAL (Healthy Eating Active Living), and many other organizations in our area have aligned mission and interest.  Trying to keep in touch with their programs and efforts and communicate with Upper Valley FTSers is also part of what I do as UVFTS director.