Local Food Dude Tim Cipriano becomes the Executive Director of Food Service for New Haven Public Schools!
From Tim:
Let me start off my thanking Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. and Dr. Reginald Mayo, Superintendent of Schools for appointing me as Executive Director of Food Service for New Haven Public Schools. I am delighted to join at a time when New Haven Public Schools lead the State in championing the causes of healthy eating and lifestyles.
The Wellness Committee, made up of administrators, teachers, school and community health professionals, oversaw the elimination of fried foods and soda (replaced by healthier fare) in school vending machines years before the State of Connecticut caught on. Other changes, including universal free breakfast and lunch and construction of the central kitchen, have added to opportunities for healthier choices. Thanks to the support of the Superintendent, the Board of Education and the entire New Haven community, the students of New Haven Public Schools will benefit by seeing an increase in the amount of locally grown fruits and vegetables available to them.
We are essentially taking baby steps to go back to our roots and do more scratch cooking. The days of the utility knife and can opener as our main cooking instruments in our kitchens are numbered. The food service staff has done a fantastic job of supporting the wellness initiatives thus far. Working with local chefs from prominent New Haven restaurants, our staff will receive hands-on training sessions. These sessions will have a positive benefit for the staff and increase excitement in the kitchens. Bringing in theses chefs will inspire our workers to create even more impressive food for the students to enjoy.
Working with the National Farm to School Network, the Connecticut Farm to School Program and New Haven community groups, our goal is to feed the students of New Haven delicious tasting, nutritious foods utilizing local growers when possible. In addition, we are striving to incorporate more nutritional education programs utilizing local chefs and farmers to increase the excitement associated with supporting local agriculture. Our students are starting to learn where their food comes from because of the commitment of City Seed and the City Farmer’s Markets. We would like the farmers and chefs to teach the students in the cafeterias alongside the food service department workers.
Adhering to the strict guidelines set forth by the Wellness Committee, we will be incorporating more fresh fruits and vegetables into our meals, in fact this summer alone we served over 85,000# of fresh fruit to the students of New Haven including the first crop of CT Peaches! We will soon begin working with a produce distributor who specializes in working with small, local farms.
In collaboration with Yale University we will share our resources to form a partnership to create a sustainable city. The expertise of the Directors of Food Services for both Yale and New Haven Public Schools is second to none. The combination of two national players in the same city creates the opportunity to see some real change, real fast. Keep an eye out for New Haven; as our logo indicates, we put HEALTHY KIDS FIRST!
[photo by Harriet Jones]
WNPR- Connecticut Public Radio BY: Harriet Jones - Fri, 07/18/2008 08:00
As part of WNPR's periodic series about the shifting economy called “This Economic Life”, WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports on a group of New London teens who are ahead of the curve.
They are part of FRESH New London, a project that aims to transform our food system.
Listen here.
Stratham sisters launch free-range egg business
By Lara Bricker features@seacoastonline.com
June 29, 2008 6:00 AM
Sammy Merrill, 9, right, and her sister Hannah, 11, operate and manage their egg business called Hannah and Sammy's Magical Eggs from their parents' farm in Stratham. Sammy holds their Stuart Farm mascot, a chicken named Magic, at the hen house. For an audio slide show of the sisters' egg business, visit www.seacoastonline.com/multimedia. Photos by Scott Yates/syates@seacoastonline.com
posted by Debra Eschmeyer
Unlike some school cafeterias, scary salmonella will not stop kids enrolled in a National Farm to School program from enjoying a tasty tomato this summer. Connecting schools with local farms while providing health and nutrition education opportunities, these important Farm to School programs provide the necessary accountability and food safety awareness that allows children k-12 to enjoy cherry tomatoes without fear. The heightened level of accountability comes from knowing exactly who cultivated that crop of tomatoes from seed to delivery -- there is a face to the farmer and a real relationship. When schools ship in their tomatoes from Mexico or Guatemala, it becomes extremely difficult to trace them back to a contaminant (as we are currently witnessing), let alone knowing how the tomato was grown or if the workers were treated properly with fair wages.
Recently at Larchmont Charter and Riverside Unified schools, Vanessa Zajfen, a Farm to Institution Coordinator at the Center for Food & Justice, conducted a taste test of three varieties of organic tomatoes with the children, just days after the salmonella tomato outbreak (see picture).
“The kids loved it. Not only were the tomatoes fresh and delicious, but they were safe. We had tomatoes from the school garden and a local farm. I would gladly serve Tutti Frutti Farms tomatoes to a school group rather than an industrial grown, globally sourced tomatoes any day!”
From a handful of programs just ten years ago, there are now approximately 2,000 Farm to School programs in over 10,000 schools across 39 states. For examples of projects around the country, visit www.farmtoschool.org.
Mortgage Lifter, Striped German, Green Zebra, and Cherokee Purple tomatoes should still be on your menus…just know the farmer who picked them off the vine.
posted by Tim Cipriano, Local Food Dude
Bloomfield Schools Farm to School Program (BSF2S) takes a big step in the right direction.
Sunday June 8th 7:35am 85 degrees and humid I arrive at Desmond's farm in anticipation of a few hours of planting. At 7:45am Chef Paul and his motorcycle come rumbling down the driveway of the farm. Upon Chef's arrival we set up our sign to designate the plot of land Desmond has graciously donated to the school for us to collaboratively grow vegetables to ultimately be served in our school cafeterias in the fall.
8:00am and a HS student arrives to volunteer and help us plant the field. Jiff Martin of American Farmland Trust, who grows flowers at Desmond's farm, has agreed to volunteer her time this morning as well to help us.
At 8:20am no more volunteers show up so we agree to start planting. Desmond's and his farm hands teach us the proper way to plant the tomatoes and kale and shortly after we were off planting. As the sun was beating down on us something fierce (I had on my wide brimmed hat and was covered head to toe with 60 SPF!) we laboriously planted 5 rows of vegetables. As the sweat was dripping down my face and my shirt was clinging to me I thought for as second, "What am I doing out here!" but then it dawned on me, we are here to create a new chapter in our program. The harvest that we reap in late August and September will more than justify the little bit of hard work we put in today. After today my level of respect for today's farmer multiplied. We were in the fields for a little over an hour, we worked hard during that time but then it was done. At 10:00am the student volunteer, Chef and I left for the day, Jiff went back to work on her area of the farm and Desmond and his workers continued to work. I am thankful I am a Chef and have connections like this to be able to serve very fresh and very local produce to the students of Bloomfield. This small chapter is the first step of many to change the face of school lunch. If other districts can replicate what we have going on in Bloomfield the world may become a better place.
Desmond's Farm is Tomasiello Farm on Lisa Lane in Bloomfield, CT. His main crops are Scotch Bonnet Peppers and Callaloo but he also grows a wide variety of vegetables including corn and cucumbers. If you are in the area stop by to see Desmond and the farm and look for the large Bloomfield Schools Farm to School sign to see our little bit of heaven. The BSF2S program also has 25 raised beds at the Harris Agriscience Center at Bloomfield HS where the Agriscience students grow a large variety of vegetables. They also raise Chickens for eggs and Tilapia at the center. Recently they have started growing vegetables utilizing Aeroponics, Aquaponics and Hydroponics.
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