We know that kids love the healthy, local recipes from our New School Cuisine Cookbook. But it turns out senators love them too!

Vermont's Senator Patrick Leahy recently shared this groundbreaking resource and the impact of Farm to School work in Vermont with the Senate Agriculture Committee and with the White House.

At a Senate Agriculture Committee oversight hearing on child nutrition in July, Sen. Leahy's staff shared pumpkin squares made from the cookbook, which were quickly "gobbled up" by Senators and staff. Sen. Leahy held up the cookbook, which was then referenced throughout committee hearings. Afterward, Sen. Leahy provided a copy of the cookbook to the White House's Sam Kass, Executive Director of Let's Move! and Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition Policy.  

"I am proud of VT FEED's strategy to improve school nutrition standards and I believe this cookbook is a valuable resource to meet the goal of providing our nation's children with nutritious food options," wrote Sen. Leahy in a letter to Sam Kass.

On a warm day in July, Kathy parked her Ford and started unloading fresh summer fare with local flair: tuna salad with celery, macaroni salad, pepper strips, and watermelon. Even though Kathy was early, a crowd waited for her, ready to exchange warm smiles and load up on lunch.

But this wasn't a hip local food truck. Kathy is a food service staff member from Addison Northeast Supervisory Union (ANESU), and she was making a delivery run of summer lunches, prepared from scratch, to children in a mobile home park.  

From June to August, as part of USDA's Summer Food Service Program, ANESU Food Service Cooperative offers these summer meals for free to all kids 18 and under, fresh (packed daily!) and nutritious (each meal meets USDA guidelines). Kathy Alexander, the Director of the Cooperative, added this program four years ago to help meet her goal of "equalizing access to food" for every student in the district.   

In the beginning, ANESU served 50 meals at one site. This summer they're serving 300-400 meals a day from 12 sites, including libraries, schools, the town recreation center, and neighborhoods.

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If Peter Allison were a vegetable, he'd be a beet. (And not just because it rhymes with Pete.) What's not to love? It's great raw, pickled and cooked. It stores well and gets your hands all red. It grows underground, a mystery unto itself. And when you pull it up, there's that color...  

A wry humor and passion for healthy food were on display when we caught up with Peter at the Farm to School Institute in June, where he was serving as a mentor, and they are both critical ingredients in Peter's success building vibrant Farm to School networks in the Upper Valley and throughout New England.

Seven years ago, Peter was a father and a consultant living on a farm in Hartford when his town received one of the State's first Farm to School grants. Peter became the Town's Farm to School coordinator and it turned out to be a strong fit. "I got hooked right out of the gate," Peter said.

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Rain couldn't dampen the spirits of the more than 150 people who gathered on June 25 for the Vermont Farm to School Network's Summer Gathering. We welcomed more than 60 Farm to School Institute team members, as well as strong contingents of food and farm funders, Farm to School advocates, and statewide leaders and officials for networking, dinner provided by the Farmhouse Group, and remarks by a host of state and national leaders.

"This is a movement. It's not just a good idea anymore. It's taken hold," said Mary Stein, Deputy Director of the National Farm to School Network, setting the tone for the evening. She went on to note that Vermont is the leader of Farm to School activities in the Northeast region, and the national Network constantly looks to this region for examples to help guide the rest of the country.

Mary was part of a panel of Farm to School practitioners and national leaders. Moderated by Betsy Rosenbluth, Project Director of VT FEED, the panel also included the National Farm to School Network's Policy Director Helen Dombalis; Stephen Greene and Helen Fields of Mount Anthony Union Middle School; and Kathy Alexander, Director of the Addison Northeast Food Service Cooperative. Two state leaders spoke as well: Chuck Ross, Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, and Stuart Comstock-Gay, President of the Vermont Community Foundation.

"[Farm to School] enables students to leave the school at the end of the school day and the end of their school career better equipped, better educated, and ready to take the action we need to take to survive the 21st Century," said Chuck Ross. "I'm proud to be the Secretary of the Agency of Agriculture in the State of Vermont, where we have such a dynamic, powerful, and model Farm to School program that we have national leaders come to us to see how we do it in Vermont."

Food service shouldn't just be about filling plates at lunchtime; it should be a part of students' education every day, encouraging healthy living.  

This was the key takeaway from a workshop on the changing role of school food service at the School Nutrition Association's Annual National Conference last month in Boston, presented by Abbie Nelson, Program Director at VT FEED, and Kathy Alexander, Director of the Addison Northeast Food Service Cooperative.  

From bringing students into the kitchen for taste tests to classroom activities with teachers and staff, Abbie and Kathy shared best practices and creative strategies honed in the kitchens and classrooms around Vermont.  

Twenty seven other Vermonters joined Abbie and Kathy at the conference, bringing back new expertise and ideas to liven up their own kitchens. SNA-VT's board helped make that possible, offering eight full scholarships to school nutrition staff. We can't wait to see (and taste!) all the great ideas coming back to Vermont.  

On a picture-perfect spring evening, two dozen teachers sprawled in the grass around the school gardens. They were celebrating the end of FEED's spring professional development class, hosted by Sharon Elementary and Upper Valley Farm to School Network. Their bellies were full of NOFA-VT's famous wood-fired pizza and their heads were full of new ideas for Farm to School programs.  

Through the spring, participants saw Farm to School successes in action, such as Sharon Elementary's classroom gardens and a pasta dinner cooked by Sharon's winning Jr. Iron Chef Vermont team. Inspired by fresh insights and feedback from peers, and by time to work together with colleagues, 27 participants from 14 Upper Valley schools came away with tangible new lessons, school action plans, or garden curriculums.  

Join a Professional Development Course! 

VT FEED offers  professional development courses each year.  

Our next course is tentatively scheduled for Chittenden County in Fall of 2014 (registration to come), and watch for a course in Windham and Windsor Counties in 2015.

By Alan Cunningham, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont    

As part of our nationally recognized worksite health and wellness program, STRIVE, we offer employees Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) memberships. We subsidize weekly farm shares for our employees in an effort to help them buy and eat fresh, healthy, local food; this reinforces our support of Vermont FEED, employee health and wellness, and building a model of healthy living.  

Screamin' Ridge Farm in East Montpelier delivers our shares to employees directly at the workplace. Shares always include high-quality produce, eggs and bread. Local meat, sauces and cheeses are often included as well. The CSA deliveries are sometimes themed and recipes are available to employees to ensure that they know how to use and cook their produce. Employees also praise the opportunity to customize their deliveries, which can particularly help members with gluten or other allergies.  

Over 25 employees at BCBSVT have participated in the share each of the last two summers, and 15 employees participated in the share this past winter. Other employers in Vermont, including the State of Vermont, offer CSA memberships to their employees as well.  

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont is proud to offer the CSAs, allowing us to demonstrate our commitment to employee health and wellness and to Vermont's farms and communities. We encourage you to look into bringing a CSA program to your school or workplace. It can improve employees' nutritional intake, and boost employee enthusiasm around the topic of healthy eating as well. In the meantime, find a local CSA and join today!

 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont is a sustaining supporter of VT FEED.

Mark your calendars!

October is National Farm to School Month.   

• Child Nutrition Summer Institute
  August 11-15, St. Johnsbury
   
• NOFA-VT Summer Workshop Series
  Ongoing through Oct. 4, various locations
   
• Vermont Community Garden Workshops
  August 23 & 27, Burlington
   
• UVFTS Pizza Party & Potluck Celebration
  September 10, Hartland
   
• Eat by Northeast Fest
  September 19-21, Burlington
   
• Shelburne Farms 36th Annual Harvest Festival
  September 20, Shelburne
   
• Green Mountain Farm to School Regional Conference
  November 5, Greensboro
   
• Taste of Southern Vermont
  November 15, Brattleboro

Add your events to the Farm to School Network calendar >