Madison Metropolitan School District

Project Description

Kids Root for Winter Veggies and Spring for a Salad

Gompers Elementary held three events over the course of the school year. The “Root For Winter Veggies!” and “Spring for a Salad!” events showcased the seasonal produce available at that time of year. The fruits and vegetables were presented to the students as part of a recipe and separately. Staff encouraged everyone to sample a variety at each event.

The school chose local, seasonal produce where available, and partnered with REAP Food Group, a community non-profit, to source the produce from local farms. They even invited a local farmer to join the students at lunchtime. In addition, staff coordinated a local apple sampling with the Great Lakes Great Apple Crunch where all students got an apple to “crunch” into together.

The coordinated efforts were a great success, and gave the students a new opportunity.

Successes

• Gompers Elementary School is not regularly reached with Farm to School programming, so Project Produce gave them the opportunity to introduce students to local produce.
• The school was able to expose students to new fruits and vegetables.

Challenges

• Coming up with appropriate recipes based on the produce available in early spring was difficult.
• Coordinating the sourcing, pick up/delivery of produce, and recipe prep so that it was all properly timed to ensure peak freshness and allowing kitchen staff enough time to prep was challenging.
• Communicating the Farm to School aspect was challenging given the short lunch periods and window for announcements.

*Chef Ann Foundation does not verify the accuracy of resources provided by individual school districts.