Archive for the ‘Schools’ Category

Posted by Kate Sims | May 31st, 2011

A Spring Harvest Celebration in D.C. Schools

“Salad greens! Salad greens!” was the surprising, yet endearing chant heard loud and clear in the cafeteria of Bancroft Elementary of the Mount Pleasant neighborhood at DC Farm to School Network’s 2^nd annual Strawberries & Salad Greens event on May 25, 2011.

Strawberries and salad greens from farms of the mid-Atlantic region were incorporated into the lunch menufor the day in all 123 DCPS elementary, middle, high schools and educational campuses. Other schools in the city to participate included Friendship Public Charter Schools, CentroNia/D.C. Bilingual PCS, E.W. Stokes PCS, Cesar Chavez PCS (all campuses), Yu Ying PCS, Washington Jesuit Academy, Next Step Public Charter School, and The SEED School.

33 cafeterias across the city also featured a “Where Food Comes From” table. Educational materials provided for those tables included a map and pictures of the farmers who harvested the plants, packets of seeds to grow the plants, and a strawberry and salad green plant to discuss with the kids the process of how part of their lunch was planted, grown, and then harvested.

Festive stickers with the Strawberries & Salad Greens logo were also provided to all students, which they wore proudly on shirts, hands, and even foreheads, as they munched and commented on the special additions to their school lunch: How does it taste? Sweet! Do you know where strawberries come from? The farm! A garden! What do you think these seeds need to grow? Water! Sun! Love! What do you eat strawberries in? Smoothies! Cake! Salad!

Strawberries & Salad Greens is just one example of how DC Farm to School Network is helping introduce fresh produce to kids and create an interest in tasting and learning about where nutritious food comes from.

For more information on upcoming DC Farm to School Network events, please visit www.dcfarmtoschool.org

Posted by Andrea Northup | February 28th, 2011

On Thursday March, 3rd, 2011, portions of proceeds from some of the best farm-to-table restaurants in Washington, DC will go to the D.C. Farm to School Network!  Enjoy a night out and support two good causes – locally-owned restaurants that source from farms nearby, AND the D.C. Farm to School Network, which connects D.C. schools [...]

Posted by Kristin Roberts | December 6th, 2010

The landmark DC Healthy Schools Act was unanimously passed into law earlier this year, and fully funded with a 6% sales tax on soda. But Mayor Fenty proposed in his Budget Gap-Closing Plan to eliminate $5.2 million in the FY 2011 budget for the DC Healthy Schools Act, and to delay implementation of the Act indefinitely.

Your help is needed! Please take a moment to join D.C. Hunger Solutions in telling the DC Council to reject the Mayor’s proposal, and ensure that the Healthy Schools Act is fully funded in the current Fiscal Year budget.

Just take these three, easy steps:

1) Sign-on as an individual or organization to our letter urging Councilmembers to fully fund the DC Healthy Schools Act.

2) Call your Councilmember today during our Phone-In between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.

Share how you have been affected by the DC Healthy Schools Act, and why you think it’s important. For example, you can say: “I am a resident of Ward X, and I ask that the Councilmember ensure the full funding of the DC Healthy Schools Act in the Fiscal Year 2011 budget.” Follow this link to find your ward.

Tell them: “I also believe that DC Council should take a balanced approach to closing the budget gap – it should choose to raise revenue rather than cut the Healthy Schools Act and human services. Other vital programs like Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Adult Job Training, Grandparent Caregiver, Childcare Subsidies, Interim Disability Assistance, and the Local Rent Supplement Program are on the chopping block. I encourage the Council to vote for a one percent income tax increase on income above $200,000 to help fund these programs.”

3) Email your Councilmember directly to tell him or her you fully support the Healthy Schools Act and a balanced approach to closing the budget gap.

And share this Action Alert with your networks. We must act now! The Council will vote on the Budget Gap-Closing Plan on Tuesday, December 7.

Thank you for your continued efforts and support.

(For more information, please call me at (202) 986-2200 x3041.)

Posted by Joni Podschun | November 23rd, 2010

This blog post is part of a series on the importance of safety net programs and the need for a more progressive income tax, to pay for the investments our city needs. Find out more here.

When I think about money and my childhood, I remember my parents talking about their credit card debt and being told at McDonalds that our family could not afford Happy Meals. I knew we didn’t have money for the extras like weekly trips to eat out, but it was only as a young adult that I understood just how little my parents were working with.

When I took a few classes at the local public high school, my Mom sent me to the school office to ask about Free and Reduced Lunch. I brought home the income requirements and found out that we were well within the limits for Free Lunch. Then, when my parents became pregnant with my little brother, we signed up for the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program.

Our family had just one income by choice — my father worked and my mother stayed home to raise and educate me and my siblings. Despite our economic situation, I have a lot of privilege — I have white skin, we were considered middle class because of my father’s job, and I received a fabulous education, among other things.

I’m deeply grateful for the food programs that helped stretch our budget. Thanks to the WIC program, Free Meals, and — as a recent college graduate — Food Stamps, I had a healthy, happy, parent-filled childhood, and the financial support to get started in a new city. It’s been four short years since I graduated from college and moved to DC, and I’m in a job that I love, doing good work and contributing to the tax base. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to share my privilege and help grow the investments that were made to get me where I am today.

Unfortunately, the support I received as a young adult is not guaranteed for all DC residents who need it. Funding has been cut for safety net programs like IMA Service Centers, where people apply for Food Stamps. At the same time, our income tax structure has stayed the same — the top tax bracket (8.5%) starts at $40,000/year. Save Our Safety Net and other groups are suggesting a better choice: the City Council should create a new tax bracket of 9.5% for income over $200,000. For less than the cost of a latte a day to most households in the top 5%, our city could bring in about $75 million in new revenue. If you agree that we need more investments in the safety net, take action by sending an email to Vince Gray today.

What kind of a safety net do you want to have, for yourself and your neighbors? What tax structure would help us make the public investments our city needs?

Posted by Kristen Kozlowski | November 10th, 2010

The Healthy Schools Act passed in May of 2010.  As the first half of the school year is drawing to a close, how is the program doing?  As of the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year in August, the Act has provided funding for schools to serve three meals a day instead of the previous [...]

Posted by Joseph ONeill | November 2nd, 2010

Posted by John Cochran | October 13th, 2010

Our farm at Walker Jones school was recently featured in a CNN report:

The Walker Jones volunteer day is Saturday, starting at 9am and you do not need any experience to come get your hands dirty. Please contact me at jhncchrn@yahoo.com to sign up or learn more.

Posted by Andrea Northup | October 12th, 2010

By Andrea Northup

Imagine a D.C. schoolchild travels to a farm in Maryland and harvests green, leafy kale with his classmates. The students take the kale back to their classroom and prepare a delicious dish with the help of a prominent local chef. He tries kale for the first time in his life – and likes it!

And when he sees kale on her cafeteria tray during lunch that week, he eats it and encourages his friends to do the same. He gains a deeper appreciation – through his complete farm-to-table experience – of where food comes from and how it can be prepared in healthy, delicious ways.

During D.C. Farm to School week October 12-15, 2010, nearly 2,000 D.C. schoolchildren will have the chance to harvest seasonal produce on a local farm, and prepare it in the classroom with a professional chef. Additionally, schools across the District (nearly 200 in total) will serve and highlight fresh, local foods in their school meals during the week. The D.C. Farm to School Network is working in partnership with schools, parents, sponsors and community partners to make the week a success. A special thanks to our top-tier sponsors for their support – Whole Foods Georgetown , WGirls DC, and the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington. For more information, including a complete listing of participating schools and events, visit our site.

D.C. Farm to School Week will begin with an exciting kick-off celebration, featuring battling chefs, a local apple taste test, and a school garden work party/dedication ceremony.

When: Tuesday, October 12th; 1:00pm
Where: Thurgood Marshall Academy & Savoy Elementary’s shared Gymnasium
2427 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE
Near the Anacostia metro station and many bus lines; parking available in lot across the street
RSVP to Kacie @ kwarner@washingtonyouthgarden.org

Special guests Dr. Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, and Sam Kass, White House Chef and Senior Policy Adviser for Healthy Food Initiatives will join us, as students judge local chefs competing to create the tastiest dish from a local apple harvest. The images from a city-wide School Garden Photo Contest will be displayed and the winning photographers announced. A brand-new school garden, shared by Thurgood Marshall Academy and neighboring Savoy Elementary School, will be named, dedicated, painted and planted. We’ll also celebrate the passage of the D.C. Healthy Schools Act and the exciting changes in school lunches with Councilmember Mary Cheh. It’s an exciting time for Farm to School here in the nation’s capital – please join us in
celebrating!

Andrea Northup is the Coordinator of the D.C. Farm to School Network, which is a program of the Capital Area Food Bank.