Who Feeds Our Kids: Lindsey Mills

Welcome to Food Connects’ series highlighting the amazing essential workers in our community who work hard every day to keep our children fed. Read on to learn more!

Lindsey Mills

“I’m really happy that they (students) have a super safe place to be and go like Guilford. Life can be scary and unpredictable, but I think this is a really safe, supportive place for them to be.”

— Lindsey Miller

We are so pleased to introduce Lindsey Mills! Lindsey started as the Site Lead/Head Cook at Guilford Central School about three months ago and is already showing massive dedication to making sure that Guilford students really enjoy the food they are eating. She has 13 years of experience in food service, but this is her first job in a school kitchen. We were lucky enough to be able to chat with Lindsey at the end of her work week to get to know her a little better, and here are some highlights.

Sadie Hunter (SH): How long have you been working in school nutrition?

Lindsey Miller (LM) : I’m actually brand new this year! I worked in food service for 13 years before this. It’s been really rewarding—more so than my other jobs. I love hearing kids come over and say they loved something new that they maybe had not tried yet. It’s a bit of a tougher crowd (than the restaurants), though.

 SH: What was your biggest challenge when responding to COVID-19?

LM: I guess I’m just really lucky because I’m by myself back here and I’m not really exposed to anyone else as much anymore in the kitchen. At my last job, being in a public setting was terrifying, but now I feel a lot safer working at a school. Everyone is super precautious, and I’m super grateful for that. I wish I had worked at the school before COVID so I could see how they served everything then - now everything is individually wrapped, etc. When I was in school you would go up to the lunch person and get it from the line, and it's a lot more complicated now. 

SH: Do you have children at home? If so, how did you manage child care or balance remote school with your work?

LM: No kids, but a new nephew who is less than a year and is the light of my life! I moved up (to Vermont) to be closer to my sister and nephew. It’s crazy how much things change when your sister and brother-in-law have a kid—my life really shifted because of this little boy. 

SH: What do you think is one of the most important aspects of having children back in the schools this year? 

LM: I’m really happy that they (students) have a super safe place to be and go like Guilford. Life can be scary and unpredictable, but I think this is a really safe, supportive place for them to be. Even if kids aren’t coming from the best homes, they are safe here, cared about, and loved. 

SH: What advice would you give to someone who is interested in this career?

LM: Have an open mind and be ready to be on top of food safety! Be adaptable and always make your food with love. 

SH: What has your team done well that’s led to the success of the program?

LM: I’m by myself in the kitchen, and I often feel like I’m a one-person team here, but if I need help, my supervisor, Ali West, is as accommodating as possible. When the equipment isn’t working, we always find a way to get the food made. Everyone has been super helpful; no one has ever said no to helping when I ask—both people at Guilford and people at Fresh Picks Cafe. Everyone is willing to jump in and help if I need it. 

Update: Deb Johnson, who's been with Fresh Picks for three years, has been stepping in three hours a day before going to her own school (Green Street) in order to help out in the Guilford kitchen.

SH: What is your favorite memory working in school nutrition?

LM: I’ve only worked here for three months, but it’s got to be all the positive feedback I get from the kids. There is a girl who is gluten-free, and one day she didn’t like her breakfast, so the next day, I worked extra hard to redeem myself. She loved it and came dancing into the kitchen to tell me! 

SH: How can the community support you and other school nutrition professionals?

LM: I guess really just by reaching out if their kid has special dietary needs. It’s really about lots of communication from parents! It would be super helpful if I had more feedback from parents about what kids like and don’t like and making sure that I have all the information that I’m supposed to have. I honestly would not mind taking 30 seconds to ask the kids what they want to eat in order to have them better understand what they are eating and not want to send it back. 

SH: What brings you joy? What are some things that you do outside of work that bring you joy?

LM: My nephew and my sister bring me joy. I really love animals too, and I love to cook even when I’m not at work. I love the beach—I didn’t make it last year, but when I do, it brings me a lot of happiness. 

SH: What is one thing you are grateful for?

LM: I’m grateful for every day and every new opportunity that I am given. 

Cross-Pollination Gathering for School Garden Coordinators

Sarah Rosow searches for a cukamelon in the students snacking garden.

Garden Coordinators from five Windham County Farm to School programs gathered at Guilford Central School for a “Cross-Pollination” event in late October. Garden Coordinators, often somewhat isolated in their unique roles, had the opportunity to share ideas, challenges, and successes with each other as they prepare for winter activities in the classroom.   

More and more area schools have hired Garden Coordinators in recent years, finding that they are a key component to a thriving Farm To School program. In addition to taking care of the gardens with support from students and volunteers, they also plan and execute educational activities around gardening and cooking and facilitate teacher and student involvement in FTS programming.  

Sarah Rosow explains to Mandy Walsh how the Kelly Kettle works—a wonderful tool for making tea in the garden!

Sarah Rosow, Guilford’s Garden Coordinator since 2018, hosted the event, showing the visitors the school’s three different garden areas, the outdoor classrooms, and concluding with a “show and tell” of sorts where Coordinators discussed useful equipment for cooking outdoors, curriculum guides, and sample lessons. Everyone was inspired by Sarah’s “snacking garden” where students are able to snack freely on mint, cherry tomatoes, and adorable cukamelons growing on her archway. 

As they toured the campus, Garden Coordinators discussed their roles at their schools and what makes their programs unique. While Guilford’s program excels at innovative outdoor teaching, Mandy Walsh of Westminster Center School offered the details of her upcoming Farm and Field Day—an event 3 years in the making, where students will participate in six different Farm to School stations. Kathy Cassin of Academy School spoke about her after-school cooking and gardening club while also gathering ideas about deterring the deer that had been eating all of Academy’s beautiful greens. After hearing that Mandy had some success with growing a border wall, she remarked, “that's good to know because it’s been so frustrating losing our greens!” 

Sarah Rosow demonstrates using a pull chopper, which she uses to make fresh salsa and pesto in the garden.

Erica Frank of Central Elementary, a registered dietician and current Food Service Professional at the school, spoke about the value of getting kids involved in cooking.  Amy Duffy, the new Garden Coordinator at Newbrook Elementary, agreed. “Giving kids a little more control over their eating then leads to better choices.” Amy also shared that she works with each grade once per week. Sarah Rosow responded, “I’d like to pick Amy's brain a little more in terms of the scope and sequence, and also just learning how she works in every grade level every week and how she manages that because I’d like to move toward that model.”

Everyone gained new ideas from this gathering, and it was clear at the end of the event that everyone had so much more expertise to share and so many more questions to discuss. In response, Food Connects looks forward to hosting more Cross-Pollination for Garden Coordinator events for our member schools throughout this school year.

Guilford Farm to School Thrives on Community Partnership

What does it take to make a successful Farm to School program? At Guilford Central School (GCS), a big part of the answer is community partners. 

Kindergarteners Jared and Jimmy plant a peach tree near the K/1 outdoor classroom.

“The community support that we see at Guilford Central School is amazing. From the dedicated parents on the Leadership Council to parents who donate mulch for our blueberry plants and excavator time to site a shed, it’s really inspiring to see. Our families and community members clearly value the outdoor experiences that our students are having, and they give a lot to support our programming. Our Farm to School and Nature-Based Education programs are thriving and couldn’t have gotten to this point without community involvement,” said Sarah Rosow, the Farm to School Program Coordinator at GCS.

School principal, John Gagnon, agrees, “the success that we have experienced at GCS is due to the remarkable contributions and efforts of our community partners.” He also points to the deeper connection the community has, “capital improvements to our campus and professional development for our staff in best practices in nature-based learning demonstrate the direct result  of the support that our parents, community and local non-profit organizations have provided.”

Guilford Central School is a regional leader in Farm to School—its over 7-year-old program is a shining example of how Farm to School can grow well-grounded students and connect communities. Before the pandemic, students used school-grown vegetables for taste tests highlighting local dishes for the school to try before adding them to the cafeteria's menu. GCS hosted the Holiday Market, where each grade made garden-based crafts and food items to sell to the community. The staff’s gardening and nutrition education experience meant that they were ready to move learning outdoors and get creative about cooking lessons when the pandemic hit.

Fourth grader Arabella chops rhubarb harvested from the school garden for rhubarb muffins.

“We love to cook in Pre-K and try to do at least one cooking project every week. In pre-COVID times we would prep our ingredients inside and then bring them outside to cook over the fire,” reflects Pre-K teacher Emma Hallowell. “This year, we found that preparing food outside was challenging during the cold winter months—those little fingers! But now that it’s spring, we simply set up a cooking station in our outdoor classroom and are having a great time cooking over the fire again.”

The past year has brought communities together in mutual aid and collaboration. This is no exception at Guilford, where countless community partnerships help elevate and grow the gardens, classroom lessons, and nutrition education. 

The gardens continue to grow throughout the school campus, creating new learning spaces for classes and more produce for students to try. The Guilford FTS Program purchased two new raised beds built by Three Trees. Soil donated by Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD) and D&E Tree Company filled the beds. Apple trees donated by Scott Farm and plants from Walker Farm and Lilac Ridge Farm will help fill all this new growing space. More trees, berries, and crops also require more maintenance! A rotating cast of parent volunteers supports the Farm to School Coordinator, Sarah Rosow, by weeding the beds, fertilizing the blueberry bushes on weekends, or stopping in with a skid steer to move soil and mulch. Guilford also participates in Food Connects’ Summer Garden Program, which keeps families involved and ensures that the gardens are weeded and watered throughout the summer months. Valuing the importance of the program, the Guilford Country Store has donated additional funds to support the summer garden program. 

A grant from RiseVT allowed the school to install a StoryWalk to encourage classes and community members to get outdoors, take a walk, and enjoy a story. The school purchases books at a discount from Everyone’s Books for the storywalk, on themes ranging from diversity to nature to food and farming.

Food Connects sent sprouting kits to interested classes at the start of spring, getting students excited about the growing season and enabling them to try sunflower and pea sprout taste tests. All the students’ cooking endeavors, from bread on a stick to sweet potato tots, are chronicled in a community cookbook. With more help from Food Connects and printing from C&S Print Shop, every family will be able to take home a cookbook plus a cooking kit thanks to funding from VT Fresh. The hands-on curriculum has proved invaluable during the pandemic, encouraging student engagement and helping build excitement about returning to school after a year of remote and hybrid learning. 

Thirty pounds of salad greens from Milkweed Farm, ready to be bagged up and distributed to families along with salad dressing recipes for the May Harvest of the Month kit.

The school has highlighted local food in meals for students. Recipe kits were sent home with students that featured local ingredients such as salad greens from Milkweed Farm and maple syrup donated by Franklin Farm. Students get to enjoy Franklin Farm beef year-round in the cafeteria, thanks to their partnership with the school. 

Each contribution from the community helps build up the robust Farm to School program students currently enjoy. As Guilford looks towards the future, there’s excitement for more to come. “As COVID restrictions are lifted,” says Sarah Rosow, “we’ll be looking to get families even more involved in the gardens, to generate more community involvement around our new sugaring program, and to re-establish our Winter Market.”

John Gagnon only sees growth in the future for the program, “we are very grateful and excited to continue this journey with our community partners in an elementary school that nurtures a love and respect for our natural environment.”

Guilford Central School is a small elementary school in Southern Vermont serving 120 children from Pre-K - sixth grade. The Guilford Farm to School program enables students to regularly spend time working in the school gardens, cooking, composting, and visiting local farms. From monthly taste tests of healthy, locally sourced foods that are prepared and served by students in every grade, to tapping trees and boiling sap, GCS students are connected with Guilford's farming heritage. 

Greenhouses Transform Into Outdoor Classrooms

What better way to spend one of the first days of spring than touring farms and learning about greenhouses?

Last month, educators from Academy School, Green Street School, Guilford Central School, Oak Grove School, and Winston Prouty Center joined Farm to School Coordinators Sheila and Conor to check out Wild Carrot and Milkweed Farms’ greenhouses. More and more schools are looking to greenhouses throughout the region to extend their growing season and expand their “outdoor” classroom space during the winter. 

Some schools like Guilford and Academy are in the information gathering process while Green Street has purchased a greenhouse and is preparing to set it up this spring, and Winston Prouty’s Early Learning Center is bringing an old greenhouse on campus back to life in partnership with the Inspire School.

While the school greenhouses will be much smaller than the production greenhouses visited, many of the nitty-gritty details are the same: what does irrigation look like, cold frame houses vs. sheet plastic, what crops thrive best, and how long you can extend the growing season by using a greenhouse. It was also great to see the other possible uses of greenhouses, such as a year-round playground and yard for kids! 

What’s Been Cooking in 2020

Who would have guessed 2020 would end with sweet potatoes roasting over an open fire? 

Cooking and nutrition education are bright spots for schools across the region as teachers adapt and evolve to a constantly changing situation—truly embodying resiliency (a contender for 2020 Word of the Year). This story of resilience stands as a testament to the fundamental role Farm to School programming plays in today’s general curriculum—cooking kept students hands-on during remote learning and has flourished during the return to (increasingly outdoor) classrooms.

Westminster Grow Pack.

Last spring, schools closed swiftly—winter boots left in cubbies and desks full of supplies. Teachers had difficulties getting into their classrooms to grab materials for their lessons. Despite these challenges, cooking and gardening education continued to enliven the curriculum. Sarah Rosow (Guilford Central School) and Mandy Walsh (Westminster Center School) got grow kits out to students via pick up locations and bus deliveries. These kits enabled students to get their hands dirty in the “garden”, even if they lived in an apartment.  At Riverside Middle School, STEAM teacher Becca Osbourne tried her hand at virtual cooking lessons, which her 6th graders particularly took to. 

A crucial part of cooking education takes place long before students begin chopping veggies. Farm to School programming focuses on cycles—for food, the cycle is most powerful when students have a hand in each part of the process, from seed to plate (or Seed2Tray when talking about food in the West River Education District). Recognizing this, school garden coordinators worked hard last spring to ensure gardens were planted—filled with intentions of a bountiful fall and a return to normalcy. 

River Gallery Arts visits Oak Grove School.

Food Connects hosted regional calls for coordinators to share tips and tricks and provide connection during an otherwise distanced season. Thanks to these collective efforts, gardens thrived this past summer. Food Connects Garden Coordinator, Tara Gordon, maintained six of the gardens in Windham Southeast Supervisory Union and we piloted free family art activities thanks to support from RiseVT and three local arts organizations—River Gallery School of Art, Insight Photography, and the Human Art of Play. The culmination of these regional efforts were gardens readily awaiting the return of students if public safety would allow.

Gardening at Winston Prouty.

Food Connects helped new cooking programs get started this school year. The Early Learning Center at Winston Prouty attended the New England Farm to School Institute this past summer with Food Connects FTS Coordinator, Sheila Humphreys, as their coach. With an established school garden, the team has laid a foundation for the next level of Farm to School work, including incorporating local foods onto their menu, Harvest of the Month Taste tests, and building a strong committee to carry the work forward. Through a RiseVT grant received by Food Connects, the team purchased materials for a cooking cart. Not only does the team intend to do more cooking with students, but they’re excited to start processing school-grown produce into homemade baby food and snacks.

A staggered reopening of schools this fall came with its own set of challenges. What we’ve seen from our member schools is that those that leaned the furthest into outdoor education have seen the most success—ie. engaged students, happy teachers, and creative lessons. Food Connects helped schools keep cooking on the menu through specific guidance; stepping into an otherwise empty space, our Cooking with Students during COVID-19 guidelines provided a framework for educators and administrators to confidently establish safe practices around their cooking lessons. And we’ve seen those cooking lessons flourish—whether it be pumpkin pancakes in Guilford, pizzas at Green Street, or fire-roasted sweet potatoes at Academy.

Cooking with students at Academy School.

At Academy School, garden coordinator Kathy Cassin took advantage of a warm fall and large school forest to cook with students. Not only did students cook roasted sweet potatoes in November but Kathy also prepared sweet potato cookies and hummus for students to try. Students at Academy School can expect to see even more outdoor cooking in 2021 thanks to the addition of multiple fire rings purchased through grant funding Food Connects helped secure. These new fire rings will enable more students to be cooking at the same time while also making it safer for students. 

Not only has cooking and nutrition education found a way to continue throughout 2020—but the garden and outdoor kitchen (firepit) have become some of the most popular places to be at school. Most importantly, the sounds of growing taste buds have returned—“I don’t usually like soup, but this is pretty good.”

Back to School During COVID-19

Leaves are starting to change and there’s a hint of fall in the air, and during this most unusual year, students are learning and growing in schools and homes throughout Windham County. One of the benefits of working as a Farm to School team coach is that we get to experience the many diverse colors and flavors of back to school throughout the region. Here are a few from schools and districts across the region.

At schools throughout the Windham Southeast School District (WSESD), teachers and students are spending more time than ever in school gardens as they learn to maximize their time outside and use school gardens as outdoor learning spaces. 

At Academy School, plans are being made to add a new pumpkin patch where students can grow pumpkins for the school’s annual pumpkin festival. Teachers are working together to see what’s possible in terms of building an onsite composting system as part of hands-on science for 6th grade, and Academy welcomes back Kathy Cassin for her second year in the role of Garden Coordinator. The gardens are looking great, and Food Connects’ summer garden coordinator Tara Gordon froze basil for fall cooking projects with students. The school is hoping to find funding this year to buy 2 or 3 mobile cooking carts to enable them to cook more with students.

Oak Grove School’s garden is bountiful this year with watermelons, tomatoes, acorn squash, Aronia berries, and kale. Normally the school community gathers together each October to celebrate the harvest with a community meal made by students using produce grown in the garden. Instead, this year teachers are getting creative and finding ways for students to enjoy the harvest during their in-person learning days throughout the fall. The first farm to school meeting of the year included conversations about the best recipes for kale chips and what to do with dehydrated tomatoes. Students will make signs for the garden to identify the variety of foods they’ve grown, and thanks to a grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield, garden coordinator Tara Gordon and pre-K teacher Jamie Champney plan to buy more kitchen equipment for the school’s cooking cart.

At Guilford Central School, Sarah Rosow, the Farm to School Coordinator, continues to work with students in the garden. She hopes to grow the garden and replace aging infrastructure—a grant was submitted for new raised beds and more supplies. The Guilford community is busy supporting the school by expanding the outdoor learning spaces. They are constructing two beautiful pole barns and work on their forest classrooms continues. 

Twin Valley Elementary School is wrapping up a School to Farm project with NOFA-VT in which they built connections with Boyd Family Farm in Wilmington. The project was interrupted this spring by COVID-19 and will continue this fall with farm-fresh taste tests for students and a virtual tour of the farm filmed by NOFA staff to share with the school community.

The newly formed Farm to School Team at Winston Prouty’s Early Learning Center is excited to use produce from their garden to make homemade baby food this fall to feed to their youngest students. The first recipes use mashed squash from their plentiful butternut squash crop. The students thoroughly enjoyed playing in the gourd house throughout the summer, which became more and more magical as the gourds grew above their heads!

At Riverside Middle School the Farm to School team worked with students to collect pumpkins from the nearby church garden. The garden club will put Greenies Garden to bed this month and plan for next year. The last funds from a Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets (VAAFM) Nutrition Grant were used to buy two Jora brand composters for the school. Cliff Weyer, the Design and Technology teacher, is working with his Community Engineering class to assemble both units.

In the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union (WNESU), a new commercial veggie peeler at the high school kitchen means the food service team can process more local produce and include it in lunches! Harley Sterling, the School Nutrition Director, recently processed a large batch of potatoes from Westminster Center School’s (WCS) garden. WSC built a chicken coop over the summer and a flock of chickens has now officially moved in! Now, in addition to a bountiful garden, students can collect fresh eggs for classroom cooking projects and share them with the nutrition program, Farm to School Cafe. 

At Newbrook Elementary School, the community harvested potatoes, squash, corn, and herbs from the garden. Some of the produce will go right into the school nutrition program while others will be saved for activities with students throughout the year. Teachers are getting ready for students to return to the classroom and thoughts have turned to the annual Farm and Field Day celebration. While it won’t look the same as in years past, there’s still hope that an adapted version can be held for the students to celebrate their school community.

Lessons Learned from Two Food Connects Learning Journeys

This past summer, Food Connects accompanied two Farm to School teams to the Northeast Farm to School Institute (NEFTSI) summer retreat. The retreat kicked off a year-long program where teams receive Farm to School program support and professional development as well as year-round coaching. Academy School from WSESD and a joint Grafton Elementary School and Westminster Center School team from WNESU spent three days at Shelburne Farms planning for the school year, learning more about Farm to School programming, and networking with other professionals from across New England and New York. 

As the rush of back to school started to slow down, Food Connects Farm to School coaches, Conor and Sheila, reconnected with their NEFTSI teams, excited to kick off the new school year with a strong Farm to School focus. Still energized by the summer retreat, both teams wanted to make sure they stayed connected with the larger Farm to School community while also working to improve the programs in their own schools. Luckily for everyone, southeastern Vermont and western Massachusetts are home to a number of leaders in the Farm to School movement. At Sheila’s suggestion, Food Connects helped to coordinate personalized learning journeys for both teams to visit two robust Farm to School programs in the area. 

---

Hawlemont Regional School

Hawlemont is a public pre-K through 6th-grade school in the rural community of Charlemont, MA. Hawlemont was struggling to stay open after school choice resulted in declining enrollment.  In an effort to save the school, staff and local community members decided to reinvent the school with a “farm-flavored approach to learning.” The HAY (Hawlemont, Agriculture, and YOU) program is now in its fifth year, and during that time the school has doubled its enrollment and now has a waiting list.

Hawlemont received grant funding and leveraged community support to build their program, using grant funds and donated supplies and labor to build a greenhouse, barn, and garden beds, and teachers worked together to create an integrated farm and food curriculum. The result is a complete reimagining of the school, featuring successful collaborations with local farmers and community members where Hawlemont students engage in hands-on learning as they care for animals, nurture gardens, and develop new skills in a real farm setting.

Hawlemont added a new staff position, HAY teacher, and all students have HAY class each week for 30-45 minutes, just like music, art, and PE classes. Each class has daily barn chores and learns cooking, canning, and preserving, as well as beekeeping and running a weekly in-school farmers market where produce from the school garden and value-added products like pesto, canned tomatoes, salsa, jelly, and freshly baked pies all made by students are sold to parents and the community.

Hawlemont is working hard to get more local food into its independently run lunch program. In addition to purchasing from local farms, when budgetary constraints allow, all of the jelly used for PB & J’s for the entire school year comes from jelly students in the HAY program make from either grapes grown on the school property or from fruit picked by students from local farms.

Guilford Central School

For years, Guilford has worked hard at building its Farm to School program and they have been a partner of Food Connects since 2014. In her second year, Sarah Rosow is the school’s Farm to School Coordinator. As both teams saw during their visits, Farm to School programming is strongest when there is a consistent collaboration between a dedicated coordinator and a team of champions from throughout the school. At Guilford, Sarah works with all the teachers to find time to incorporate Farm to School lessons into their existing curriculum as well as additional enrichment activities. She works with Dan, the school’s food service director, to integrate taste tests and Harvest of the Month items into the menu. Through this collaboration, Sarah is able to stay focused on Farm to School and keep projects moving forward, while the team of faculty and staff ensure that there remains a strong culture of Farm to School throughout the building.

So what does Farm to School at Guilford look like for the students? Getting dirty in the gardens, cooking up delicious Harvest of the Month recipes in the Farm to School room, and working in their classrooms to design and make market-ready products for the school gardens. From pre-K all the way to the 6th grade, students engage in Farm to School through classroom learning and extension activities. 

Farm to School also reaches the cafeteria, where Chef Dan is an active member on the Farm to School team and works with Food Connects to increase local purchasing and track trends over time. This past Thanksgiving, Dan put on a feast for the entire community that highlighted many local items. Now, he’s working with Sarah to highlight many of the dishes students make in the Farm to School classroom by incorporating them into his lunch menus. 

The Guilford Farm to School program made a particularly large splash this past month when they hosted their inaugural Holiday Market, where local vendors joined students in selling different crafts. Of the money made by each classroom by selling their items, half is being donated to a charity of their choosing and the other half is going to be reinvested in Farm to School programming for the students. 

---

After two inspiring days of learning and sharing, there were definitely some themes the teams walked away with when thinking about program longevity and sustainability. In both schools, there was a balance between team collaboration and a main coordinator. Oftentimes, Farm to School programs grow their roots in a school thanks to the devoted efforts of a single champion. While that helps keep the momentum going, it’s important to quickly build a diverse team of support. Otherwise, when that champion leaves or becomes too busy themselves, all the work they did can get lost in the shuffle. 

The community support both schools have is also one of their greatest strengths. In Hawlemont, community members rallied to save their school, build a barn, and help care for the animals. Guilford partners with local farmers to source beef for lunches, handle their food scraps, and support events like the Holiday Market. In addition to gathering a diverse team of school staff, another first step for a fledgling Farm to School program should be to think about what makes their community special and ways to involve community members as much as possible. 

Lastly, both programs are actively involved in parenting their financial sustainability. Grants and fundraising are inevitably a big part of Farm to School. Having dedicated coordinators to work on larger projects and support from organizations like Food Connects goes a long way in supplementing school budgets. Each program has its own needs, but having a variety of funding sources for staff and materials is key in creating robust programs that carry on for years.

Cafeterias Unknown: Thanksgiving Extravaganza

November is a time when Farm to School comes alive in the cafeteria. As the Vermont growing season comes to an end and excitement grows for Thanksgiving break, school nutrition staff across the state are hard at work preparing feasts for hundreds. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and roasted veggies fill students’ trays as each school celebrates the holiday in their own unique way. I was able to visit a few schools, lend a hand in the preparations, and enjoy some delicious food. Did I mention, Thanksgiving is also my favorite meal of the year? 

Guilford

Chef Dan serving up stuffing and mashed potatoes.

Guilford Central School hosts a Thanksgiving lunch for staff, students, and parents and this year over half the dishes being served were local—the turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and apple crisp to be exact. Pulling into the parking lot, it was clear that word of the menu had gotten out and I ended up having to park on the street!

After trekking across the parking lot, I made my way through packed hallways to find Chef Dan in the kitchen. Kindergarten through third grade had just finished up and he was getting ready for the second wave of hungry customers. I washed my hands, put on some gloves, and jumped in the buffet line. The staff volunteers and I served up heaping plates of food to grateful students and their teachers and parents until the tables were packed full. 

After the rush, it was time for me to load up a plate for myself and revel in the delicious food. The sweet potatoes in particular were a highlight—perfectly cooked and accompanied by a medley of spices that brought the dish to another level. Kudos to Chef Dan for pulling off an amazing meal, I’ll definitely be back next year! 

Full house in the Guilford Central School cafeteria during their Thanksgiving lunch.

Westminster

At Westminster, their community meal diverts from the traditional Thanksgiving dishes, and instead keeps the spotlight on local. I arrived the day before to see what work went into hosting the community. Student ownership is what it’s all about at WCS and at around 1pm, the whole school gathered in the gym to break into their respective “longboats” (the school mascot is a Viking). From there, students set off on their tasks. Some groups were prepping the silverware, while others were decorating the rows of tables laid out in the gym. I followed a large group to the cafeteria, where 40 students equipped with peelers, knives, and cutting boards would be prepping produce for the meal.

Students washed, peeled, and chopped the produce themselves (with adult supervision!)

Local carrots and potatoes and onions grown in the school garden before being prepped by the students.

With food from the school garden and local farms spread across the tables, students in the cafeteria broke up into stations. Three groups peeled and washed potatoes, others chopped carrots, while the last two groups were tasked with dicing onions—four quarts of diced onions later, there was a fair share of onion-induced tears. To say the cafeteria was calm would be a lie, but a teacher-led each group of students and modeled safe knife skills. The whole room remained in a state of controlled chaos while students engaged in real work and helped the school’s nutrition staff prepare for the upcoming feast. 

At the end of the hour, everyone was able to admire their handiwork. Cheese plates ready for eating and the veggies prepared for Melissa—WSC’s site nutrition manager—to transform into delicious chowder. The following day, students would be able to invite their families and friends into the school to share a meal they truly had a part in creating.

Cheese plates arranged for the next day’s big event.

Does your school have a community feast, holiday meal, or local day that you’d like to celebrate? I’d love to highlight your traditions in our newsletter—email me at conor@foodconnects.org!

By Conor Floyd

Taste Tests: From Garden to Classroom to Cafeteria

Taste tests are an integral part of Farm to School programming and an easy way for newer schools to jump into FTS while making some “3 C’s” connections (classroom, cafeteria, and community). Guilford Central School has been at it for a while and their FTS Coordinator, Sarah Rosow, works with each grade to make dishes for the rest of the school to sample. Back in October—before there was 2 feet of snow on the ground—I joined Sarah and a group of fourth-graders to harvest some kale for their monthly taste test. 

Sarah and two fourth graders cleaning a bed in preparation for winter.

I met the group in front of the school in their vegetable garden. As it was nearing the end of the season, many of the beds were cleared out. But there was still plenty of kale and this was one of the last harvests of the season. Students collected bunches of curly and dinosaur kale that all went into the salad spinner. Back in the classroom, some students washed the kale while others prepped the other ingredients that would go into the pesto recipe. Guilford is lucky to have a Farm to School classroom (a repurposed science classroom) that gives students more space to work and store their projects, making the preparation of the taste tests a bit easier. But, all that is really needed is a clear working surface and some kitchen utensils for students. 

The Farm to School classroom at Guilford Central School.

The finished product before mixing with pasta for the taste tests.

During the taste test preparations, students were not only learning about growing vegetables but also building culinary skills as they read the recipe and washed and chopped the ingredients. The last step was to combine everything in a food processor and taste the end product themselves before bringing samples to each of the school’s classrooms.  

Ideally—once all the students get a chance to taste the pesto—the next step is to coordinate with the school kitchen to get the new item on the menu. That way, students will already be familiar with the dish and there will be excitement stemming from the student involvement. 

Interested in starting taste tests in your school? Check out these resources to get started:

Food Connects HOM page- links to both VT and NH HOM materials

VT HOM Facebook page

HOM Calendars (contact Conor for a copy)

By Conor Floyd

Reflection: Summer 2019 Garden Program

Green Street School Garden Coordinator, Tara Gordon, spent her summer working for Food Connects to care for school gardens at 5 area elementary schools in the towns of Brattleboro, Guilford, and Vernon. This summer garden program was made possible in part thanks to a grant from Rise Vermont. Here are a few highlights from Tara’s summer in the gardens:

Teachers from Academy School met with Tara in the spring to orient her to the garden and show her some of the crops they were growing. This included popcorn seedlings donated by Wild Carrot Farm that needed to be hand-pollinated. Throughout the summer, Tara connected with families on the playground while she was working in the garden. School staff helped with watering and harvesting. Funding for school gardens and the supplies needed can be difficult, but Tara reached out to the Brattleboro community and they did not disappoint. She was able to get a bale of straw donated for mulching, needed to combat the weeds and help the garden flourish. Teachers and students are looking forward to harvesting from their beautifully tended garden this fall!

Green Street School had families and neighbors who helped in the garden throughout the summer. The harvest was bountiful over the summer and extra produce was shared with school staff and neighbors. Tara was able to process and save some produce for school year classroom activities as well. Green Street has an ongoing relationship with Yalla Vermont growing and harvesting cilantro, parsley, and calendula for the Yalla kitchen. Because of Tara’s and the Green Street School community’s work this project continued throughout the summer. Tara also tended heirloom peas as part of a project in collaboration with the Brattleboro Words Project. These peas are an early variety which was grown in Brattleboro in the late 1700’s, and seeds from this year’s harvest will be available next year through a seed saving project in collaboration with Brooks Memorial Library!

Guilford Central School has well-established gardens and a great core group of active families who came to the garden throughout the summer to garden and harvest with Tara. Surplus produce from the school garden was brought to the Guilford General Store a couple of times and the school garden was highlighted on the General Store’s menu! Guilford Central School’s Farm to School Coordinator, Sarah Rosow, was a great partner for Tara, with many garden systems already in place, including a well organized tool shed and a clear plan for summer planting.  In addition to her work in the garden, Tara was also able to process some calendula and basil for Sarah to use this fall with her students.

Oak Grove School invited Tara to work in the garden with some classes in the spring to seed and plant, and learn about weeds. The Brattleboro Town School District summer school was based at Oak Grove this year, which allowed Tara to work with students and teachers regularly in the summer. Neighbors also showed support for the garden—in particular, a nice neighbor just across the street donated a bale of hay for mulch. The bulk of the food grown in Oak Grove’s garden will be harvested by students this fall and each class will cook a dish for the annual harvest dinner in October.

At Vernon Elementary School, the river bed soil is very rich and the plants flourished. The primary goal for the garden in Vernon this year was to provide families a space to grow and harvest over the summer, and crops were planted with summer harvesting in mind. Several families worked with Tara throughout the summer, and extra produce was brought to the Vernon pool to share with the community. Next year, this group hopes to have a Vernon School Garden Booth at their 4th of July town festival.

Community building was an essential of Tara’s work this summer. Tara created Facebook groups for each school garden as a tool to reach parents during the summer, and she made colorful flyers to spread the word about her weekly school garden parties.  She also made connections with Edible Brattleboro, a local college student, and several high school students who used community service hours to help her tend these gardens. Many hands made the work a little lighter!

It was incredibly helpful to the schools to have someone care for their gardens and build community in the gardens over the summer, and Food Connects is pleased that we were able to offer this program for the third year in a row. Many thanks to Tara for her hard work tending gardens and building summer garden communities at each school, and a big thank you to Rise Vermont for helping to fund this important and valuable work!

Photos By: Tara Gordon