We 💗 Our Schools!
Who Feeds Our Kids
The Dish: Universal Meals
Rooting Out Racism
Supporting Local Schools
The Dish: Universal Meals
The Dish is our newest series of Op-Ed pieces.
As I rode buses throughout Windham County last spring—lending a hand to school staff and volunteers distributing meals to students—the landscape that rolled by the bus windows felt unfamiliar. The pandemic forced a new perspective upon me as a fragility in our community became exposed, one that had always existed, hidden behind closed front doors and down rutted dirt roads.
COVID-19 may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, but we were already carrying a heavy load. With a near tripling in the number of Vermonters experiencing food insecurity, it’s clear that our community had preexisting conditions. The urgency is heightened when you focus on Vermont’s youngest; children in our state consistently experience higher food insecurity levels than the general population. One specific response to these startling facts is the ever-growing call for universal school meals.
Universal Meals is a shift in how we feed our children in schools and is being called for on the state and federal levels. Nationwide, the School Nutrition Association (SNA), the organization representing school nutrition professionals, calls for Universal Meals for the first time in their history. In Vermont, Hunger Free VT, an education and advocacy organization, has led the charge by promoting a Universal Meals bill in the State House. The proposed legislation would make breakfast and lunch available to every student, free of charge for the student and their family. Instead, the program would be paid for through a combination of federal and state reimbursements, with the remaining cost coming from the state’s Education Fund. Education spending is complicated, and there are many more details to dig into. Still, the two things that stand out for me are that: the new program would maximize the federal reimbursements we bring into the state, and it would bring school meals funding in line with the vast majority of school spending.
Widespread hunger doesn’t need to exist in our communities, especially for children. We’ve already done most of the hard work, the infrastructure to feed our communities exists—we have commercial kitchens, trained and dedicated chefs, and rural transportation figured out. I’m talking, of course, about schools—strip away the familiar language of the cafeteria, the lunch lady, and the school bus and we suddenly have a radical idea. Schools already provide childcare, education, and extracurricular activities to any Vermont child, regardless of income or need. Why not nutritious food too? Universal public education has become such a fundamental part of American society that it’s now taken for granted.
Yet, our imaginations seem to fail us when asked if every student should also have the right to nutritious and filling meals without relying on parents to complete forms or jump through bureaucratic hoops. Instead, a complex web of programs feeds some students while leaving others behind, operating behind an opaque bureaucratic curtain, confusing for most adults and impossible to explain to the children it most affects. As a result, the thing students most need to thrive in life—nutritious food—is also the only thing to which they lack universal access. Why are we unable to take this comparatively small step?
Some universal meals opponents argue that it ends up being a subsidy for well-off families because the poor already qualify for free meals. Ignoring the fact that you don’t hear this argument when discussing any other aspect of school life, you’re also leaving a substantial number of food-insecure students behind by following this approach. According to Hunger Free VT, 42% of food-insecure students are ineligible for federal and state nutrition programs. This gap of students who need support that they aren’t receiving shows that our traditional approaches aren’t working.
The bottom line is, the more hurdles you put in place for students accessing free meals, the more students that fall through the cracks. When it comes to feeding our community’s children, I’d instead run the “risk” of feeding too many—rather than too few.
Now is our opportunity to make this decades-long campaign a reality. COVID-19 has forced open the minds of many, and things once unthinkable are now possible. We need the community to collectively affirm that nutrition is a fundamental human right and our students deserve better than the status quo. I’m asking you to join the campaign as an advocate; it’s not as difficult as you may think. Show your support via Hunger Free VT’s website (universalschoolmealsvt.org/supporter-cards) or tell your school administrator or local representative that universal school meals are a priority. It’ll require a groundswell of support to ensure that our renewed sense of what’s possible isn’t left behind.
- Conor Floyd, Farm to School Program Manager
Rooting Out Racism Reflections
In mid-January, our Farm to School team participated in a week-long workshop titled Rooting Out Racism, which focused on racism in the food system. Service to Justice led the workshop, and about 50 other food system workers (many from Vermont) participated. Organized by the Vermont Farm to School Network and the Farm-Based Education Network, Rooting Out Racism went beyond anti-bias training by challenging participants to examine their behaviors, mindsets, and actions. The work also went beyond the individual as we began to craft strategies for creating change in our organizations, networks, and teams.
The question that most stuck with us during and after the workshop was:
The pandemic has taught us that we can change systems immediately if we think the problem is big enough. Is the problem of structural racism big enough?
With the excuse of “the problem is just too big” thrown out the window, Rooting Out Racism helped us approach these issues with a renewed sense of what’s possible in mind.
We are still digesting everything that we learned, reflecting on how we can use this information to help our school-based Farm to School teams engage with food and racial justice in their organizations while also thinking internally about the next steps for Food Connects.
To begin, a few of our key takeaways were:
History: It is vital to understand the history of racism, sexism, and classism in our country and to see the ways that these different types of oppression intersect. The workshop reminded us of the importance of reevaluating the history lessons taught in our schools, especially those about the food system or the pastoral state identity adopted by many Vermonters. The history that we learn as young people creates our shared identities, shapes our perception of the past, and sets a marker of common ground for emerging conversations. It’s also fertile ground for reshaping how our local schools begin to address racial justice.
White Supremacy Culture: The workshop highlighted The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture, and they have been cropping up in our work beyond the training. It’s easy to see slivers of each in our work. We are actively thinking about how we can be more aware of our cultural inclinations towards things like perfectionism and paternalism. We strive to develop a culture of appreciation and transparency, including involving people who are affected by decisions in the decision-making.
Creativity and Imagination: This workshop encouraged us to explore the power of creativity as a tool for reimagining the future and healing from the past. Notably, the workshop facilitators encouraged us to suspend all of our “why nots” when dreaming. This new mindset turned out to be a powerful approach, and there’s beauty in its simplicity. We look forward to bringing more creativity to our work as a powerful tool for change.
Reparations and Revesting Power: We began discussions with our colleagues of two powerful recommendations from BIPOC land and food justice leaders—give land back to indigenous and black communities and honor that frontline communities know what they need for liberation. We were grateful for the opportunity to begin thinking about what reparations might look like within our organizations, and we want to spend more time thinking about this. We’re also encouraged by the growing calls to re-center conversations around those most affected, whether that be when talking about charitable food or school-based programs. We see the emphasis on community collaborations fundamental to Farm to School programs as a natural jumping-off point for more meaningful partnerships with community members.
There’s still much more for us to unpack as a team, and we’re excited to bring these new understandings back to our teams. By championing food justice through Farm to School, we believe that programs will become more inclusive, more representative, and a crucial part of every school’s curriculum and community culture.
Who Feeds Our Kids: Jazzy Star Nightingale
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!
Jasmine Star Nightingale
“I’m lucky to have a very supportive family. They praise me every day and say thank you for what I’m doing, and that’s really good.”
Jasmine Star Nightingale, a.k.a. Jazzy, has worked in school food service in Brattleboro for over 5 years. She started in the kitchen at Oak Grove School and later switched to Academy School, where she was the lead cook prior to the pandemic. We sat down with her to hear more about how her work and life have changed over the past year. In this interview, she spoke about the fact that she was no longer cooking due to staffing changes, and she really missed it. Since we spoke, Jazzy is now back to cooking and she is currently cooking for 4 public and 6 private schools out of the central kitchen at Academy School. She does an amazing amount of work, sometimes cooking 4-5 different meals at once for over 500 students daily!
Sheila Humphreys (SH): How has your work changed due to COVID-19?
Jazzy Star Nightingale (JSN): I'm no longer cooking, which has its ups and downs. I'm working with new people, which I actually really enjoy. I love getting to know everybody, and they're all so wonderful, so that's really good. I’m not seeing kids, and that's terrible. That's the worst thing.
SH: Tell me more about your switch away from cooking.
JSN: One of my new co-workers, Danny, the chef from Guilford Central School, is cooking for all the schools right now from our central kitchen and I'm part of a team that is portioning and packaging. It’s a good switch, but I also love to cook.
SH: I heard about your tomato sauce that you were making before the pandemic. You started making tomato sauce from scratch for the pizzas on Fridays, right?
JSN: Yeah, that was really good.
SH: What are some of your favorite things to cook?
JSN: Mac and cheese, the kids love that, and tacos, that's fun! And pasta with meat sauce. That's easy, but it was so good. And tomato soup, I love making tomato soup.
SH: You make all that from scratch?
JSN: Yes, I do!
SH: What has kept you going during these unusual times?
JSN: Just knowing that I'm making a difference, and helping people that are in need. I’m lucky to have a very supportive family. They praise me every day and say thank you for what I’m doing, and that's really good.
SH: Do you have children at home?
JSN: I do! I have a one-year-old daughter.
SH: How are you managing with child care while you are at work?
JSN: Luckily, her grandmother is watching her. We’re so lucky for that.
SH: What has been your biggest challenge during this time?
JSN: My biggest challenge is not seeing the children. It is very painful. They're all just wonderful kids and just seeing them every day smiling...I miss that!
SH: How can the community support you and other food service workers during this time?
JSN: Just being recognized for our work is good, and our volunteers are so amazing. We're so lucky to have a lot of help from teachers, paraeducators, and everybody in the community.
SH: What advice would you give to someone who is interested in this career?
JSN: You have to be on your toes! You really do. Every day is different. There are new challenges that come with each situation, so just be prepared.
SH: You started this job when you were pretty young, right?
JSN: Yes, I was eighteen when I started part-time.
SH: And it has suited you?
JSN: Apparently, yes! I didn't think that I would be cooking now, but I'm really glad that I got the opportunity. It was a split-second decision that I decided to try it, and now I really enjoy it!
SH: Did you do the culinary arts program at WRCC when you were in high school?
JSN: No, I discovered cooking after high school.
SH: What brings you joy?
JSN: My family and my daughter and knowing that I'm helping people and that they appreciate it and they need it.
SH: What are some things that you are grateful for?
JSN: My family, my daughter, same answer! I'm just glad that I can be here and be helpful.
January 2021 Farm To School Connection
What’s Been Cooking in 2020?
Who Feeds Our Kids: Ariane Lavoie
Keeping Our Community Fed
Everyone Eats! Delivered to Schools
Coronavirus Relief Funding Helps Schools Pivot
Academy School Takes Its Learning Outdoors
Who Feeds Our Kids: Ariane Lavoie
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!
Ariane Lavoie
Ariane Lavoie is a food service professional at Putney Central School, where she has worked for the past three years. We chatted with her in the late spring of 2020 about the pandemic and how it had affected her life and work.
Sheila Humphreys (SH): How has your work changed due to COVID-19?
Ariane Lavoie (AL): Less kids, more packaging! We work less hours because we don't have to clean up after lunch and do all the dishes and stuff like that, but I start work a little earlier. It's a little less hours, but not too different.
SH: What has kept you going during these unusual times?
“We do it so the kids have something to eat. And we all feel an obligation to just do whatever we can to keep the community going.”
AL: I really do it for the kids. We do it so the kids have something to eat. And we all feel an obligation to just do whatever we can to keep the community going.
SH: Do you have children at home?
AL: I do. I have an eight-year-old and an 18-year-old stepdaughter.
SH: How are you managing with child care?
AL: We're lucky because my husband is working from home. He's been doing the morning shift with the kids, and then I come home at lunchtime and I help my daughter with schoolwork.
SH: What has been your biggest challenge during this time?
AL: My biggest challenge is not letting anxiety take over. At work, it seems like we're just making food and everything's okay, it’s normal. But it sort of takes a toll on all of us. Even if we don’t necessarily feel it all the time, you know, like “oh, my gosh, I'm so stressed right now,” but it’s just there all the time. Managing that anxiety is the biggest challenge, but once again, I think we're really lucky to be able to work with other people and see each other at work every day and have this sense of community and be social more than if we were all stuck in our houses working remotely.
SH: How can the community support you and other food service workers during this time?
AL: The community in general recognizes and appreciates what we've been doing, which is amazing. We're in a public school setting where we need to check every penny and try to keep everything cheap. We're doing a good job here making food from scratch, and it's more expensive. If the government could just see that scratch cooking is the right way of doing things that would be helpful.
SH: What advice would you give to someone who is interested in this career?
AL: First, good choice. You're gonna love it! Get ready to be a hard worker, it’s hard work working in any kitchen I think. But it's fun and rewarding and we have great working conditions at this school. If there's a snowstorm, I'm there with my daughter, I don't need to go to work or take the day off or anything like that. So it's a wonderful job. I would encourage anybody to come and work in the kitchen with me!
SH: What brings you joy?
AL: So many things bring me joy. First of all, we live in Vermont, so just look outside and you will find joy. Music brings me joy, flowers and gardening bring me joy, food brings me joy! My dog and my family bring me joy.
SH: What are some things that you are grateful for?
AL: This glorious day that we have today, and my health. I practice gratitude every day, so I could go on for ½ an hour with what I’m grateful for! I’m grateful for these guys that I work with and that we get along and we’re not at each other’s throats since this started. I’m grateful for Vermont because there couldn’t be a better place to live during this crisis. I’m grateful for my house and my family.
SH: Final thoughts?
AH: We’re doing what we’re doing and we’re going to keep doing it!
Coronavirus Relief Funding Helps Schools Pivot
2020 was the year of quick pivots and short deadlines. This was especially true for school nutrition programs that went from self-serve salad bars, to home delivery using district busses, to “unitized” (individual) meals for physically-distanced students in classrooms. This task hasn’t been easy, nor has it been cheap. School nutrition programs have needed new equipment, more storage capacity, and much more packaging.
Most schools in our region have started using Oliver trays (a “fully integrated meal packaging system”) to streamline an otherwise very tedious process. WNESU recently received an automated sealer, further speeding up the process of packaging the hundreds of meals that leave their kitchen daily.
Thanks to the CARES Act funding provided by Congress back in March, funds were made available to states to support the costs associated with making big programmatic changes. Food Connects worked closely with Ali West (Brattleboro Regional Food Service Director, Fresh Picks Cafe) to identify the needs of all the schools in the Windham Southeast School District and apply for the funding.
In the central kitchens at Academy School and Brattleboro Union High School, the school nutrition programs were able to add additional refrigeration capacity. This will give them more flexibility when ordering fresh produce, as well as when making and storing bulk meals. Putney Central School’s nutrition program used the funding to purchase a mini-van to distribute meals. Transportation is another new bottleneck in programs’ operations. Having a dedicated vehicle for delivering meals to distribution sites and for transporting supplies will help ensure meals can get out on time.
In Guilford, new mobile waste sorting stations will make classroom meals a little more manageable while still making it easy for students to recycle and compost their leftovers. They also used some reimbursement funds to help pay for the new outdoor gear that was purchased for students and the materials used in building their outdoor learning structures. Lastly, Academy School is expanding its capacity to cook outdoors with students by installing fire pits around the campus.
Each of these purchases goes a little way in helping schools operate during these difficult times. Here at Food Connects, we’re excited to see the new equipment put to good use in 2021 as we continue to support the evolving needs of schools.
Everyone Eats! Delivered to Schools
Five months ago, Everyone Eats! Brattleboro, a program that pays restaurants to make meals for those in the community negatively impacted by the pandemic, first piloted in Brattleboro. The program has had such a large impact on the entire Vermont community, it will continue into 2021 through a combination of federal, state, and philanthropic funding. In addition to distribution at the 80 Flat St location, organizations get meals out to the community via their networks. The Farm to School team helped by ensuring teachers at all of the Windham Southeast School District, WSESD, schools got a chance to try the meals and learn more about the program. Not only was it another way for meals funded by the CARES Act to get into the community but it brought a welcome break to busy teachers who could skip a night of cooking.
While passing out the meals, our team was reminded once again of the importance food plays in our sense of community. The joy that comes from shared food, even in physically distanced circumstances, is near-universal and a source of strength for many. We were grateful to have the opportunity to be the last leg of a long chain of community members working to make this program possible. Starting with our local farmers (meals contained, on average, over 25% local ingredients), Mama Sezz then managed all of the pick-up logistics and dedicated volunteers who made distribution a weekly part of their lives were the backbone of the operation. Everyone Eats! has brought hundreds of new people into the world of charitable food and created new connections within the community. We’re excited to bring these new connections and perspectives with us as we continue to strengthen our local food system.
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.”
December 2020 Farm To School Connection
WNESU Feeds Families During Thanksgiving
Farming While Black
Students Get a “Sweet” Taste Test
Bon Appetit! Cooking at Green Street School