In March 2014, the Chatham-Kent Student Nutrition Program started the Farm to School Nutrition pilot program.
This was the first Farm to School program offered in Chatham-Kent. This program provided local fruits and vegetables to 8 schools. Partners for this program are the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit and the Victoria Order of Nurses in Windsor-Essex.
The Farm to School Program partnered with 8 local farmers to provide fruits and vegetables for the participating schools. Also, the Southwestern Ontario Gleaners provided dehydrated fruit and vegetables for the menu.
The Farm to School program ran until June 6th, 2014.
From the feedback received, we decided to expand this program. This second phase includes 8 more schools from Chatham-Kent. The program will reach 3,600 students who can enjoy local fruits and vegetables every day for 16 weeks. This year’s partners include those that participated last year (farmers, Southwestern Ontario Gleaners), our distributor Evans Wholesale, and 2 new farms. We are thankful for the support of our partners.
Local Fruits and vegetables are a key part of all Student Nutrition Programs.
The next phase of the Farm to School Program started February 9th 2015. It will run until June 5th 2015. With grant funds we are able to purchase fruit and vegetables from farmers at a fair market price. Schools do not have to pay for the delivery of fruits and vegetables each week. Menu choices will include local products such as: apples, peppers, carrots, mini cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, dehydrated squash and dehydrated apple chips.
“Consumption of fruits and vegetables here in Chatham-Kent is low and this is one way to encourage our youth towards healthier eating today for a healthier future,” said Elaine Lewis, Chatham-Kent Student Nutrition program coordinator.
The benefits of Student Nutrition Programs are to:
– Provide healthy meals and snacks in schools
– Provide opportunities to teach about health
– Help students develop healthy eating habits
The benefits of the Farm to School Program are to:
– Provide students with the opportunity to learn about local food production
– Highlight the value of having local product available within their community
“Farm to School programs supports better relationships between local farmers and youth. This relationship encourages life-long healthy eating habits and supports local economies,” said Jillian McCallum, food and logistics coordinator for the Ontario Student Nutrition Program.
The economic benefit of schools buying local food is huge.
It is estimated that if every house in Ontario spent $10 a week on local food then we would add $2.4 billion to Ontario’s economy and 10,000 jobs.
The Chatham-Kent Student Nutrition Program provides healthy meals and snacks to 50 schools and 6,200 students.
