Transcript Farm to School Pilot Project in Two School Districts in San Mateo County, California Robin Galas Family Engagement Institute Jennifer Gross San Mateo County Health System.

Farm to School Pilot Project in Two
School Districts in San Mateo
County, California
Robin Galas
Family Engagement Institute
Jennifer Gross
San Mateo County Health System
Presenter Disclosures
Jennifer Gross and Robin Galas
The following personal financial
relationships with commercial
interests relevant to this presentation
existed during the past 12 months:
“No relationships to disclose”
Where is San Mateo County, CA?
What is the purpose of the San Mateo
County Food System Alliance?
Who participates in
this collaborative?
What are our broad goals?
EQUAL access to healthy, affordable, local food
Farmland PRESERVED for future generations
FAIRLY compensated producers
Specific Goals & Projects
1. Promote school gardens (e.g. Annual Recognition Program)
2. Connect farmers to institutional buyers (e.g. farm to school
pilot project and feasibility study to determine economic
viability of selling county grown produce to institutions)
3. Increase access to land
4. Food System Assessment Report
Objectives of Farm to School Pilot Project
1.
2.
3.
4.
Increase students’ consumption of fresh fruit &
vegetables
Find new local markets for growers
Stimulate economy through “multiplier effect”
Help students appreciate where food comes from
Five Step Process
1. Identified 2 school districts (considered location, diverse student
body, kitchen type, >50% free/reduced lunch participation, and interest)
2. Conducted produce analysis (reviewed previous year’s invoices for
items, quantities, and cost)
3. Met with growers and food service directors
4. Selected Harvest of the Month; feasible for growers and schools
5. Developed evaluation plan
Accomplishments
CAFF supplied FREE Harvest of
the Month boxes for 84
classes from Feb.- May
CAFF bought >$2K of strawberries
from Swanton Berry Farms for 554
classrooms in 5 Bay area counties.
Reached 19,000 students.
Jacobs Farm supplied
strawberries to summer lunch
programs in two pilot school
districts strawberries AND
began dialogue to contract
grow
Challenges
-Identifying the “right” product
• Appealing to students
• Schools: lack infrastructure and
staff to process produce,
unaccustomed to buying
seasonally, and some can’t
purchase “out of contract”
-Distribution
• Small growers lack infrastructure
for distribution and processing
• Mid-sized growers can distribute
but small volumes don’t make it
profitable
-Lack of stakeholder involvement
Lessons Learned
-Patience! These programs
take time.
-Start small (e.g. Harvest of
the Month)
-Build relationships with
key stakeholders EARLY!
-Engage families
Next Steps
- Health Department funded CAFF to supply 50 classrooms in 5
low income schools with HOTM after grant. One county grower
will supply cabbage.
-Complete feasibility study to help schools/other institutions buy
from single aggregator rather than multiple growers
-CAFF will conduct a “farm to school challenge”
- Pursuing additional funding for farm to school efforts
- Sharing HOTM & farm to school info with parent groups
- Screening the film, Cafeteria Man, with stakeholders to generate
excitement
Thank you!
• We are grateful to our partners:
– Diana Abellera, Farm to School Director, Community Alliance with Family
Farmers
– Karen Luna, General Manager-On Site Food Service Solutions,
Ravenswood City Elementary School District
– Anna Lague, General Manager Sodexo, Redwood City Elementary School
District
– Jim Cochran and James Kennedy, Swanton Berry Farms
– Larry and Sandy Jacobs, Brendan Miele, and Emily Freed, Jacobs Farm
– Wendy Weiden, Consultant
– Scott Morrow, Health Officer, San Mateo County Health System
• “Like” the San Mateo County Food System Alliance and the Get Healthy San
Mateo County Facebook pages to follow our progress
• Contact Robin Galas, [email protected] or Jennifer Gross at
[email protected]
• Visit www.sanmateocofsa.org, www.gethealthysmc.org, www.caff.org, and
www.cafarmtoschool.org