Manchester school board members are expected to hear details of a Farm to School project proposal to operate in several city schools over a two-year period.
Jameson Small, Fresh Start Farms Program Director with the Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success (ORIS) reports that after two years of planning, curriculum development and partnership building -- along a combination of federal and private funding -- ORIS is ready to collaborate with the Manchester School District to launch a local food program.
As proposed, the ‘Farm Fresh Fridays’ program would involve several schools, including Beech and Parker-Varney elementary schools and Southside Middle School -- where a high proportion of children are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches.
“The project, in short, will have students help farmers and community gardeners start vegetables that will be grown, harvested and processed into pizzas that the students will enjoy when they return after summer break,” writes Mukhtar Idhow Executive Director of ORIS, in a memo to school board members.
The program would run from July 2021 to June 2023.
Consistent with the Farm to School program, the project will improve access to local foods in selected Manchester public schools through farm-to-school programming, including local food procurement and agricultural education activities. Local farmers, processors, and community organizations will collaborate with students, teachers, and food service staff to bring more locally produced food into schools.
“As the program develops over the next two years, additional schools and funding to support their participation will become available to support this vital work for years to come,” writes Idhow.
According to "The Benefits of Farm to School," a report issued in May 2020 by the National Farm to School Network, childhood poverty in Manchester is 21.4% and youth obesity is 10.3%. Farm to School projects in the U.S. result in an increase in consumption of +0.99 to +1.3 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
The Manchester school district spends less than 1% of their school nutrition budget on local food. According to the report, Farm to School projects in the U.S. result in a lowering of school meal program costs and average increase in meal participation of 9% (the number ranges from 3% to 16%).
Every $1 spent on local foods generate $0.60-$2.16 in economic activity, the report said.
The NH Farm to School (NHFTS) Program was established in 2003 as a pilot program to introduce local apples and cider into NH K-12 schools.
In 2006, NHFTS initiated a new pilot program -- the Get Smart Eat Local 10 District Project -- to work with school districts and a wholesale farm in the seacoast region of the state to introduce new local foods in the schools. Since that time, NHFTS has been working to establish new farm-to-school connections with growers and schools in other parts of the state.
The school board’s Teaching and Learning Committee will take up the proposal when it meets Tuesday at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
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