Farm to School Program
Our school received a $15,000 grant from the Vermont Department of Agriculture in 2013 to establish a sustainable farm to school program. With those funds we hired a part time farm to school coordinator, organized the whole school into planting gardens, harvested produce, and prepared food with children. We also visited, local farms, included more local foods in our cafeteria and broadcasted our achievements to the community. The school board supported continued farm to school leadership in the years following. Because of the farm to school program, our children are gaining a better understanding of where their food comes from while enjoying the experiences of growing and preparing healthy food. Our multi-faceted farm to school journey is chronicled on this website.
MESSAGE from Farm-to-School Coordinator TO TEACHERS
LINK TO VIDEO of the staff leaders attending Farm to School Training at Shelburne Farms in 2013. All seven staff members remain engaged in promoting health and learning through the farm to school program - although some are in slightly different teaching roles.
MESSAGE from Farm-to-School Coordinator TO TEACHERS
LINK TO VIDEO of the staff leaders attending Farm to School Training at Shelburne Farms in 2013. All seven staff members remain engaged in promoting health and learning through the farm to school program - although some are in slightly different teaching roles.
Planting
Harvesting
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Preparing Food
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Teaching Practical and Academic skills
Learning knife skills
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Discussing real-life fractions
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Taking Field Trips to Local Farms
These pictures came from Hudak farm three miles from school
Meeting the Hudak's pig
Visiting the goat house
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Checking out giant sunflower heads
Seeing corn shelled
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Visiting the Hudak farm stand
Seeing where our food waste goes
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Students Presenting at the State House and Guiding Projects at School
Early student farm to school leaders
Students proposing a farm to school project to the "land committee"
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Presenting the first year of farm to school experiences at the annual Vermont Farm to School conference.
Our current stewardship committee which oversees the farm to school program
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Touring the State House after presenting
Student leaders on the Stewardship Committee
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Collaborating with Bellows Free Academy High School
Weeding the outdoor classroom garden beds
Weeding the pollinator beds
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Harvesting
Fall garden cleanup
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Video about the first months of the farm to school program
Click on image to view the video
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About 5-minutes longThis video describes the steps the school took to start a farm to school program. There are garden beds all around the exterior of the school and these are shown being planted by students in the spring of 2013.
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Heather Smith (our Farm to School Coordinator) Shared the St. Albans City School's Farm to School Story with Vt. State legislators February, 2018
City School started with a $15,000 Farm to School Implementation grant over 18 months. We were ready to make a change by:
We went from having zero Farm to School infrastructure, to establishing a 50x50 ft. raised bed market garden, planting raspberries, blueberries, pears, apples, and native pollinator gardens, purchasing tools, building a garden shed, having a maple sugar cabin built and delivered, purchasing a cider press, engaging volunteers, and getting kids excited about getting dirty and WORKING OUTSIDE!!! In addition to reaching children through Farm to School, we have taught teachers, staff and parents of children how to grow vegetables, harvest, cook and preserve. And much much more.
Our Farm to School model facilitates and supports the cafeteria, classroom and community triad. Through engagement in Farm to School here at City School we have seen healthier eating increase in the cafeteria
This year the city school students grew and harvested vegetables from the SACS Market Garden. They produced and delivered over 250 pounds of produce throughout the fall to the Abbey group in the cafeteria. Produce on site is grown by kids, delivered by kids and served to our kids in our cafeteria. Knowing where your food comes from and who grow it is something, we as Vermonters, should never lose sight of. This connection is woven into the fabric of Vermonters and should not be forgotten. (Note: the market garden continued to be as productive in the 2018/2019 year.
We are grateful to the government of Vermont for helping us start our Farm to School journey over 6 years ago. Our state invested less than $20 per student over 18 months with our grant. We can testify that after the 18 months period was over the projects and opportunities did not cease, stagnate or dissolve. They have grown, evolved and impacted our school in ways beyond our hopes and dreams.
Thank you. Heather Smith (February 2018)
- Changing eating habits in the cafeteria
- Teaching kids how to grow vegetables
- Teaching the how to’s of cooking, canning and preserving vegetables
- Assisting educators in the classroom with project based learning focused on local foods and visiting area farmers
- Making a connection with our community and fostering a genuine connection between our kids and our local farmers and producers.
We went from having zero Farm to School infrastructure, to establishing a 50x50 ft. raised bed market garden, planting raspberries, blueberries, pears, apples, and native pollinator gardens, purchasing tools, building a garden shed, having a maple sugar cabin built and delivered, purchasing a cider press, engaging volunteers, and getting kids excited about getting dirty and WORKING OUTSIDE!!! In addition to reaching children through Farm to School, we have taught teachers, staff and parents of children how to grow vegetables, harvest, cook and preserve. And much much more.
Our Farm to School model facilitates and supports the cafeteria, classroom and community triad. Through engagement in Farm to School here at City School we have seen healthier eating increase in the cafeteria
- It is the norm to eat fruit and vegetables without protest!!
- We have countless classroom projects evolve around local foods and nutrition mindfulness
- and we have community engagement through local farmer field trips, our annual Open House night celebrating our campus and Farm To School projects.
This year the city school students grew and harvested vegetables from the SACS Market Garden. They produced and delivered over 250 pounds of produce throughout the fall to the Abbey group in the cafeteria. Produce on site is grown by kids, delivered by kids and served to our kids in our cafeteria. Knowing where your food comes from and who grow it is something, we as Vermonters, should never lose sight of. This connection is woven into the fabric of Vermonters and should not be forgotten. (Note: the market garden continued to be as productive in the 2018/2019 year.
We are grateful to the government of Vermont for helping us start our Farm to School journey over 6 years ago. Our state invested less than $20 per student over 18 months with our grant. We can testify that after the 18 months period was over the projects and opportunities did not cease, stagnate or dissolve. They have grown, evolved and impacted our school in ways beyond our hopes and dreams.
Thank you. Heather Smith (February 2018)
Heather Smith is the Farm to school Coordinator here at St. Albans City School and she has served in this capacity for the last 6+ years. Heather is also an RN specializing in Obstetrics, Neonatal and Pediatric nursing at Northwestern Medical Center. She is a native Vermonter and grew up and worked on her family’s dairy farm in Franklin.
