Local Impact of Farm to School
It’s been over four years since our partners with the Youth Well-being Team at Parkview Health asked the Northeast Indiana Local Food Network to help them launch the Northeast Indiana Farm to School Team.
By working closely with local farmers, teachers, child nutrition professionals and school partners across our region, this team is making an impact by improving the nutrition and agricultural education of thousands of students in K-12 classrooms and early childhood education programs all across our region.
Our team helps kids learn about locally grown fruits and vegetables through monthly Harvest of the Month taste tests of local produce and new Farm to School curriculum resources about each Harvest of the Month product.
Students learn about how these fruits and vegetables grow and the farms who produce them through working in with school tower garden and “meeting” local farmers in our Harvest of the Month farm video series.
We are grateful for the generous support this project has received a USDA Farm to School Planning Grant to Parkview Hospital in 2019 and a USDA Farm to School Implementation Grant awarded to Wells County Revitalization in 2021.
Erica Cordes picking blackberries at her farm, Cordes Berry Farm.
Impact of School Tower Gardens
- Gina Dundon, RN, MHA, BSN, Wellness Coordinator, Fort Wayne Community Schools
“Fort Wayne Community Schools has more than 50 Tower Gardens with grow lights! Schools have the ability to use their Tower Gardens how they see fit. Some schools use the for a specific grade level or classroom. Allowing the students to learn how to plant, transfer, adjust PH and water levels, as well as taking care of the plants, harvesting, and tasting! Some of our special education classrooms are using them to allow a new and exciting experience.
In one of our high school biology classes they grew lettuce in the Tower garden and planted lettuce in soil to compare and contrast the differences. They learned that lettuce growing in Tower Gardens grew faster, was greener, and tasted better!
We have grown the salad mix, lettuce, thai basil, rio grande tomatoes, nasturtium, basil, thai eggplant, tomatillo, oregano, bib lettuce, arugula, rainbow chard, baby lettuce, mixed greens, and kale. The students have tasted items, made pesto, taken it home, and made yummy salads.”
Harvest of the Month Taste Tests
Each month our partner Michele Schnelker with Parkview’s Youth Well-being Team purchases our selected seasonal Harvest of the Month produce item from local farms. She buys enough produce to supply tastes test samples to serve 1,500 to 3,000 students.
In April, Michele delivered 85 bags of fresh local herbs such as parsley, cilantro, rosemary and dill from Berry Hill Farm and RiverRidge Farm to regional schools. These herbs provided taste tests for 1,592 students in 63 classroom, in 11 schools, in 6 different school districts across Northeast Indiana.
May’s Harvest of the Month product is rhubarb.
Impact of Harvest of the Month Taste Tests
- Lindsay Schroeder, 2nd Grade Teacher, Bluffton-Harrison Elementary School
Shared following recent taste tests of locally-grown pickled beets in March
“By the way, we are pickling an egg with the leftover beets and juice from March. Surprisingly students really enjoyed the beets and are really excited about trying the pickled egg! So much fun!”
Harvest of the Month projects at Westview Schools
At Westview Junior-Senior High School in LaGrange County, teachers encourage their students to learn about Harvest of the Month products not only through taste tests but as part of special assignments in their art, history, business, science, math and English classes as well. Educators had students connect the variety of produce to historical and geographical things they’ve been talking about in class. One teacher shared that “My students have really enjoyed it and are always curious about what next month will bring.”
Drawing by student at Westview Junior-Senior High School
Impact of Farm to School Program
- Jaime Heller, RN, BSN, School Nurse, Weisser Park Elementary School, FWCS
“Thank you for the daikon radish delivery today. We will be making a Polish dill pickle and radish soup, as well as roasting radishes for our 2nd graders to sample in our Harvest of the Month tomorrow.
This program has been great for the kids at this school. I have even had parents call and thank me for getting their kids to ask for butternut squash for dinner! With this program as a foundation, we have taken on improving nutrition as our school wellness initiative. We currently have students designing an eat the rainbow/fruits an veggies mural for our cafeteria, I make surprise visits to the cafeteria to give Koala Kash out to those students who are eating their fruits and veggies from the lunch, we have been promoting the Kids in the Kitchen classes that the Parkview Dieticians are providing in our newsletters and we have added signage around the school promoting healthy eating. I will be meeting with our Wellness Committee on Thursday morning to collaborate on new ways to incorporate the promotion of making healthy food choices here at school and beyond. The Harvest of the Month Program has been such a success here at Weisser, I was wondering what the likelihood was for Weisser to continue to be a part of the program next school year. Just let me know your thoughts on this.
Thanks again for all of your leg work in getting this produce to our student’s tables.”
Harvest of the Month Farm Videos
The Northeast Indiana Local Food Network is working with Purdue Extension - Allen County to create Harvest of the Month farm videos on 24 different farms in Northeast Indiana that grow our Harvest of the Month fruits and vegetables.
In recent months, we recorded our Microgreens video at the Something Better with Beth micro-farm in Allen County, and our Spinach video with Elaina Robbins and Andy Balabuch at Hungry Dog Farm.
Watch for the release of many more Harvest of the Month farm videos in the coming months about local fruit and vegetable crops from asian greens, to pears, herbs, kale and cabbage. These videos showcase the diversity of our local farms, farmers and delicious produce grown in our region. We’re proud to help local students “visit” local farms and “meet” local farmers who grow our Harvest of the Month products.
Wide variety of peppers grown at RiverRidge Farm
For 40 years, Cliff and Arlene Kindy have grow a wide variety of produce, including lots of rhubarb, at Joyfield Farm.
James Wolff with Pam & Jim DeCamp
Winter spinach at Hungry Dog Farm
Burmese farmer harvesting cucumber vines
Save the Date for Farm to School Summit
Mark your calendars to participate in the first Northeast Indiana Farm to School Summit on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 from 2 pm - 5 pm at Purdue University Fort Wayne. Join area college students, teachers, farmers, child nutrition professionals, parents and advocates to learn and network about school gardens, food & farming curriculum and serving locally-sourced food in our schools and early childhood education programs across NE Indiana.
Want to help with the Farm to School Summit? Contact Julia Smith with Purdue Fort Wayne School of Education at smitj@pfw.edu or Janet Katz with the Northeast Indiana Local Food Network at Janet@NEIfood.org.
Join the Northeast Indiana Farm to School Team
If you are interested in joining the Northeast Indiana Farm to School Team and helping to support Farm to School programs in your schools and/or early childhood education programs, please reach out to Kylee Bennett, Parkview Community Well-being Manager at Kylee.Bennett@Parkview.com.