Massachusetts Media Coverage

Getting More Done With Less: How Farm to School Programs Can Overcome Limited Access to Resources by Stephanie Kennedy. Food First . Published 11/23/2011.
Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy acknowledges the Massachusetts Farm to School Project as a driving force behind the movement to bring people locally grown food. The rapid growth of the Mass. Farm to School Project has gotten the attention of both farms looking to sell and schools looking to buy. At the start of the project in 2004 there were five schools statewide that purchased locally grown, and currently there are 250. Despite a limited budget, the Mass. Farm to School Project will continue to educate children about nutrition. Read the entire article.

Thinking Outside the Cookie Box-- Farm to School teaches where food comes from by Melissa Mckeon. Worcester Telegram and Gazette. Published 11/03/2011.
Worcester participated in Massachusetts Farm to School Project's pilot program, the Kindergarten Initiative, last school year. The program taught over 300 kindergartners in 14 classrooms about where food comes from and why local fresh food tastes better. The Kindergarten Initiative provides a hands-on experience for the children by taking them to the farms and letting them learn for themselves to pick healthier options over junk food. The program is a wonderful opportunity for students who live in the city to experience a farm and to expand their food choices. Read the entire article.

Thinking Outside the Cookie Box-- Farm to School teaches where food comes from by Melissa Mckeon. Worcester Telegram and Gazette. Published 11/03/2011.
Worcester participated in Massachusetts Farm to School Project's pilot program, the Kindergarten Initiative, last school year. The program taught over 300 kindergartners in 14 classrooms about where food comes from and why local fresh food tastes better. The Kindergarten Initiative provides a hands-on experience for the children by taking them to the farms and letting them learn for themselves to pick healthier options over junk food. The program is a wonderful opportunity for students who live in the city to experience a farm and to expand their food choices. Read the entire article.

Thinking Outside the Cookie Box-- Farm to School teaches where food comes from by Melissa Mckeon. Worcester Telegram and Gazette. Published 11/03/2011.
Worcester participated in Massachusetts Farm to School Project's pilot program, the Kindergarten Initiative, last school year. The program taught over 300 kindergartners in 14 classrooms about where food comes from and why local fresh food tastes better. The Kindergarten Initiative provides a hands-on experience for the children by taking them to the farms and letting them learn for themselves to pick healthier options over junk food. The program is a wonderful opportunity for students who live in the city to experience a farm and to expand their food choices. Read the entire article.

Kim Szeto Receives "Farm to School" Award by Myrna Greenfield. Jamaica Plain Patch. Published 10/04/2011.
This year, the Massachusetts Farm to School Project presented its Blue Ribbon Award to Kim Szeto for her amazing work! Kim is the farm to school coordinator for Boston Public Schools and is responsible for 'Local Lunch Thursdays' in 44 cafeterias. Read the entire article.

Locavore: Harvest for Students Week by Erica Noonan. Boston Globe. Published 09/15/2011.
Massachusetts Harvest For Students Week took place in September and was a huge success for everyone involved. Schools and colleges around the state participated and put locally grown items in their cafeteria menus. School districts such as Boston, Cambridge, Andover, Brookline and many more not only served fresh local foods but provided samplings, demonstrations and activities to teach students about the benefits of local foods. Read the entire article.

Our New Food by School Lunch Boston. School Lunch Boston. Published 08/29/2011.
Food Corps is a pilot program of Americorps which aims to provide nutrition education in schools, build school gardens, and bring more local food into school lunches. Sadie Richards will be working with Kim Szeto and the Farm to School Initiative to continue work with bringing local food into school cafeterias. Read the entire article.

Somerville Schools Buying More Local Produce by Amanda Kersey . Somerville Patch. Published 06/15/2011.
Somerville schools can't afford to serve the 4,300 students who eat cafeteria meals each day the succulent strawberries that go for $3 per pint at the city's farmers markets. If only, school food staff say. However, the district's cafeterias dish up less expensive Massachusetts-grown fruits and vegetables throughout the year. Read the entire article.

Good Marks for Farm to School by David Rainville. The Recorder. Published 04/10/2011.
The nationwide Farm to School project is showing results here in Franklin County. “I feel the local food revolution started here in Western Mass. We’re modeling for the state and the nation new ways to support our communities,” said Kelly Erwin, managing consultant of the Massachusetts Farm to School Project at Saturday’s Farm to School Forum at Greenfield Middle School. The forum brought together school food-service directors, farmers, food producers and educators to discuss the benefits and obstacles associated with serving local food in schools. Read the entire article.

School Lunch Director Has A Lot On His Plate by Leigh Blander. Marblehead Patch. Published 08/16/2010.
It's a homecoming, of sorts, for Richard Kelleher, the returning food services director for Marblehead schools. He's back on the job, after leaving six years ago to work in Gloucester. And he has some big challenges in Marblehead. Kelleher will buy as much locally-grown produce as possible and work with the Massachusetts Farm-to-School program. Read the entire article.

Local legislators praise school nutrition bill. Boston Globe. Published 07/27/2010.
The Massachusetts Legislature today passed legislation that would ban the sale of unhealthy foods and drinks in Massachusetts public schools. The bill also includes a provision for preferential purchasing for products grown in Massachusetts and instructs the Department of Agriculture to collect data to facilitate the process of local farms and public schools doing business together. Read the entire article.

School Lunch Program Uses Local Ingredients. InsideMedford.com. Published 06/15/2010.
Medford School Food Services, students from Tufts University’s Tisch Scholar program, consultants from the Massachusetts Farm to School Program, Medford parents and children, community members, and others gathered together on Friday, June 11 to enjoy a dinner composed of local ingredients to launch Medford’s Farm-to-School Initiative. Read the entire article.

Students Enjoy Local Foods in Cafeterias. My Backyard News. Published 10/14/2009.
Schools across the state are purchasing and serving fresh, locally grown food to students in celebration of Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week, September 21-25, 2009. During the Week, schools are highlighting local foods on their menus and supporting their local economy by purchasing food grown in Massachusetts. Read the entire article.

Slow Food works quickly to put harvest in Cape schools by Laurie Higgins. Cape Cod Times. Published 09/23/2009.
Folks at the Cape Cod chapter of the Slow Food Movement invited strangers to dinner earlier this month in an effort to improve the Child Nutrition Act, which governs what children are served in school lunches. The nonprofit Slow Food Movement held 300 "eat-ins" nationwide to let people know the act is coming before Congress for reauthorization soon. People shared a meal and collected signatures on a petition demanding that Congress makes it a priority to put more nutritious food on school lunch menus. Read the entire article.

Program Opens School Cafetarias to Local Farms by Paul Tuthill. WAMC. Published 09/22/2009.
With the fall harvest approaching and students back in school, officials in Massachusetts are promoting a program to get locally grown food served in public school cafeterias. Since it's launch five years ago, the Massachusetts Farm to School Project has enrolled more than half of the state's public school districts. Read the entire article.

Knowledge is power when choosing your food by Candace Hammond. Cape Cod Times. Published 09/20/2009.
If you're involved in your child's school, you might want to see if the administration would be interested in looking into the Farm to School (farmtoschool.org) program that connects local farms and schools in providing healthful, local food. The program teaches the students about healthful eating, the importance of small farms and knowing where their food comes from. Read the entire article.

Sit-in on the menu to support healthy lunches in school by Cate Lecuyer. Salem News Online. Published 09/05/2009.
In all 50 states, thousands of people will be doing the same thing in some 300 locations as part of Slow Food USA's "Time for Lunch" campaign. Read the entire article.

Allston-Brighton political notes by area politicians and Allston-Brighton editors. Allston-Brighton. Published 08/05/2009.
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan joined numerous mayors and more than 100 child hunger advocates, public health officials, and food security and policy leaders from across the Northeast in a call to action to end child hunger. The conference included strategy sessions on improving access to child nutrition programs through federal, state and local child nutrition programs, and on strengthening regional food security through urban and rural linkages such as farm to school. The Boston Public Schools plan to expand farm-to-school programs as a way to incorporate more fresh produce into school lunches. Read the entire article.

Mayor Menino Convenes Summit to End Child Hunger by Mayor's Office. City of Boston.gov. Published 07/31/2009.
The conference included strategy sessions on improving access to child nutrition programs through federal, state and local child nutrition programs, and on strengthening regional food security through urban and rural linkages such as farm to school, farmers market partnerships and local food procurement opportunities to alleviate child hunger. Read the entire article.