New Jersey Media Coverage

Farm to School Week Toolkit by State of New Jersey Department of Agriculture. State of New Jersey Department of Agriculture. Published 09/01/2011.
Farm to School Week Toolkit and Program ideas. Read the entire article.

NJ Farm to School Network Spring School Garden Trainings in May. Princeton Online. Published 04/19/2011.
The New Jersey Farm to School Network is organizing a series of regional, on-site school garden trainings to take place inseveral cities across New Jersey this spring. Led by instructors with experience in running successful school garden projects, these workshops will give participants ideas about how to start and sustain school gardens and how to incorporate garden education into the classroom, meeting NJ state curriculum standards. Read the entire article.

Plainfield School Receives Grant To Promote Fruit And Vegetable Consumption. New Jersey Today. Published 04/07/2011.
ueen City Academy Charter School in Plainfield is one of nine schools that will receive $7,500 mini-grants for programs to help students eat more fruits and vegetables, learn about good nutrition and promote locally grown produce from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and Rutgers Cooperative Extension’s Department of Family and Community Health Sciences. “Children are more likely to eat foods they’ve had a part in growing, so with this funding, the schools will plant vegetable gardens and get a hands-on lesson on where our food comes from,” said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher. Read the entire article.

Cape May School Gets Grant to Promote Veggies, Fruit to Pupils. Cape May County Herald. Published 04/07/2011.
Cape May City Elementary School is one of nine schools that will receive $7,500 mini-grants for programs to help students eat more fruits and vegetables, learn about good nutrition and promote locally grown produce from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and Rutgers Cooperative Extension’s Department of Family and Community Health Sciences. A school garden will be planted as part of the grant. Schools will be required to grow at least three different vegetables that will be harvested and sampled by students. Read the entire article.

Statewide conference on organic farming at Princeton University attracts record turnout by Pat Tanner. Central Jersey. Published 02/04/2011.
But the most forward- looking initiative to sow new seeds was another first: The concurrent Kids’ Conference, which offered a full slate of expert-led talks and activities for children ages 6 to 12 who had a parent attending the conference. The aim, according to the program, was to “excite the newest generation of gardeners, farmers, and healthy consumers.” Read the entire article.

JERSEY FRESH FARM TO SCHOOL WEEK' MEASURE SIGNED INTO LAW by Gita Bajaj . Politiker NJ. Published 01/29/2011.
Legislation sponsored by Assembly Environment Chairman John F. McKeon, Assembly members John J. Burzichelli and Annette Quijano to declare a 'Jersey Fresh Farm to School Week' was signed into law on Friday. Under the measure (A-2854), events will be planned in schools throughout the state for a week in September to promote the value and importance of New Jersey's agriculture and fresh farm food for children. Read the entire article.

. All Princeton. Published 01/19/2011.
Congressman Rush Holt's visit to Community Park Elementary School was a delicious way to celebrate the passage of the child nutrition reauthorization bill and Mr. Holt's farm to school funding within that legislation. Read the entire article.

Hometown Hero by Laura Griffin . South Orange Patch. Published 01/11/2011.
Last fall, Jennifer Newman organized the first organic garden at Our Lady of Sorrows, her son’s elementary school, getting the students involved in gardening and learning about healthy eating. Read the entire article.

Silver Diner club-card plan to help fund school nutrition and fitness programs by Danielle Douglas. The Washington Post. Published 08/09/2010.
Known for greasy burgers and fries, diners are far from synonymous with healthy eating. But Rockville-based Silver Diner has been trying to change that perception, adding low-fat, low-calorie meals to its menu in May. And now, owners Robert Giaimo and Ype Von Hengst have launched "Eat Well, Do Well," an initiative to fund school nutrition and fitness programs to combat childhood obesity. Read the entire article.

NJ looks to use locally grown food in schools . MSNBC. Published 08/08/2010.
The state and a Rutgers University facility in Bridgeton will spend the next year developing innovative ways of integrating New Jersey-grown produce into school food programs. Project officials want to create a wide variety of products- soups, smoothies, salads, fresh-cut fruit and vegetable snacks and possibly vegetable lasagna- by the time the project concludes at the end of 2011. Read the entire article.

The Sweet Corn? Grown Right Over There by Tammy La Gorce. The New York Times. Published 07/30/2010.
“My goal has been to help keep the Garden State the Garden State,” said Mikey Azzara, who founded Zone 7, named for New Jersey’s location on the Agriculture Department’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map. “Why is it easier to get stuff from all over the world than it is to get stuff from a New Jersey farmer to a New Jersey restaurant? I saw this as an important nut to crack.” Read the entire article.

NJDA, Rutgers Receive Federal Grant for Farm to School Project. New Jersey Department of Agriculture. Published 07/19/2010.
The New Jersey Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with Rutgers Food Innovation Center in Bridgeton, has been awarded $51,215 to create new food items derived from New Jersey agricultural products for use in the National School Lunch Program. Read the entire article.

Holt Farm to School Initiative Advances Through House Committee. Representative Rush Holt Newsroom. Published 07/15/2010.
Read the entire article.

Biography Committee Assignments Economy Education Energy Environment Foreign Affairs Health Care Ho. Rep. Rush Holt Press Release. Published 07/02/2010.
The House Committee on Education and Labor yesterday held a hearing on the Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act, which would improve the quality of school meals and other child nutrition programs for 32 million children. This legislation contains an initiative written by U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) to require $10 billion in funding for farm to school programs. Read the entire article.

'Farm To School Week' Measure Approved By Assembly by Gita Bajaj. Politicker NJ. Published 06/21/2010.
Legislation sponsored by Assemblyman John F. McKeon to declare a 'Jersey Fresh Farm to School Week' was unanimously approved Monday by the Assembly. Under the measure (A-2854), events would be planned in schools throughout the state for a week in September to promote the value and importance of New Jersey's agriculture and fresh farm food for children. Read the entire article.

Are Your Kids Hungry For A Better School Lunch? by Michele S. Byers. NJ Today. Published 03/29/2010.
In response, U.S. Representative Rush Holt of New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District is combating the problem with a law that would boost both local farms and the health of youngsters. He recently introduced the Farm to School Improvements Act (HR 4710), and it is a win-win for the Garden State! Read the entire article.

Holt legislation would create 'Farm to School' program. Hunterdon County Democrat. Published 03/08/2010.
U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-12th, has introduced legislation that would create a Farm to School grant program to fight childhood obesity and support local farmers. Read the entire article.

Rutgers facility helping preserve food for school by N/A. NJ.com. Published 12/03/2009.
The Rutgers Food Innovation center in Bridgeton may soon serve a major role in the university's statewide initiative to address hunger and poor nutrition. The East Broad Street facility is assisting the school in finding ways to better preserve New Jersey-grown produce so the food can be served at school cafeterias year-round, even when the produce is out of season. Read the entire article.

Barmeier '10 wins Rhodes Scholarship by Jason Jung. The Daily Princetonian. Published 11/23/2009.
Henry Barmeier '10, a Wilson School major earning certificates in environmental studies and Spanish, is the University's sole Rhodes Scholarship recipient for 2010. He actually designed a farm-to-school program involving the sale of produce from New Jersey farms to local schools for his term project. Read the entire article.

School Gardens Co-op Questions Quality of District's School Lunches by Ellen Gilbert. Town Topics. Published 10/14/2009.
"Why do we have Chartwell's, one of the largest food service companies in the world serving lunches to our children in the beautiful garden state?" asked Princeton School Gardens Cooperative coordinator Diane Landis recently. In response to the recent appearance of Chartwell representative Cindy Hill at a PRS Board meeting to tout the company's efforts to improve school lunches, Ms. Landis said that "We are cautiously hopeful that Chartwells will come through. They do still serve highly processed foods. I rarely see fish or eggs on the menu - they do serve pizza dunkers, French toast with syrup, and other party type foods to our kids." Read the entire article.

State's first Farm-to-School conference filled to capacity by William Persson. American Farm. Published 05/01/2009.
"Farm to School is a back-to-basics approach to help children make healthy choices and understand there are seasons for food," said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher of the New Jersey Farm-to-School Conference held at the Lawrenceville School on April 18. Read the entire article.

In the Kitchen: Taking the lead on school nutrition by Pat Tanner. Central Jersey. Published 05/01/2009.
When the first-ever statewide conference on bringing local, healthy food into our New Jersey schools was held recently at The Lawrenceville School, it became apparent to me and the other 200 attendees that the Princeton area is at the forefront of the movement. Read the entire article.

Farm fresh: Nourishing a farm-to-school network by John Dunphy. The Princeton Packet. Published 04/22/2009.
Given the option, would parents rather have their children's school lunches come from the farmer a few miles away or from the other side of the country? Newly appointed New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher posed that question to an audience of about 200 Saturday morning at The Lawrenceville School, where the New Jersey Farm-to-School Network was holding its inaugural conference. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-school programs connect school meals with local agriculture. Packet Online. Published 04/03/2009.
A network of some 30 groups from around New Jersey, including chefs, food service professionals, parents, teachers, farmers, food access advocates, the state Department of Agriculture and Rutgers Cooperative Extension, are teaming up to present the state's first-ever New Jersey Farm-to-School Conference on Saturday, April 18, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Lawrenceville School in Lawrence. Read the entire article.

The future of food by Lois Heyman. The Food Chain. Published 03/16/2009.
Two TV segments are available that deal with food issues. If you missed 60 Minutes profile on CBS of Alice Waters' involvement with the Slow Food movement, here it is below. Her Edible Schoolyard is a prototype for all the work being carried forward by the Farm to School Network, and that is being discussed at the NJ conference April 18. Read the entire article.

North Jersey gets local into schools' lunch rooms by Tamara Scully. American Farm. Published 11/15/2008.
Here in New Jersey, putting "local" on the menu of school lunches has launched lunch into fashion, as thousands of children in schools in the northern regions of the Garden State now eat locally-grown food as a regular part of every lunch. Recent school lunch nutrition efforts have focused on establishing healthy eating habits and putting those lessons to practice in school lunch lines. Read the entire article.

Keyport schools look to encourage healthier eating by Melissa L. Gaffney. The Courier. Published 08/14/2008.
To offset the drudgery of school food, the borough of Keyport is looking to implement the "Farm-to-School" program in the school district, according to school board member Sheila Bishop. Read the entire article.

School districts are benefiting from providing local produce by Tamara Scully. American Farm. Published 06/01/2008.
A flyer advertising the Buy Fresh, Buy Local Northwest Jersey chapter led Joanne Untamo, director of operations for Maschio's Food Services, Inc., based in Flanders, to place a phone call that carried with it the potential to change the face of school lunches in northern New Jersey. The Foodshed Alliance, the non-profit that organizes the BFBL chapter, was more than ready to receive that call. Read the entire article.

Students get fruit facts in vote by Lucas K. Murray. Gloucester County Times. Published 11/17/2007.
A special election was held in Paulsboro on Friday morning with three candidates vying for votes among a finicky electorate. No, it wasn't to decide an open council seat The young voters of Billingsport Elementary School were choosing an apple to appear on the cafeteria menu as part of their school wellness initiative. Read the entire article.

Field Trip Aims to Make Veggies Attractive by The Associated Press. . Published 12/02/2004.
First came fruits. Even a short lecture on Vitamin C, folic acid and potassium couldn't keep fourth-grade fingers from grabbing up orange slices. But then came vegetables and the choruses of "Ewwwwwwwwww," as the boys and girls of Menlo Park
Terrace School scampered past the mushrooms, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Read the entire article.