Massachusetts Media Coverage

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.

Legislation aids Massachusetts food policy by Ben Storrow. Daily Hampshire Gazette. Published 08/03/2010.
Massachusetts food policy will take a giant step forward as a result of two bills approved by the state Legislature, local food and anti-hunger advocates said Monday. The two bills - which will create a state Food Policy Council and statewide school nutrition standards - were passed amid a flurry of activity before the formal legislative session closed Saturday. 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.

Cultivating New Farmers, The Future of Sustainable Food.. by Tricia Edgar. JustMeans.com. Published 12/17/2009.
So what about those who are out standing in their fields? Are we going to represent them at employment fairs? Are children going to learn that being a farmer is a career option, and are young adults going to feel supported to learn about gardening and farming? Most of the world's population now lives in urban areas. Many urban children don't grow up around farms. Many don't have any idea where their food comes from. For a while, they may not realize that it comes from plants and animals - after all, often food comes in packages and cans, and it's pretty well disguised. Where are these children going to get to know about farming and market gardening as career options? 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.

Brother and sister hoping to launch Pembroke farmers market by Becca Manning. Penbroke Express. Published 08/14/2009.
"I would love to see this go to the next level of educating kids on gardening and eating healthy," she said. "They have the whole Farm to School program, getting local growers to sell to school systems. Kingston's doing it, and I'd love to see it happen in Pembroke." 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.

Talk about growing your own food in container gardens. Wicked Local. Published 05/02/2009.
Kozower has been working in local food system-related jobs for more than a decade, including the Somerville Public Schools Food Service Department, to implement a farm-to-school program and promote consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and on Boston-area farms, including Gaining Ground and Land's Sake. Read the entire article.

This week at the State House by Sheryl Julian. The Boston Globe. Published 11/04/2008.
Fifth grade children from the Williamsburg (Mass.) Elementary School formed a partnership with Fertile Ground initiative to create a farm-to-school program. State Rep Stephen Kulik is hosting an exhibit in the State House's Doric Hall that records the childrens' perspective in a new methodology called PhotoVoice. Read the entire article.

School Serves Up Farm-Fresh Produce by David Brown. The Boston Channel. Published 09/30/2008.
The hustle and bustle of the Waltham's Northeast Elementary School cafeteria is a long way from the farm, but farm fresh ideas are on the today's lunch menu. NewsCenter 5's David Brown reported that the fresh summer squash and zucchini that are being served were picked just down the road at Waltham Field's Community Farm. This is the Farm to School Program -- organic, good for kids produce, grown locally is being served to area school children. Read the entire article.

UMass dining awarded by Niina Heikkinen. The Daily Collegian. Published 09/30/2008.
The director of the University of Massachusetts Dining Services, Ken Toong, received two awards on Friday, Sept. 26, recognizing his support of local agriculture. A celebration was held in the Berkshire Dining Commons, where Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture Doug Petersen presented Toong with the state's Faces of Agriculture Award for his support of sustainable agriculture in Massachusetts. Toong also received the 2008 Blue Ribbon Award from Amherst-based nonprofit Farm to School Project for encouraging connections between farms and schools. Read the entire article.

UMass cheers local produce by Stan Freeman. The Republican. Published 09/27/2008.
Think globally, eat locally. That could well be the philosophy at University of Massachusetts, where the dining halls are increasingly serving food grown on area farms. This year, 23 percent of the food served in campus dining halls, everything from eggs to eggplant, will come from local farms, up from 7 percent in 2004. The effort is part of the statewide Farm to School Project. Read the entire article.

Produce and fruit growers answer the bell by Bradford L. Miner. Telegram & Gazette. Published 09/24/2008.
Gov. Deval L. Patrick has proclaimed this week Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week; schools, colleges and universities across the commonwealth will mark the occasion with fresher, greener meals using foods produced on Massachusetts farms. The statewide program is coordinated by the nonprofit, Amherst-based Massachusetts Farm to School Project, with support from the Department of Agricultural Resources. Read the entire article.

Schools serve up savings for lunch by Will Richmond. The Herald News. Published 08/03/2008.
With higher food prices, farm to school programs offer the benefit of little to no transportation costs by buying local. Read the entire article.

Salem schools seeking new food director by Amanda McGregor. The Salem News. Published 07/10/2008.
Among its work this summer, Jeffers said she and the parent group are pursuing grants for "farm-to-school" foods to get more fresh fruits and vegetables on the school tables. Read the entire article.

$10,000 grant fuels healthy eating plan by Pamela H. Metaxas. The Republican. Published 06/04/2008.
Eating healthy may mean loving your vegetables, too. An emphasis on healthy eating habits will be the focus of a program at the Gen. John J. Stefanik School thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Hidden Valley "Love Your Veggies" nationwide school lunch campaign. Read the entire article.

Crunching the local numbers by Susie Middleton. Farm to Fork. Published 06/02/2008.
Everyone loves the new program, because it's action-oriented. You could prove that with numbers - the hundreds of kids who participated in outdoor classes like Math in the Garden and Read for Seeds this spring, or the hundreds of parent and teacher hours that fueled the speedy execution of the first in-school vegetable garden in West Tisbury. But numbers never tell the whole story. Read the entire article.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT by Cindy Cantrell. The Boston Globe. Published 06/01/2008.
As food service director for the Groton-Dunstable Regional School District, Janice Buxton of Nashua embraced recipes from a cookbook made available through the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. After a little encouragement, she said, students have done the same. Buxton worked with food service manager Pam Patnode of Dunstable to institute a Farm Food Wednesday incorporating locally grown produce into school lunch recipes from "Fresh from the Farm: The Massachusetts Farm to School Cookbook" by Berkshire author Amy Cotler. Read the entire article.

Salem workers, parents scramble to keep school lunches in-house by Amanda McGregor. The Salem News. Published 05/23/2008.
Attempting to keep the school lunch program in-house: The school committee is considering privatization because the food program is losing money, but lunch workers and local parents say their new plan will tweak personnel, bring back cooking from scratch and take advantage of discounted food through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Read the entire article.

Cafeteria offers a taste of nutrition by Geoff Moore. Lincoln Journal. Published 03/26/2008.
If you were caught up in the festivities and family gatherings associated with the Easter weekend, you might have missed the fact that March is National Nutrition Month - a nutrition education and information campaign created by the American Dietetic Association. Read the entire article.

From farm field to school cafeterias by Robin Horrigan. Parenting Project. Published 03/26/2008.
Farm to School connects schools with local farmers to provide fresh and local food. Students get healthy lunches, learn the value and benefit of fresh foods, the local farmers stay in business, which helps the local economy and the environment gets some relief in the reduced packaging and shipping. Read the entire article.

Edibles - A for appetizing by Eleni Collins. The Martha's Vineyard Times. Published 02/21/2008.
The Winter Local Foods Dinner was a fundraiser for the culinary arts department, a promotion for Farm to School, and a chance for the students to work with exceptional local ingredients while alongside professional chefs Dan Sauer of the Outermost Inn and Matt Safranek of the Harbor View. Read the entire article.

Vineyarders learn a lesson in local fare by Laurie Higgins. Cape Cod Times. Published 02/20/2008.
It's easy to find locally grown food in the summer, but what if you want to cook a local meal in February- That is exactly the challenge tackled last week by the Island Grown Initiative, a nonprofit group working to support local food on Martha's Vineyard; chef Daniel Sauer from the Outermost Inn; and Martha's Vineyard Regional High School's culinary arts department. The resulting dinner was a brilliant success. The dinner was the first official public event for the new Farm to School Program that Island Grown Initiative launched in December to try to create bridges between local farms and the schools. Read the entire article.

Proud of her school lunch program by Carol Judd. The Boston Globe. Published 02/09/2008.
Since implementing wellness policies, food service departments across the Commonwealth have been introducing products using whole grains. Directors are demanding, and suppliers are providing, more whole grain products. We have made a commitment to serving more fresh fruits and vegetables, and have partnered with the Farm to School Project to use locally grown produce. Read the entire article.

Cafeteria Lunch May Be Farms' Growing Market by Julia Rappaport. Vineyard Gazette. Published 11/30/2007.
Martha's Vineyard does not have a celebrity chef to revolutionize its cafeteria food, but on Tuesday, members of the Island Grown Initiative will join with parents, teachers, farmers and lunch ladies to try their hand at changing school lunch. The transformation begins, according to Ali Berlow, executive director of the initiative, with a new Vineyard chapter of a national program called Farm to School. Read the entire article.

Students shuck mounds of corn for harvest week by Delia Marshall. Somerville Journal. Published 10/07/2007.
"Somerville - Corn silk was flying all over town as Somerville schoolchildren celebrated Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week (Sept. 24-28). Throughout the week, students were encouraged to eat fresh, locally grown items at lunch. These included pears, melon slices, apples, tomatoes, zucchini, and most dramatically, corn on the cob. Read the entire article.

Fresh, Local at High School by Melissa Beecher. The Boston Globe. Published 10/04/2007.
Participating in the state's Harvest for Students Week, Bedford High School is purchasing local produce for lunches through Lanni Orchards, a Lunenburg farm. Buoyed by the statewide Farm-to-School Project, Harvest for Students was held last week in Bedford and other communities. According to the state, 40 local farms are selling produce to 85 public schools and 13 colleges across the Commonwealth. Read the entire article.

In the lunchroom, the flavors are local by Catherine Baum. Daily Hampshire Gazette. Published 10/04/2007.
"The food at the Williston Northampton School cafeteria last week hadn't traveled far. For the Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week, the school served up produce straight from the fields of Westhampton. At least 100 Massachusetts school districts and colleges joined in the statewide iniative last week, putting locally grown foods at the center of its menus." Read the entire article.

Farm Freshness Goes to School by Karen Nugent. Worcester Telegram & Gazette News. Published 09/28/2007.
Worcester cafeterias helped launch lunches with locally grown crops.

Read the entire article.

Goodbye trans fats, hello broccoli: Farm to School project brings local edibles into cafeterias by Mary Carey. Amherst Bulletin. Published 09/28/2007.
"In recognition of the first annual Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week, Sept. 24 to 30, Amherst elementary schools students could choose locally grown tomatoes, squash, carrots, green beans, watermelon and cantaloupe along with their main course. On Tuesday, they could be seen opting for the vegetables and fruit without the least bit of prodding. The statewide initiative was coordinated by The Massachusetts Farm to School Project, an organization founded and run by Wildwood Elementary School parent Kelly Erwin, and sponsored by the state's Department of Agricultural Resources, the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Agricultural Preservation Corporation, MassDevelopment and Project Bread." Read the entire article.

BHS Initiates Fresh Produce Lunch Program by Patrick Ball. Bedford Minuteman. Published 09/26/2007.
Usually fresh, local produce can be found only at high-end restaurants or farmers’ markets. But now, Bedford High School can be added to that once-exclusive list.  Read the entire article.

Cape harvest festival shows off local food. Cape Cod Times. Published 09/26/2007.
The Cape's second annual harvest festival coincides with this week being the first Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week, according to a proclamation signed by Gov. Deval Patrick. Farmers, students, school food services directors and public officials will gather across the Commonwealth to draw attention to the wide variety of locally produced foods Massachusetts has to offer. Read the entire article.

Locally Grown Foods Served by Pamela H. Metaxas. The Republican. Published 09/25/2007.
A simple, healthy message was delivered at Lambert-Lavoie School yesterday: Local produce in school meals helps students learn healthy eating habits to avoid obesity and subsequent health problems. Read the entire article.

More to School Nutrition than Meets the Eye by Ben Aaronson and Lynda King. The Harvard Post. Published 09/13/2007.

A bill that would set healthier standards for food sold in Massachusetts public schools is gaining momentum in the state Legislature.  

Read the entire article.

Schools hope chef's touch whets cafeteria appetites by J.M. Lawrence. Boston Globe. Published 09/10/2007.
"Like any good chef launching a new venture, Kirk Conrad knows you have to work the room. He wears his white chef's coat and mingles with the customers, asking about their $2.25 entrees..." Read the entire article.

Mass. Schools Serving Local Produce. Boston Globe/AP. Published 03/29/2007.

Article examines the benefits for purchasing from local growers to serve in colleges and k-12 schools. Profiles efforts at Clark University.

Read the entire article.

Local produce in schools means better taste, more profits by Adam Gorlick. Boston Globe. Published 03/25/2007.
Clark is one of about a dozen colleges in the state participating in the Massachusetts Farm to School Project, a three-year-old program that helps eliminate the middleman in food distribution by having more farmers bring their fruits, vegetables and dairy products straight to campuses. Read the entire article.

Schools Are New Market for New England Apples by T. Susan Chang. Good Fruit Grower. Published 01/01/2005.
Northeast apple growers, especially those in New England, face no shortage of challenges. Though New England apple production ranks seventh in the country, orchards are primarily small operations, subject to the same pressures that small farms face across the nation. Read the entire article.

Fresh Produce on Way to School by Pamela Metaxas. The Republican. Published 09/12/2004.
Chicopee has received more than $15,000 in its first Project Bread grant in a collaborative effort to provide fresh fruits and vegetables throughout city schools through the fall and encourage healthy eating habits. Read the entire article.

A Living, Breathing Salad by John Suchocki. The Springfield Republican. Published 00/01/0000.
To make a point, Chicopee School Lunch Food Services Director Joanne Lennon dressed up as a potato and was glad to do it at a recent press conference at Lambert Lavoie School attended by Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette, U. S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, and School Superintendent Richard W. Rege Jr. Lennon, along with three other ladies, dressed as vegetables and fruit to mark Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week Sept. 24 to 30 and to emphasize the importance of using locally grown food in school meals. The message was also brought home by the work of RuralVotes, a nonpartisan advocacy organization based in Western Massachusetts that advocates use of local produce and expanding preventative health care strategies nationwide. Read the entire article.