Farm to School and Local Food

Eating healthySupporting the community

Reducing carbon footprints

By Maggie Walsh, Caroline Pelley, and Jane Ward

Benefits of Eating Local Food

1. Keep dollars in our local economy

2. Embrace what makes Corvallis unique

3. Foster local job creation

4. Help the environment

5. Nurture community

6. Conserve your tax dollars

7. Have more choices

8. Benefit from local owners’ expertise

9. Preserve entrepreneurship

10. Make Corvallis stand out from the crowd

Farm to School Project

Farm to School brings healthy food from local farms to school children nationwide. Path from farm to fork Instills healthy eating habits for a lifetime New direct market for farmers in the area Eliminates environmental impacts of transporting food long distances.

More than 30 million children eat a school lunch five days a week, 180 days a year. If school lunch can taste great, and support the local community, everyone benefits.

Farm to School: Corvallis

Lincoln, Garfield, Jefferson, Mountain View, Wilson, Hoover, and Adams

Offer local food-educate-results Produce of the month

April: salad greens May: peas

Our project: Introduction

We went to local elementary schools during their lunch hours and served fresh, local foods to them. We shared with them where the food came from and asked them their opinions on the food.

Our project: Goals

Enlighten the elementary aged students on the importance of eating local so they can see the benefits and make the choice for local food more often.

Also the farm to school project is an attempt to raise awareness about local food in our high school. We believe that local food can help people eat healthier, support their community, and reduce their carbon footprint.

4/22 Earth Day- Homemade Hummus from local garbonzo beans and local bread from Richey’s.

Our project: Tasting Tables

Hummus on French bread

Students tasting the food

Our project: Tasting Tables

5/27- Earth Fair- Local berries from Blueberry Meadows and yogurt and granola from Trader Joe’s.

Maggie and Jane setting up

Mini parfaits

Our project: Results

We surveyed 30 high school students at our tasting tables and found: How often to you eat local food?

2.98 out of 5 (average) Where to you/your parents purchase the majority of your food?

1. Winco (17 responses), Safeway (6 responses), Trader Joes/Co-op (5 responses)

Are you aware of the benefits of eating locally? 3.75 out of 5 (average)

List three places that have local food available for purchase Co-op (23 responses), Farmer’s Market (20 responses), Richey’s (6 responses)

Is buying local food a priority for you? Yes (4 responses) No (9 responses) S0metimes (17 responses)

Bibliography

"Oregon Profile." Farm to School. 19 Feb. 2009. Web. 1 June 2010. <http://www.farmtoschool.org/state-home.php?id=47>.

Maiser, Jennifer. "10 Reasons to 'Eat Local'... from a Farmers' Market." Fresh Food Finder. 5 Nov. 2008. Web. 1 June

2010. <http://greenbeltfresh.ca/10-reasons-to-eat-local...-from-a- farmers-market>.

Prentince, Jessica . "Top Twelve Reasons to Eat Locally." Locavores. 16 July 2006. Web. 28 May 2010. <http://www.locavores.com /how/why.php>.