Presentation given by Stewart Eidel of Maryland Department of Education during the workshop titled "3 Places, 3 Approaches: Lessons from Farm to School Weeks in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC."

1. Maryland
24 school systems
1,450
1 450 schools
850,000 students
,
450,000 school lunches
6,000 school
foodservice workers
2010 All engaged in Farm to School

2. Maryland Home Grown
School Lunch Week
 Maryland Legislation passed in 2008
 Jane Lawton – Jamie Raskin....
 Promote the sale of Maryland-grown products in
y g p
Maryland school meals, and
 Connect Maryland Farmers to School Meals
Programs,
Programs and
 Educate students about where their food comes
from, how it is produced, and the benefits of a
healthy diet
diet.
 Conduct a Maryland Home Grown Lunch Week
 September 22-26 2008
22-26,
 September 14-18,2009
 September 13-17, 2010

3. How do you make an unfunded
mandate, into a…
mandate into a
A Fun Date Man!

4. •Agriculture
•Health
ea t
•Education
•NGO
•Associations
•Extension
•Farmers
•Schools
•MIP’
MIP’s
Key Partners

5. Right people involved
•ask “how” – not “why”y
•know their systems
•are decision-makers
•can make something happen (with no $)
•Build relationships based on
p
collaboration & consensus
“Start with a small goal and people will
always exceed your expectations
always exceed your expectations”

6. Engaged leaders

7. Happy
Happy
Campers

8. Brave
Brave
Farmers

9. Willing Administrators

10. Committed Champions

11. Local successes

12. Generous contributors

13. A goat
g (optional)

14. Happy
Happy
Clucks
(optional)

15. Easy Menu items

16. Menu items
featuring Maryland grown products
f i l d d
• Pizza with local peppers,
onions and basil
• Hamburgers w/local cheese
• Mac and cheese with
Mac and cheese with
butternut squash
• Maryland veggie sub with
cheese
h
• Bison burgers
• Cucumber bean salad
Cucu be bea sa ad
• Zucchini tomato salad
• Roasted carrots
• Maryland veggie wrap

17. •Apples
i
•Asian pears
•Carrots
•Cabbage
•Broccoli
Eggs
•Eggs
•Green beans
•Pears
•Peaches
•Sweet corn
•Watermelon

19. What’s in your Salad ??
y

23. Maryland Home Grown Lunch Week
Examples
E l
Frederick County
 Apples from Catoctin
Mountain Orchard
 cantaloupe and watermelon.
Anne Arundel County
Arlington Echo Outdoor
Learning Center classes
cooked with local foods
 chocolate zucchini cake
 salsa,
 squash
 mac–n-cheese
mac n cheese
 green beans.

25. Maryland Home Grown Lunch Week
Examples
E l
Cecil County -
Cecilton Elementary
 Asian pears,
 cherry tomatoes
 rainbow carrots
Calvert school
 Watermelon
 sweet corn

26. Celebrate the Successes

29. Neighbors serving Neighbors

30. Posters!
Fantastic Fruits and
Vegetables!

33. Challenges
• Limited processing
Limited processing
capacity
• Connecting local
Connecting local
growers to schools
• D li
Delivery to schools
h l
(1,400)
• Recalcitrance
g y
• Procurement rigidity

34. Solutions
 Start Small
 Pick low hanging
(local) fruit
 Partner
 Pa tne
Partner
 Partner

35. Next Steps
 Institutionalize the program
 Seek funding/staffing
 Identify key roadblocks
 Identify resources
 Set a strategic planning process
 Identify evaluation opportunities

36. In the end
it is all about:
it is all about:
• relationships
• trust and
• a focus on
a focus on
children’s health.

37. Farm to School Cures
Obesity Epidemic!

38. Shelby and Reese
Lilly and Molly

39. Molly and Velvet
y
Reese and Ginger