Here’s how it works…

Choose from the many great local restaurants that graciously agreed to donate a percentage of proceeds from sales for the event.  Participating restaurants include Bar Pilar, Eatonville, Equinox, Poste Moderne Brasserie, Cafe St. Ex and Zest Bistro.  Check out this MAP for the full list, where you can see the percentage of proceeds each restaurant will donate.  Check back often (more restaurants are coming on board every day!)  Make reservations if the restaurant is busy, and then enjoy your dinner and drinks on March 3rd knowing a portion of your check will go to D.C. Farm to School Network!

Please spread the word!

The D.C. Farm to School Network is a coalition of diverse stakeholders working to incorporate more healthy, local foods and food education into Washington, DC schools.  We care deeply about the health and well being of the District of Columbia’s kids, our local environment and our local food economy.  We educate and share information about farm to school programs; provide direct assistance to food service providers interested to serve healthy, local foods; facilitate direct connections between farm to school stakeholders, provide trainings, tools, resources, and updates; and advocate for local and federal policies that support farm to school programs.  For more information, visit www.dcfarmtoschool.org.

The week of October 12-15 2010 marked the second annual D.C. Farm to School Week – a celebration of farm-fresh fruits and veggies in D.C. schools!  In total, 28 schools coordinated events and over 500 students participated in farm field trips where they harvested local produce and learned about farming in the region.  And more than 1,100 students participated in cooking demonstrations where professional chefs prepared local foods with students in healthy, delicious ways.

Throughout the week, school menus featured locally grown produce in dishes such as salads and seasoned vegetables; and served over 30,000 students in cafeterias across the District.  For example, Revolution Foods celebrated the week by serving carrot, raisin and apple salad in each of its D.C. schools.  DC Central Kitchen featured local honey apple braised collard greens and Chatewells served asian slaw with locally grown cabbage to  DCPS students. 

Chef Tee dazzles students with his apple dish at the kick-off event. photo by Christiana Aretta

The week began with a kick-off celebration marking the start of D.C. Farm to School Week and D.C. School Garden Week. We were joined by White House Chef Sam Kass, White House Pastry Chef Bill Yosses and Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan.  The program featured a Top Chef-style competition between four local chefs and their student assistants.  Student judges voted Chef Tee and his apple cranberry crisp as the winner!  Keep your eyes peeled for his recipe in DCPS school meals this December.

D.C. school children visited both rural and urban farms to learn about farm life and to be a part of growing and harvesting food.  Kids picked apples, harvested kale, explored greenhouses and even held warm chicken eggs.  Two farmers even traveled to the schools, brought truckloads of produce, seeds for planting and a 12-pound cabbage that kept the kids talking for days!

Rocklands Farmer shows chickens to Garfield Elementary students. photo by Sarah Bernardi

“When they came back from the farm, the kids were so excited and ready to share.  They were introduced to the origins of vegetables , which I don’t think they really knew.  Now they may be willing to explore something different, something they may not have tried before.”
- Principal Angela Tilghman, Garfield Elementary

 More than 1,100 students had the opportunity to participate in cooking demonstrations with a host of dynamic local chefs.  Many prepared recipes using the fruits and vegetables they harvested earlier in the week.  Students prepared kale salads, braised apples and collard greens, tomato bread salads, and tofu vegetable dumplings, among other healthy recipes highlighting seasonal and local produce.  For many students, this was their first time ever tasting leafy greens like kale and chard, and fall crops like squash and sweet potatoes.  They were asking for seconds and thirds!

Chef John Paul Damato makes butternut squash pizza with students at Cleveland Elementary. photo by Sarah Bernardi

 “I’ve never seen so many kids eat salads!”
- Parent organizer at Brent Elementary

D.C. Farm to School Week was more than just classroom lessons about growing food and eating healthy – it was a chance for our entire community to come together.   Chefs, grocers and restaurants shared their time and talents with students; farmers opened their fields to inquisitive children; and parents  helped coordinate events.  We saw a community working together to grow a healthier generation.

By: Bella Herold

At 6:30am on Tuesday June 1^st, I sat in a van with Andrea Northup, Coordinator of the D.C. Farm to School Network, and her colleague Scott Lewis, Director of Food Services for a school food service provider, mesmerized as the D.C. highway slowly transitioned into a beautiful countryside: rolling hills and lots and lots of green.  Within two hours, we saw plots of farmland, barns, cows, horses and rows of crops fill the landscape.  We passed a horse-drawn carriage and Mennonite women in long dresses and bonnets going about their day.

By the time we arrived at the produce auction, the open-air marketplace was already filled with yards of fresh fruit and vegetables, hanging plants, carts of melons, lines of herbs and various plant varieties.  Farmers unloaded and stood by the fruits of their labor, jubilant, smiling and eager to engage in conversation about their crops.  Our mission was to purchase about 200 heads of lettuce for the D.C. Farm to School Network’s upcoming Strawberries and Salad Greens event.  The greens would be served as part of school lunches in cafeterias across the District.

The auctioneer spoke into his microphone, quickly describing each item for sale, how many boxes of it you could buy and starting bids.  Individuals signaled if they were interested in making a purchase, and, just as quickly as each sale began, it ended and the auctioneer moved onto the next item.  A crowd of people gathered around the products and the auctioneer and we followed him from product to product.  Andrea purchased Romaine, curly leaf, and red leaf lettuce, a few boxes of yellow squash, and several green cucumbers for a few schools.  After some fresh pie and ice cream from the small food stand, we left and loaded up with boxes upon boxes of fresh produce in tow.

The next day was the Strawberry and Salad Greens Event.  I volunteered at the E.W. Stokes Public Charter School, one of the schools that received lettuce from the Auction.  I worked with two other volunteers to set up a table in the cafeteria before the first students arrived for lunch.  We displayed a blossoming strawberry plant, a photograph of a strawberry farm and a lettuce farm, lettuce seeds, a small lettuce plant, a large head of lettuce, gardening tools, and a map of the local farms where the strawberries and lettuce from the kids’ lunch had traveled from with respect to the District.  The students were served lettuce we had just bought from the auction and strawberries from a West Virginia farmer.

After eating their meals, students and teachers approached us and were pleasantly surprised by the small green strawberries growing on the strawberry plant.  Some kids told us that their families had just started vegetable gardens at home and others stared in awe at the baby lettuce plant and tiny lettuce seeds.  Enticed by their friends’ excitement and the promise of Strawberry and Salad Greens event stickers, more students approached us as we inquired how their salads tasted and explained where the food came from. Kindergarteners came to play with the gardening gloves and watering can, but stayed to examine lettuce seeds and the petals on the strawberry plant.  One student ate her strawberries while peering at the strawberry plant in front of her.  The students tasted the freshness and crispness that resulted from the hard work, effort and motivation the farmers put into their crops.

I will continue to volunteer with the D.C. Farm to School Network regularly in the upcoming months, and look forward to making events like this one successful.  One thing I learned from the whole experience–hard work, effort and motivation tastes pretty good.

Local lettuce and berries for school lunch being prepared at CentroNIA

If you walked into a D.C. school cafeteria on June 3^rd 2010, you may have been surprised at what you saw on students’ trays!  Over 150 schools in DC featured fresh, locally-grown strawberries and salad greens as a part of their school lunches.  This was part of an event called Strawberries & Salad Greens, organized by the D.C. Farm to School Network and in partnership with participating schools and food service providers.  For a medley of pictures from the event in DCist, click here.

Breakfast on the line at Thurgood Marshall Academy – blueberry muffin and local strawberries!

About 40,000 students in all 8 wards of the District gobbled up juicy, red berries and bright green lettuce in their lunches.  Approximately 7,300 pounds of local strawberries and 2,400 pounds of greens were purchased and served for the event, contributing about $20,000 to our local food economy.  The produce was grown on farms in Virgina, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania (visit dcfarmtoschool.org/strawberries for more information about the local growers).

Westmoreland Berry Farm, which supplied berries for DCPS meals on June 3^rd

In addition to helping schools find sources of fresh, local produce, the D.C. Farm to School Network coordinated “Where Food Comes From” tables in 16 school cafeterias.  At these tables, volunteers and parents displayed plants, posters, pictures, and gardening tools.  As students enjoyed their meals, they were able to see, touch, and smell where their food came from!

Carl Rollins with Common Good City Farm shows a strawberry plant to a group of pre-K students at Simon Elementary School

In twelve schools, local chefs performed interactive cooking demonstrations using local strawberries and salad greens.  Kids were able to help professionals prepare recipes, taste samples, discuss the importance of eating fresh, local, healthy foods, and bring home recipes to try with their families.

Chef Oliver Friendly of Eat and Smile Foods makes home-made granola and local strawberry parfaits at Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School

The D.C. Farm to School Network is a program of the Capital Area Food Bank that works to get more healthy, local foods into Washington, DC school meals.  Learn more at www.dcfarmtoschool.org.

Kacie Warner from the Washington Youth Garden prepares a strawberry arugula salad with students at Center City Public Charter School