Schools Tap Local Farms for Nutritious, Locally Sourced Ingredients: For National Farm to School Month, parents, farmers join kids for lunch, emphasize healthy eating. Pew Charitable Trusts. Stephanie Scarmo. October 12, 2016.
Across the country this month, kids are making space at their cafeteria tables for special guests as National School Lunch Week (Oct. 9-15) and National Farm to School Month are celebrated. These annual events encourage students and families to share meals and give them a chance to meet local farmers whose harvests provide many of the fresh, healthy ingredients.
Fun, educational occasions such as these play an important part in the success of school meal programs. For example, 42 percent of nutrition directors who established school gardens—a popular farm-to-school activity—said that students ate more fruits and vegetables as a result. In general, directors noted that eating habits and meal program participation improved when schools actively engaged children and parents in menu-planning decisions, such as via taste tests and recipe competitions. [Note: contains copyrighted material].
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