In 2006, the Vermont General Assembly passed Act 145, which provided $125,000 in Farm-to-School competitive grants to help Vermont schools increase local food use and nutrition education in Vermont schools. Ferrisburgh Central School joined forces with Vergennes Union High School’s Walden Project alternative program to apply for a Farm-to-School grant, and was one of 12 schools to receive a grant award on January 1st, 2007, out of the 63 schools that applied.

 

“Local foods in our lunch programs make our students healthier and give them the skills to make positive food choices,” said Kathy Alexander, Ferrisburgh Central School’s Food Service Manager.  “This is an exciting opportunity to build important connections between food and nutrition and to teach our students about the importance of local farms.”

 

Ferrisburgh Central School and the Walden Project will use the Farm-to-School grant funds to purchase local foods and equipment needed to process them, to develop curriculum units for students at both schools related to local foods and farming, to set up mentoring relationships between Ferrisburgh students and Walden Project students, and to build bridges between both schools and selected local farms.

 

The year-long project will begin in February as the schools identify local farms to work with, and will continue through next fall as they purchase and prepare local foods, learn about local foods and farming, visit local farms, and have farmers visit their schools and participate in the Ferrisburgh 3rd grade’s annual Local Producers Fair in May 2007.

 

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