Official Impressed By Farm To School Program

Kevin Concannon, right, federal undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, speaks Tuesday during a tour of Owl Creek School in Fayetteville to learn about the Fayetteville School District’s Farm to School Program.
Kevin Concannon, right, federal undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, speaks Tuesday during a tour of Owl Creek School in Fayetteville to learn about the Fayetteville School District’s Farm to School Program.

FAYETTEVILLE — Over a lunch of local food products, national and state leaders in child nutrition received a crash course in Fayetteville School District’s farm to school lunch program.

“This was a wonderful meal,” said Kevin Concannon, U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary of food, nutrition and consumer services. Concannon was at Owl Creek School to learn about the district’s farm to school and sustainability programs.

The lunch featured grilled slider hamburgers, sweet potato baked fries, a green salad and strawberry shortcake, all made from products grown or raised in Northwest Arkansas.

Concannon’s division in the Agriculture Department oversees the national school lunch program that has developed more rigorous standards, including the most recent change requiring larger servings of fruits and vegetables.

The intent, Concannon said, is to get healthier calories into the 33 million children who eat at least one meal a day at school.

At A Glance

Cooking Class

A free community cooking class is planned for 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Asbell Elementary School, 1500 N. Sang Ave. It is sponsored by Phi Alpha Honor Society for students studying social work at the University of Arkansas. Families are invited to learn the advantages of eating fresh, local food while they watch chefs and nutrition experts prepare a healthy meal.

Source: Staff Report

“We’re very interesting in facilitating healthier meals,” he said. One way to do that is through the farm to school program that provides healthier, less processed foods while building the local economy, he added.

“We’re in the midst of changing school meals for the better,” he told about 20 educators, state child nutrition officials from the Arkansas Department of Education and local representatives from food advocacy groups.

“It’s thrilling for me to hear this,” Concannon said after a presentation by Adam Simmons, the School District food service director. “We’re trying to encourage schools in this. It puts dollars back into the community and is greener for the community.”

Simmons said the district is trying to create a model for a farm to school program that can be adapted by other school districts through connections with local partners. The program works with the University of Arkansas, Apple Seeds, Feed Fayetteville and others to increase the use of locally grown products.

Benefits of such a program are the economic impact of buying local products, the connection farms and farmers can make with students and the educational outreach in the community through periodic cooking classes and other activities.

Students are learning from the program. Simmons told a story about a 5-year-old student who said she didn’t know chickens had bones until she was served a chicken leg in a school cafeteria. Some students were surprised to learn fresh green beans aren’t a uniform shape and are crunchier and greener than canned green beans.

The School District’s farm to school program received a $99,000 grant from the federal government last year. The program is ranked as one of the top five in the country, said Superintendent Vicki Thomas.

David Dickey, a Tontitown farmer, sells produce to the district. He said the program gives him another sales outlet besides the Farmers’ Market. He dedicated a portion of his lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower crop to the School District this year.

“It all comes down to volume and price,” Dickey said, noting selling to the district is better than throwing away the produce if it doesn’t sell at a market.

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