Parma City Schools celebrates Farm to School Month with kids taste testing kale – cleveland.com

PARMA, Ohio — Healthy eating leads to healthy minds is the rally cry of Parma City Schools Nutrition Services Supervisor Bob Gorman, who recently decided to show off the district’s farm to school practices.

The centerpiece of the initiative was on display during a special Oct. 29 event held at Pleasant Valley School and its outdoor garden.

“As part of a USDA Farm to School Grant, and being one of the larger school districts in Northeast Ohio, I felt like it was our responsibility to highlight October being Farm to School Month,” Gorman said.

“So we held a little event to bring some attention to what we’re doing, as well as hopefully encourage other food service directors and parents to sort of jump onboard Farm to School practices.”

The idea behind the school garden is if kids partake in growing, nurturing and harvesting food they’re more likely to taste test and even like the vegetables.

“What we did was full circle with kids harvesting some kale and spinach from the school garden,” Gorman said. “That spinach was then placed on our salad bar. Then we also cooked up some of the kale, which was offered to the kids as kale chips.

“For the taste testing, we kind of bribed them. If they tried a kale chip they would get a sticker. Out of roughly 200 kids, I would bet at least 180 tried it and around 140 to 150 kids liked the kale chips. We did some, ‘Yucks,’ but not very many.”

In addition to Gorman and Pleasant Valley Elementary Kitchen Manager Vickie Yates, there were other guests present at the Oct. 29 event.

This included USDA Midwest Farm to School Regional Lead Jenna Segal, Ohio Department of Agriculture Deputy Director of Children’s Initiatives Catherine Corbitt, Ohio Department of Agriculture Farm to School Public Information Officer Micaela Wright, Ohio Department of Education Program Specialist Scott Limburg. Ohio Department of Education Specialist Elizabeth Douglas, Cuyahoga County Department of Health Feed our Future Program Manager Alison Patrick and Spice Field Kitchen COO Steve Baker.

Pleasant Valley Elementary School’s The Land Lab

Pleasant Valley Elementary School Principal Stephanie Boka said the Pleasant Valley Road building is fortunate to have its garden, which is referred to as the Land Lab.

“The Land Lab serves as our outdoor classroom where children are learning through exploring the space’s potential,” Boka said. “The learning opportunities that the Land Lab provides are multisensory.

“Through an interdisciplinary project-based learning (PBL) approach, our children’s learning is authentic and intrinsic.”

An example of PBL involves first-grade STEM learners learning what is needed to successfully exist.

“The Farm to School initiative, paired with our learners’ experiences in the Land Lab, deepen their understanding of that essential question,” Boka said. “The Farm to School initiative provides several options for locally produced fruits and vegetables to our children’s lunches.

“This daily lunch experience, paired with the exposure to new vegetables through taste-testing events, allows natural connections to making nutritious food choices, gardening, and sustained farming — which are needed to successfully exist.”

As part of its healthy eating efforts, Parma City Schools received a $45,000 USDA Farm to School grant, as well as $13,000 Martha Jennings Foundation grant. The former will go toward the district’s purchase of school salad bars and hydroponic kits, as well as employee training; the latter is for Pleasant Valley Road Elementary School’s Land Lab.

“The main takeaway is kids will eat healthy food if Farm to School practices are implemented,” Gorman said.

Read more news from the Parma Sun Post here.