Farm to School Pilot Project in Two School Districts in San Mateo

County, CaliforniaRobin Galas

Family Engagement Institute

Jennifer GrossSan Mateo County Health System

Jennifer Gross and Robin Galas

The following personal financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to this presentation existed during the past 12 months:

Presenter Disclosures

“No relationships to disclose”

Where is San Mateo County, CA?

Who participates in this collaborative?

What is the purpose of the San Mateo County Food System Alliance?

EQUAL access to healthy, affordable, local food

FAIRLY compensated producers

Farmland PRESERVED for future generations

What are our broad goals?

Specific Goals & Projects

1. Promote school gardens (e.g. Annual Recognition Program)2. Connect farmers to institutional buyers (e.g. farm to school

pilot project and feasibility study to determine economic viability of selling county grown produce to institutions)

3. Increase access to land4. Food System Assessment Report

Objectives of Farm to School Pilot Project

1. Increase students’ consumption of fresh fruit & vegetables

2. Find new local markets for growers3. Stimulate economy through “multiplier effect”4. Help students appreciate where food comes from

Five Step Process

1. Identified 2 school districts (considered location, diverse student body, kitchen type, >50% free/reduced lunch participation, and interest)2. Conducted produce analysis (reviewed previous year’s invoices for items, quantities, and cost)3. Met with growers and food service directors4. Selected Harvest of the Month; feasible for growers and schools5. Developed evaluation plan

Accomplishments

CAFF supplied FREE Harvest of the Month boxes for 84 classes from Feb.- May

CAFF bought >$2K of strawberries from Swanton Berry Farms for 554 classrooms in 5 Bay area counties. Reached 19,000 students.

Jacobs Farm supplied strawberries to summer lunch programs in two pilot school districts strawberries AND began dialogue to contract grow

Challenges

-Identifying the “right” product• Appealing to students• Schools: lack infrastructure and

staff to process produce, unaccustomed to buying seasonally, and some can’t purchase “out of contract”

-Distribution• Small growers lack infrastructure

for distribution and processing• Mid-sized growers can distribute

but small volumes don’t make it profitable

-Lack of stakeholder involvement

Lessons Learned

-Patience! These programs take time.

-Start small (e.g. Harvest of the Month)

-Build relationships with key stakeholders EARLY!

-Engage families

Next Steps

- Health Department funded CAFF to supply 50 classrooms in 5 low income schools with HOTM after grant. One county grower will supply cabbage.-Complete feasibility study to help schools/other institutions buy from single aggregator rather than multiple growers-CAFF will conduct a “farm to school challenge” - Pursuing additional funding for farm to school efforts

- Sharing HOTM & farm to school info with parent groups- Screening the film, Cafeteria Man, with stakeholders to generate excitement

Thank you!

• We are grateful to our partners:– Diana Abellera, Farm to School Director, Community Alliance with Family Farmers– Karen Luna, General Manager-On Site Food Service Solutions, Ravenswood City

Elementary School District– Anna Lague, General Manager Sodexo, Redwood City Elementary School District– Jim Cochran and James Kennedy, Swanton Berry Farms– Larry and Sandy Jacobs, Brendan Miele, and Emily Freed, Jacobs Farm– Wendy Weiden, Consultant– Scott Morrow, Health Officer, San Mateo County Health System

• “Like” the San Mateo County Food System Alliance and the Get Healthy San Mateo County Facebook pages to follow our progress

• Contact Robin Galas, GalasRobin@fhda.edu or Jennifer Gross at jgross@smcgov.org• Visit www.sanmateocofsa.org, www.gethealthysmc.org, www.caff.org, and

www.cafarmtoschool.org