Farm-To-Table Upcoming Events from Trista Scheuerlein, Farm-To-Table Director

Date: November 4, 2009 | Print This Post | Email This Post | 1,010 views

Farm-To-Table Upcoming Events from Trista Scheuerlein, Farm-To-Table Director

F2T Summer/Fall Updates 2009

The Virginia Department of Education is encouraging all schools in the Commonwealth to participate in the Local Foods Week set for November 9-13. Schools are partnering with the Virginia Department of Ag and Consumer Services, the county extension services, and local farmers to highlight one of Virginia’s finest commodities: apples!

Here in Rappahannock County Public Schools, food service director Brenda Payne and I are partnering with Virginia Extension via Kenner Love, the Fodderstack Food Working Group, Piedmont Environmental Council and the Buy Fresh, Buy Local campaign, Jenkins Orchard, The Farm at Sunnyside, Williams Orchard, and Adams Slaughterhouse to have an entirely locally-produced meal available to all students in their cafeteria line on November 11. We will have local farmers set up informational booths in both school cafeterias. We are inviting local farmers and farm interns to come and eat lunch with students that day to discuss what it’s like to produce food for people here in Rappahannock County. We will have Buy Fresh, Buy Local guides, stickers, and buttons to give to students.

We are also looking for volunteers to help with peeling and dicing apples for the apple crisp on November 10 at RCES at 4:30pm in the school cafeteria. One of the roadblocks to serving more fresh and local foods in schools is the increased prep time required to create meals. Volunteers should bring their own peelers and cutting boards, and they should wear hats or bandanas over their hair to protect the food from contamination. The more the merrier!

This is the first time that the Department of Ed has encouraged all food service directors to participate in this type of event. Our village IS willing to raise–and feed–our children!

In addition, November 15 is America Recycles Day. We will be celebrating America Recycles Day in our schools the following week, November 16-20. If anyone is willing to create posters to hang in our schools, please bring them to RCES on November 10 when you come to peel apples after school. We are encouraging posters made of recycled materials, and we are recycling plastics and paper at RCES and RCHS. We are also looking for donations to purchase three more large recycling bins with wheels for our schools to use specifically for recycling. Go Green Rappahanock!

A list of scheduled events will follow this e-mail message. We are in need of helping hands.  Please RSVP if you can spare a little time to help the Farm-To-Table Program. 

Very Sincerely,

Trista 

Trista Scheuerlein
Farm-to-Table Program Director
A Headwaters/Rappahannock County Public Schools Partnership
P.O. Box 114
Sperryville, VA 22740
Office: 540.987.3322
Home office: 540.987.8312
farm2table@headwatersfdn.org
or
tristascheuerlein@rappahannock.k12.va.us