Lunch Ladies*

It’s American slang, a label used to define the people behind the lunch line making food for kids in a school. In the UK, the term “Dinner Lady” is most common, although their cafeteria cooks do more supervision of children than the traditional American lunch cook. Although they can be classified as many different things (cafeteria ladies, school moms, school lunch workers, nutritional service employees, school food service professionals), they are school cooks and people in the educational service industry. “Lunch ladies” is a way to classify the group as a whole, but individually this term is stereotypically negative.

It’s all about connecting the dots. Farmers grow food. Food has to travel to the plate. How does it get there and what happens en route? In the US, the average distance an item travels is 1,500 miles. On Martha’s Vineyard, it’s maybe five. But it’s astounding how problematic those few miles can be when there’s no distribution system in place that’s scalable, affordable and efficient for farmers to connect to markets. Until recently…

About a year ago, Julie Sierputoski of West Tisbury, decided to take matters into her own hands by putting them on the wheel of her truck. Julie connected the dots in her own way. One farm at a time. One school cafeteria at a time. Step by step this strategy appears to be paying off. Now five farms: Mermaid, Bettlebung, Morning Glory, Blackwater and The FARM Institute sell to all the Island school cafeterias.

The Produce Connection MV is one more example of budding local food entrepeneur-ism, one harvest at time.  For more information, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

GLEANING is the act of harvesting produce that would otherwise be left in a field. Historically, the margins of farmed fields have been left for the socially disadvantaged to collect food for themselves. Lack of labor or sudden and unpredictable changes in the weather may catch a farmer off guard when produce is ripe. Gleaning is one solution to these issues. Island Grown Gleaning (IGG) takes action.

Nationally, good whole food is being plowed under while there’s a battle raging out there about highly processed, sugared and fatty foods generally served to students in school systems. The frightening epidemic of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes is so disturbing and seemingly ironic, against the backdrop of the USDA’s recently released stats on the number of children in our country who were “food insecure” in 2010: 16.2 million. Food (re)distribution, access and costs are complex, multi-dimensional issues. Yet it’s the kind of food and the kind of education given to the children that raises awareness and in turn, creates change and solutions to the problems. However fresh produce requires work–delivering, washing and chopping. Storing produce for use in school meals takes time and resources that cafeterias are not yet necessarily set up to accomplish on a regular basis. So as one barrier to getting healthier food in the schools is being addressed, others are being created. But as IGG’s record stands to date, no doubt they will rise to the challenge and help solve this latest conundrum for the school cafeterias as well.

Editor’s note: For more info about IGG, contact Jamie O’Gorman, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). The Mass. Department of Agriculture Resources recently launched the MA Gleaning Network. For more information contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Island Grown Preschools is a new program IGI is bringing to life this year to help bring garden-based learning and healthy eating to the Vineyard’s youngest Island students.

“We’re starting with a series of meetings with pre-school leaders this year, to see where everyone is now,” says Noli Taylor, program coordinator for IGS. With the four main components of IGS: cafeterias, classrooms, farms, and gardens, integrating food and nutrition into the Island’s youngest student’s daily lives is another
branch on the IGI tree that has great potential to grow.

Evidence of preschools expanding their Island food education has already started popping up. Take for example the Garden Gate Child Development Center in Vineyard Haven. This small nonprofit preschool and toddler center held a picnic at the end of one of their summer programs. Kids and parents were invited to make
a dish for the class using ingredients from the Island. The objective was to educate the children on their own agricultural surroundings, more specifically where their food comes from and the importance of including local meat and produce into their daily diets.

The future of Island Grown Preschools is bright. Kids are learning about recycling waste and learning about food by routines and other educational activities. With the development of food education growing by the day, preschools have a hopeful prospect filled with all the delicious and healthy bounty Martha’s Vineyard has to offer.