The City of Seattle has good news for its public school system and local food producers, as it lands a nearly $100,000 USDA Farm to School grant. Detailing on the grant objectives, the investment aims to augment the capacity of Seattle Public Schools (SPS) Culinary Services, boost student access to food systems education, and up the ante on training for school garden practitioners, according to a post on greenspace.seattle.gov.
The funds will flow downstream to SPS Culinary Services and several community organizations, including SPS Native American Education, Nurturing Roots, and the Seattle School Learning Garden Network through Tilth Alliance to spearhead the program, as the same statement reveals, workshops and resources aimed at enhancing the presentation of fresh and local produce in school meals will be prioritized, Naturing Roots will take center stage providing food justice workshops across 8-10 schools, and a deeper understanding of native plants will be infused into SPS curriculum courtesy of SPS Native American Education initiatives, the goal here is clear— to increase student engagement with school meals by aligning them closer to cultural relevancies and local agriculture.
Further breaking down the grant’s uses, SPS Culinary Services is set to conduct culinary training for kitchen staff to better handle and serve local foods, meanwhile the educational component focuses on imparting knowledge about food justice, farm-to-table practices, and first foods education, the project is also expected to garner more student feedback on meals, facilitating a tailored approach that caters to a diverse student palette especially low-income and students of color this will be done while providing a lifeline to local farmers and their produce.
With school gardens being a key aspect of the initiative, Tilth Alliance will tap into the Seattle School Learning Garden Network to offer resources and learning events for a wide range of participants from students to gardeners, Tilth Alliance’s partnership extends beyond Seattle, too; they are recipients of another significant Farm to School Grant award, which will amplify their ability to educate students hands-on at Rainier Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands, and further support the Seattle School Learning Garden Network.
This initiative is part of a grander USDA plan involving a $14.3 million fund allocation across 154 projects nationwide dedicated to providing children with wholesome school meals, quoted from the greenspace.seattle.gov publication, "the USDA’s investment will help feed an estimated 1.9 million children across 45 US states and territories," ensuring a future where good nutrition and education about local food systems go hand in hand.
