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A project of the Hartford Food System, the Hartford Board of Education Food Service and Hartford Public Schools. Funded by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, U.S.D.A.

During the fall semester of 1996 and the spring and fall semesters of 1997, the Hartford Food System and the Hartford Public School Food Service expanded a pilot program initiated in 1994-1995 to improve the nutritional status of school children by increasing their consumption of a wide variety of fresh, locally grown seasonal fruits and vegetables. The program was tested in four schools: Burns Elementary, Fox Middle, Quirk Middle and South Middle.

The Farm to School Food Education program works at two levels: in the cafeteria, staff integrate fresh local produce in the lunch menu. In the classroom, children learn about fresh fruits and vegetables in hands-on classes, field trips to local farms, and demonstrations from local farmers and chefs. It has been an exciting venture that shows that children who participate in the preparation of a new food will be more likely to try it -- and like it. Children have made and tasted salads with fresh greens, stirfried broccoli and asparagus, collards, fresh tomato salsa, carrot salad and roasted squash. Ms. Lindsay Loguidice, a teacher at the Sports Science Academy, Ms. Kathleen Chao, a fourth grade Burns teacher and Ms. Koladis, the Family and Consumer Science teacher at Quirk Middle School, have worked with the Hartford Food System to develop interdisciplinary curriculum that has encouraged students to accept new, fresh foods and improve their skills in mathematics, language and team work. The lessons also increase their awareness of other cultures and the part they play in the future of the land that sustains us all.

Food service director Carole Kurtz and cafeteria staff Jose Velasquez (Burns Elementary), Geraldine Shuler (South Middle), Keith Simms (Fox Middle) and Gonzalo Rodriguez (Quirk Middle) modified the lunch menu to include more locally grown produce for 11 weeks in the fall of 1996 and 11 weeks in the fall of 1997. The cafeteria staff embellished their fresh salads with locally grown cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes. Five new recipes featured local produce, including a tomato, cucumber and cabbage salad, tuna and vegetable salad, broccoli pizza, roasted potatoes, and roasted diced squash. In addition, a Puerto Rican beans, ham and squash stew was developed to use the diced butternut squash, but has not yet been added to the menu.

In the 1996 fall period of September 6 to November 15, the three participating schools (Burns, Fox and Quirk) purchased approximately 17,495 pounds of Connecticut grown fruits and vegetables for a total of $6900. This represented 79% of the total weight of local and imported produce and 76% of the total cost of $9,071 (See Table 1).

Due to the late and cold spring of 1997, no produce was available for sale to the schools in May and June. From September 1 to November 7, 1997, a total of 15,300 pounds of Connecticut grown produce was used in the four schools (Burns, Fox and Quirk and South). By weight, this represented approximately 53% of the total fresh produce purchased in the 11-week period. In terms of cost, the value of the produce was $6570, or 48% of the total $13,624 spent on all fresh produce (See Table 1 ).

The fifteen varieties of local produce used in the two fall periods included the following items: IPM (reduced pesticide use) and conventionally-grown apples and pears, peaches, broccoli, corn, red and green cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, romaine and leaf lettuce, potatoes, tomatoes, onions and peppers.Fresh fruits (apples peaches and pears) composed the bulk of the locally grown produce used in the intervention schools. In 1996, fruits composed about two-thirds of the volume and half the cost, and approximately one third in volume and cost in 1997 (See Table 1). In 1997, an additional 43,940 pounds (1200 cases) of peaches, apples and pears were distributed to the other 28 schools in the district. The cost of the additional fruit was $14,095.

In the 1996 and 1997 fall periods, the average per student expenditure on local produce was $3.11. Extrapolated to include the estimated 17,000 students participating in the city’s school lunch program in 1997, the potential value of local produce purchased in the 11-week fall period would be approximately $52,000. If all 24,000 eligible students were taken into account, the amount would be approximately $75,000. If the state’s estimated 447,000 students consumed $3.11 worth of Connecticut grown produce in their lunches for the same period, the sales value would amount to approximately $1.4 million.

The 1995 pilot program, Farm Fresh Start, established that Hartford’s 32 schools potential demand for local produce during the 40-week school year would amount to an estimated $173,000 in annual sales for local growers. At the state level, potential expenditures would amount to $3.3 million, or 9% of Connecticut’s total 1994 level fruit and vegetable farm sales of $38.15 million.

Table 1. Percentage of Volume and Cost of Connecticut Grown Produce Used in Intervention Schools in 1996 & 1997.
 

Time Period	Total Produce Volume (pounds)	Total Produce Cost	CT-Grown Produce Volume & % of Total Volume	CT-Grown Produce Cost & % of Total Cost	CT-Grown Fruit   Volume & % of Total Volume	CT-Grown Fruit  Cost and % of Total Cost
9/5/96-  11/15/96	22,041#	$9,071	17,495# (79%)	$6,900  (77%)	12,988# (59%)	$4942  (54%)
9/1/97 - 11/7/97	28,981#	$13,624	15,301# (53%)	$6,670 (48%)	10,140# (35%)	$4,268 (31%)

 
Cost comparisons were made in the fall of 1997 between local and imported apples, pears, tomatoes and Romaine lettuce. Local apples ranged from 30% less to 20% more in cost than imported equivalents, and on average cost 8% less. Pears cost 15% less to 6% more, averaging 7% less in cost. Local tomatoes were 31% to 49% higher in cost, and on average cost 39% more. Romaine lettuce was purchased for four weeks in September. During this time it cost an average of 34% less than imported California Romaine.

Across the country, other schools are beginning to look for ways to use local farm produce in their school meals. USDA’s Food and Consumer Service has observed Hartford’s efforts with interest as it works to establish a similar program to link farmer coops to public school cafeterias in North Carolina and Florida. Innovative links have been made between the classroom and cafeteria in schools from Albequerque to Boston.

The Hartford Food System (HFS) is a private, non profit organization established in 1978. Its mission is to develop an equitable and sustainable food system capable of addressing the underlying causes of hunger and poor nutrition. Projects and initiatives of HFS include the development of the Connecticut WIC Farmers’ Market Coupon Program and farmers’ markets, including Hartford’s Main Street Market, the 16-acre Holcomb Farm Community Supported Agriculture project, a grocery delivery service for homebound low-income elderly, management of Hartford’s Food Policy Commission, participation in the development of the federal Community Food Security Act, a state legislature sponsored Connecticut Food Security Committee, and a newly-formed state government food policy council.

Funding for this project came in part from the USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and in kind contributions from Hartford Public School teachers, the Hartford Board of Education School Food Service, Fowler and Huntting wholesalers, the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, UCONN Extension, Manchester Community College Hospitality Department, and chefs and farmers from across the Hartford region.

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