Celebrate Farm to School on October 26 with Local Carrots
Farm to School Chicken Noodle Soup Available on October 26, 2020
Collaboration between local native farm and Bend-La Pine School District
Celebrate National Farm to School Month!
Farm to School Month is a 31 day celebration of the farm to school efforts that are being made nationwide. Designated in Congress in 2010, this makes 2020 the 10th year anniversary of Farm to School Month. We invite you to celebrate with us by picking up a Bend-La Pine school lunch on October 26, featuring carrots grown right here in Central Oregon.
Local Carrots in the Chicken Noodle Soup
While Oregon ingredients are found on school menus daily in Bend-La Pine Schools, they have a treat in celebration of National Farm to School Month! On October 26, all Bend-La Pine schools will be serving chicken noodle soup, but this is not just any chicken noodle soup. This soup will contain carrots from a local Central Oregon farm, Sakari Farms. These carrots were planted, and will be harvested, with the assistance of the Garden for Every School team at The Environmental Center. A Meet Your Farmer flyer, with a fun coloring sheet and a link to see the video of the carrots being harvested, transported and prepped for the soup will also be available at all school meal sites.
Meet Your Farmer
Sakari Farms is a Native American tribal farm located in Tumalo, Oregon. Spring Alaska Schreiner, the owner and operator, comes from Inupiaq lineage, bringing a unique perspective and knowledge on food systems. She serves on numerous regional and national level boards and committees, and is an advocate for local farmers and tribal members. She offers organically grown vegetables, flowers, seeds, and value added products at her farm.
Sakari Farms is also home to the Central Oregon Seed Exchange and Sakari Botanicals. The Central Oregon Seed Exchange is a network dedicated to strengthening our local farming and gardening community, through seed saving and exchanging. Sakari Botanicals is a value added products culinary and healing tribal business, including healing teas, salts, and oils. Spring works locally and nationally in food sovereignty, farm education, and in strengthening and creating a more sustainable local food system. You can find her products locally at Central Oregon Locavore, and online at sakaribotanicals.com
Bend-La Pine Farm to School Efforts
It is so easy to celebrate Bend-La Pine Nutrition Services during Farm to School Month, because they do farm to school year round! They put in a lot of hard work creating menus for students that are packed with nutritious Oregon grown ingredients that students will enjoy. Partnering with numerous farmers and ranchers across the state, Nutrition Services helps to keep Oregon agricultural businesses thriving, while providing nutrient dense food for their students. Some examples of their farm to school efforts include purchasing:
- 3,500lb of stone fruits and apples per week from Thomas Orchards (Kimberly, OR)
- 500 lb of beef per week from Painted Hills Beef (Fossil, OR) for their taco meat, nachos, hamburger patties, and chili
- Berries and melons from Happy Harvest (Mount Angel, OR)
- Wheat from Camas Country Mills (Eugene, OR) to make all of their from scratch breads, pizzas, cinnamons rolls, pastries, etc.,
- Fish and shrimp (Oregon coast) for their Boat to School program
Garden for Every School
Garden for Every School is a project of The Environmental Center. As an organization working to embed sustainability into daily life in Central Oregon, we believe our food choices impact the health of our bodies and our planet, and that food can be a daily way to connect with nature. Our Garden for Every School team supports educators with garden and nutrition based lessons, local garden grants, garden educator network events, and operate our demonstration on site Learning Garden. We partner with FoodCorps, a national service organization, to connect kids to healthy food in schools. Statewide, we partner with the Oregon Farm to School & School Garden Network to serve as Central Oregon’s Regional Hub for school garden education.