Harvest of the Month gets underway
“Harvest of the Month” features one locally purchased item each month. Once a month the Harvest of the Month team, along with parent, and local producer volunteers will visit area schools during lunch time and pass out samples of the featured item and introduce students to the farmer who grew it!
Photo by Shaun Daniel
On March 31st, a planning group came together to sketch out a 12 month Harvest of the Month plan as part of the Farm to School program for Union County schools. Team members included ORA Farm to School staff members Teresa Roark and Andi Sexton, UCFit Kids co-chairs Dr. Nancy Findholt, of OHSU, Vicky Brogoitti of the Union County Commission on Children and Families, OHSU nursing faculty member Misty Free, and four senior nursing students: April Schultz, Jessica Sexton, Jessica Core, and Katrina Squire!
“Harvest of the Month” features one locally purchased item each month. Once a month the Harvest of the Month team, along with parent, and local producer volunteers will visit area schools during lunch time and pass out samples of the featured item and introduce students to the farmer who grew it!
In other parts of Oregon Harvest of the Month has grown into a project that involved the entire community with school serving the featured item weekly, grocery stores putting the Harvest of the Month item on special, or local newspaper printing recipes. How big do you think we can make Harvest of the Month in Union County?
Another outcome? The group scheduled beta tastings for April (spinach) and May (Asparagus). The nursing students will be selecting nutritious and creative recipes for the tastings, helping on site each event, and developing take home educational materials that include nutritional information, the recipes used, and a fun activity for kids, and how interested parents can purchase the featured item from a local producer.
Thank you OHSU and our four nursing students! This is going to be fun fun fun!
