Humboldt County

Humboldt County has 34 schools with more than 50% of the students enrolled in a free or reduced lunch program. These 34 schools are the focus of the Humboldt County Farm to School effort. The target schools are geographically dispersed around the county in the rural areas and in the lower income areas of Eureka and Arcata- the two largest cities. Klamath-Trinity Unified School District and Southern Humboldt School District have been especially active.

Farm to School work began with a gathering of parents, educators, dieticians, school lunch personnel and community members to brainstorm ideas for effecting change. Assessing schools’ current situations provided a view of the strengths and areas for improvement. Relationships with the farmers were built through repeated contact at the markets. In some cases, especially in rural, close-knit communities, farmers and food service know each other and can arrange logistics more easily. However, many transactions for Harvest of the Month required the farm to school coordinator to actually do the purchasing and the legwork.

Food service employees favor items that require minimal preparation. Cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, apples and onions have been incorporated into school meals.
Whereas, additional items like strawberries and greens have been used in Harvest of the Month taste tests.

Because many of the schools are more than an hour from town innovative solutions have surfaced. Mattole Unified School District is a rural district with only 60 students that has a difficult time getting deliveries made to their isolated location. Their solution has been to utilize the school bus to deliver farm fresh food. When the growing season permits, the bus driver picks up a weekly box of fresh produce from a farm he passes en route. This illustrates one success story, although it has been difficult to devise an institutional approach to getting farm fresh produce into all of the schools.

Farm to School in Humboldt County take a few different forms, here are the different programs that have been established.

Harvest of the Month
Adopted from L.A. Unified’s Harvest of the Month program, this activity highlights a different fruit or vegetable each month and includes a taste test. Harvest of the Month has been used for classroom nutrition lessons and as a supplemental activity for farm fieldtrips. In order to take a more institutionalized approach and reach a greater number of students, farm to school now acts as a contact point, referring people to The County Office of Education.

Farmer in the Classroom
In the spring of 2004, a farmer in the classroom program was piloted. A local farmer was invited to come into the classroom for Harvest of the Month and viisit K-5 students at Orleans Elementary. The farmer engaged aprox. 40 students in plant identification games, food pyramid lessons and discussions about local agriculture. In addition to putting a face on the farmer who grew their food, students were given a vegetable start to encourage home gardening.

Farm and Farmers’ Market Tours
Partnering with The County Health Department, County Office of Education and a local Co-Op, tours of farmers’ markets were offered to encourage healthy eating. In the spring of 2004, over 100 4th and 5th grade students from Eureka City Schools walked to a nearby, weekday farmers’ market. Activities included: fun facts, a taste test, and a market dollar to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables. More tours are scheduled for the fall.

Annual Farm to School Conferences and Workshops
Conferences are held on an annual basis to keep the community aware of Farm to School efforts and opportunities. Prominent food security speakers and leading local panelists attracted participants county-wide to provide first hand accounts, resources and networking opportunities for those wanting to create healthy school environments.

In addition to conferences, a food service appreciation party was held in March 2004 to recognize food service workers, encourage communication and identify needs. More work with food service directors is scheduled for 2005.