Schools and farms: learning to become partners
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| Kitchen manager Juan Zamorano prepares salads for lunch on Friday at Gompers Preparatory Academy in San Diego, California. He works for the San Diego Unified School District, the county's biggest buyer of regionally sourced produce. / photo by Eduardo Contreras * U-T |
Small farmers in Southern California are finding new customers through a San Diego County initiative to create healthier diets in schools.
The effort is part of a larger movement spearheaded by the National Farm to School Network, founded in 2007 by more than 30 organizations to connect schools and growers in their areas.
Despite the national effort and seemingly simple concept, the idea has been slow to catch on with many districts.
“You’d think it would be easy to find the small produce growers, but it hasn’t been easy,” said JuliAnna Arnett, senior manager of operations and food systems for the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative.
Arnett said 11 districts in the region, led by the San Diego Unified School District, participate in Farm to School programs.
San Diego County has more than 6,000 small farms, including one-third that cultivate produce. But with no single broker between the growers and schools, the first step can be a logistical maze for districts.
The San Diego County Farm to School Taskforce, a subcommittee of