By TAPinto Springfield Staff
PublishedOctober 7, 2023 at 8:00 AM
SPRINGFIELD, NJ — Jonathan Dayton High School was one of five high schools in Union County cited by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture as a Farm to School Recognition Program School.
New Jersey schools that entered the Farm to School Recognition Program for the current school year were required to show evidence of working with farmers and the community to ensure students have access to healthy Jersey Fresh fruits and vegetables in their school cafeterias and classrooms.
“School gardens are an integral part of Farm to School activities and provide hands-on education for students to connect to the state’s agricultural history and learn healthy, lifelong eating habits,” the NJDA said in a press release.
Joining Joseph F. Cappello as Farm to School Recognition Program Schools are:
Henry P. Becton Regional High School
Hopewell Valley School District
Linden Public School District
North Dover Elementary – Dover Public School District
Rahway Public School District
Springfield School District
Summit School District
Union Public School District
Washington School – Nutley Public School District
Schools will receive Jersey Fresh Farm to School promotional materials kits including a Jersey Fresh Farm to School banner, aprons, taste test stickers, Jersey Tastes posters and seasonality charts.
Jersey Fresh Farm to School Week was designated as the last week of each September by a law signed in 2010. During this week, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture showcases schools that connect with New Jersey farmers to purchase local produce for school meals to increase student consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Farm to School activities can include:
Nutrition education, including taste tests with produce purchased from local farms.
Harvest meals serving locally sourced products from New Jersey farms.
Farm to School curricular tie-ins that connect the cafeteria to the classroom or school garden.
Visits to or from local farms that teach students how food is grown.
School garden education that ties directly into what is already being taught in the classroom.