Governor Larry Hogan has designated October 10-14, 2022, as Maryland Homegrown School Lunch Week. Now in its 15th year, this annual promotion encourages Maryland schools to serve local food in lunches to show students where their food comes from and to introduce them to fresh, nutritious products made right here in Maryland.
Maryland Homegrown School Lunch Week is an element of the Maryland Farm to School Program, which is administered by the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) and Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). The program aims to bring locally-produced foods into schools, provide hands-on experiential learning to students, and integrate food-related education, while promoting the benefits of local, nutritious foods.
This year’s celebration will be held at Greensboro Elementary School (GES) in Caroline County. Planned activities for the event include Greensboro Elementary School students attending an assembly and hearing from agriculture and education officials about the connection between farms, food and nutrition. Speakers include: Greensboro Elementary School Principal Dawn Swann, Caroline County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Derek Simmons, and Maryland Agriculture Secretary Joe Bartenfelder.
Culinary arts students prepared Italian Sausage using hogs raised by Caroline County Career and Technology agriculture students and purchased by Caroline County Public School Food and Nutrition. They also made Watermelon Mint Slushies with Watermelon from Bartenfelder Farms and Mint from Schafer Farms.
Other activities at the “Taste Testing” include a display from Choptank Community Health, tower gardens from Caroline County Public Schools, Shore Gourmet Mobile bus on site and a pumpkin seed activity from the University of Maryland Extension – Food Supplement Nutrition Education. Caroline Career and Tech Students from the Culinary Arts program and the Ag class will be promoting their classes during this event.
After lunch and the “Taste Test,” agricultural and educational leaders will read ag-related children’s books to students.
Other school districts across the state will participate in Maryland Homegrown School Lunch Week by providing students with locally-sourced school meals and educational materials. Highlights from other counties are listed below:
• St. Mary’s County Public Schools will be holding several Farm to School events throughout the county. Town Creek Elementary will be holding their event on October 13 from 9 am-3 pm. Green Holly Elementary’s event will be held on October 14 from 9 am – 3 pm. Activities at both schools will include outdoor activities in stations (nutrition station, animal station, aquaculture, and farm-based ag), classroom activities and books.
• Baltimore, Charles, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, and Washington County Public Schools will have activities throughout the week for students to participate in.
• Carroll County Public Schools will host taste testing of fresh local produce at Taneytown, Parr’s Ridge, and Robert Morton Elementary Schools.
• Dorchester County Public Schools will hold “Guess the Weight” contests in several schools and will serve locally grown sweet potatoes at all schools. MDH-RICA Baltimore will have announcements each day about locally-sourced items
For educational materials, Harvest of the Month posters, produce seasonality charts, menus, places to find local products, a brief video soundbook with photos and interviews, plus much more for parents, teachers, and food service staff, please visit the Maryland Farm to School website.
According to the 2019 U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm to School Census, Maryland schools spent over $19 million on local foods in School Year 2018-2019. More than 95% of Maryland schools serve local foods, and nearly 97% of Maryland schools participate in Farm to School activities such as nutrition education, taste testing, gardening and collaborating with local farmers. Maryland was also the first state in the nation to have every public school system participate in the Maryland Homegrown School Lunch Week.
Further details about Maryland’s school meals programs can be found on the Maryland State Department of Education’s website. More information on Maryland Homegrown School Lunch Week can be found on MDA’s website. For questions or concerns, please contact MDA’s Karen Fedor at [email protected] or (410) 841-5773.
