Seed-to-Table promotes student health

Well-fed and healthy students are successful students.

The Sisters School District (SSD) is taking nutrition and health programs seriously - so seriously that they have hired Audrey Tehan (SHS graduate of 2007) to get the new U.S. Department of Agriculture Community Food Projects Grant Farm-to-School program going in the SSD.

Tehan explained "Farm-to-School turned into Seed-to-Table when the SSD and Sisters Science Club (SSC) got their heads together, collaborating with the SSC's objective: "The future health of our students and community can be enhanced by a comprehensive program in healthy living from kindergarten through high school, including healthy eating, exercise and preventative health care.'"

USDA's Farm-to-Table (Farm-to-Fork, Farm-to-School, Seed-to-Table) refers to the stages of the production of food: Growing, harvesting, storage, processing, packaging, sales and consumption. Farm-to-Table also refers to a movement concerned with producing food locally and delivering that food to local consumers.

In the short time Audrey has been heading up the Sisters program she has:

•â¯Presented an introductory Seed-to-Table presentation to 50 SHS students with the help of Beaverton Seed-to-Table founder Paul Hudak.

•â¯Formed a new SHS greenhouse class, which resulted in 16 students helping design and build new raised beds in the Sisters Middle School greenhouse. Her students presented their work to the Sisters Science Club (SSC), stating what they have already learned about local foods, healthy eating, and organic farming.

•â¯Formed a small working group, consisting of Amber Dean, Terri Rood, and Leland Bliss, to help make the program work in the SSD.

•â¯Made arrangements to begin serving local, nutritious foods in the Sisters schools by the last week in January.

•â¯Arrange to have all Sisters Elementary School classes have a field trip to Sisters' Mahonia Gardens to learn about organic farming, healthy eating, local food, science and art in the garden, and other subjects related to raising healthy food

•â¯Trained volunteers for raising farm-to-table foods in the greenhouse to supply SSD luncheon menus, and establishing a living laboratory. The plan is to have enough volunteers to organize four meals, each group coming in one Monday a month to help prep foods.

•â¯Made arrangements with Melvin's Fir Street Market to get soups in school lunches at least once or twice a month. The plan is to serve Angeline's Bakery bagels, Rainshadow Organics' potatoes, and by the beginning of January, 2014, serve Thomas Orchards apples and pears every day.

•â¯Starting in February next year SHS and SMS students will be begin organic farming of spinach, lettuce and kale in the SMS greenhouse.

"There's a lot of work to be done," Tehan said. "A lot of enthusiasm has started around the mission! We are already looking for volunteers to help on Mondays to chop and prep meals for the week."

All these events were put into motion with the $12,000 grant from USDA Community Food Projects, and another $3,000 to build raised beds in the SMS greenhouse, which then started the ball rolling with the approval by Superintendent Jim Golden and the Sisters Science Club for hiring Tehan and lining up multiple volunteers.

Audrey now has a working team to bring the Farm-to-School program into reality. She's lined up Amber Dean (parent volunteer who has been leading the charge on increasing the amount of healthy foods in school lunches); Terri Rood (head of nutrition services at school); Leland Bliss (director of nutrition services) - all devoted to getting more local and nutritious foods in school lunches.

Amber Dean, who has a master's in nutrition from UC Davis, is looking forward to her volunteer role in the SSD Farm-to-School program.

"I'm excited about helping to plan nutritional menus, find recipes, and help students to understand how and why a healthy body and mind is just as important as the Three Rs," she said.

Leland Bliss, who oversees food services as part of his job as SSD director of operations, keeps his hand in the food services, attending weekly and daily workshops in the Bend School District and in the Valley.

"This program will really keep us on our toes," he said. "We have to obtain three bids for everything we purchase to provide the nutritional lunches and breakfasts for our students, and our boss Jim Golden makes sure we do it right."

Terri Rood described her "food wall" growing in the kitchen of the high school: "Oh, my food wall is so delicious, it's bite, bite, bite all the time: fresh basil, tomatoes, thyme and rosemary. Hey, I have a beautiful edible flower garden growing in my kitchen."