STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
A farm-to-table dinner that includes seasonal fare and Idaho wines will benefit fresh healthy school lunches in the Wood River Valley.
The Power of School Food Farm-to-Table Dinner will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, at the Wood River Sustainability Center, 308 S. River St. in Hailey.
Proceeds from the evening will benefit the Farm-to-School Lunch Program, which was launched as a pilot project last year by the Sustainability Center and Local Food Alliance.
“It should be an interesting night of conversation about a topic of importance to our community,” said Stacy Whitman, the communications director for the Local Food Alliance.
The Sustainability Center and Food Alliance started providing farm-to-school lunches using local and regionally grown food believed to maximize brain performance and support the immune system to Syringa Mountain School as a pilot project in December 2014.
Meals include Tomato Basil Bisque, grass-fed beef chili, chicken Caesar salad, veggie lasagna and veggie pizza.
About half of the school’s 133 students take advantage of the lunches, which cost $3.50 each, said Whitman.
“Not every kid eats everything on their plate. But, for the most part, it’s been amazing to watch the kids open their mind to new flavors, which is what every parents wants,” she said.
The 2015 USDA Farm to School Census found that schools with robust farm-to-school programs are seeing reductions in plate waste, increases in school meal participation rates and an increased willingness on the part of children to try new foods, particularly fruits and vegetables.
“We feel very strongly that the correlation between nutritious locally sourced food and our children makes for a happier, healthier child and also one that is able to be engaged in the process of where their food comes from and how it is processed for them,” said Sustainability Center Director Al McCord.
Nancy Linscott said the fresh lunches changed her fourth-grade daughter’s perception of school lunch and broadened her culinary horizons last year.
“I was a bit skeptical that Inez would embrace the menu items, since things like ham and bean soup have a tendency to elicit a curled lip and a turned head,” she said. “But, to my utter amazement, she would come home raving about the soups and salads . I think that when children have the opportunity to experience truly fresh food they begin to lose their fear that new things will be yucky. They’re more willing to dabble beyond their comfort zones.”
Whitman said the goal is to inspire a district-wide school food service that will improve the health and performance of Blaine County students, while positively impacting the local economy and reducing our carbon footprint.
Nationwide, more than 42,000 schools are serving farm-to-school lunches utilizing nearly $600,000 worth of locally grown fresh food.
“Food sourced and consumed by local schools and other institutions here in the valley represents an enormous percentage of food accessed, consumed and potentially recovered,” said Food Alliance Director Ali Long. “It also impacts the development of children’s attitudes and awareness about their own well-being and their ability to impact the economic and environmental health of their community.”
Tickets for the dinner are $100. They can be purchased at the Wood River Sustainability Center at wrsustainabilitycenter@gmail.com or by calling 208-721-3114. They also can be purchased through Stacy Whitman at 973-224-5750 or stacy@localfoodalliance.org or through Ali Long at 415-306-4551 or ali@localfoodalliance.org.