The Maryland Department of Agriculture and the Maryland State Board of Education collaborated to form the Farm-to-School program, which provides all Maryland schools with fresh-grown local produce and products for school lunches.

The program provides teachers with materials that allow them to educate students about their school lunch menus, the agricultural process, and the benefits of having a healthy diet.

The Farm-to-School program was created during the last session of the Maryland General Assembly and was signed into law by Governor Martin O’Malley in May. The first annual Maryland Homegrown School Lunch Week kicked off on September 22. On September 23, a kick-off celebration took place at Takoma Park Middle School, which held special educational activities and provided lunch with students, farmers and state and local officials.

Each day of the Homegrown Lunch Week, every school in Maryland was provided with varied assortments of fruit, vegetables and salads offered in the cafeteria lunch lines. Items such as melon cups, green beans, tomato and cucumber salads, watermelon and zucchini are just some of the foods that helped make our cafeteria selections more nutritious and enjoyable.

“Since my family and I eat only local and organic food at our house, it’s great that the cafeteria is providing it,” English teacher Alan Leddy said.

Teachers acknowledge the fact that students do not always choose the best selection of food to eat at school lunches, but they feel that the new program hopefully helped students to start on the correct path towards a balanced diet.

“I know that kids don’t always like to eat healthy, but I think that if fruits and vegetables are provided, more kids will start to try it. I think once kids start to eat real, naturally-grown foods, they will start to like it more,” Leddy said.

While some were happy to welcome the fresh intake of new foods, others worried that the fruits and vegetables would not be eaten by most students at the school and the food would go to waste. They worried that the cafeteria staff would end up throwing away much of the fresh, local-grown produce. After all, many students simply prefer to order french fries for their lunch.

“Kids only like to eat unhealthy foods and don’t eat produce unless they get it from home or eat it at home for dinner or breakfast.,” sophomore Daniel Cordero said.

Although the school has mixed opinions and perspectives on the new program, fresh and nutritious produce supplies our school with an enhanced variety of cafeteria options that benefit the students as a whole.