Fresh Harvest

Farm to school enriches the connection communities have with fresh, healthy food and local producers by changing food purchasing, eating habits and educating the community at large about sustainable practices.

BY CHAKRIS KUSSALANANT AND BRIAN RICHARDSON

Tucked away in a north Springfield neighborhood, two dedicated farmers tend to a plot of land that promises to provide a unique opportunity for local students. The agricultural oasis, filled with exploding colors of various produce, is a test menu of sorts, piquing the interest of curious young taste buds, while offering lessons in sustainable practices.

The farm, nestled between single family homes and apartment complexes on Flamingo Avenue, is owned by Springfield Public Schools. Everything indicates the land has historically been used as a farm and orchard. Today, the property is home to the District’s Farm. SPS has also partnered with two local organizations, Willamalane and Food For Lane County, to utilize the entire 10-acre property for community food production. Willamalane uses a section of the farm for a community garden. Food for Lane County uses a section to supply fruits and vegetables for its many meal projects.

In the past decade, the Youth Transition Program program used the SPS Farm as a work experience site for Special Education students in the district and included a fresh produce stand in Downtown Springfield.
 
In 2008, Kevin Hillman, a former Youth Transition Program Specialist working with the District’s Special Programs team, came up with the idea of creating the Transition Garden Project, a program that would bring students to the farm to both gain skills and service community needs. 
 
In late 2021, due to pandemic complications, the farm  shut down and the former vocational program evaporated. The SPS farm’s fields and resources stood unused  for three years.
 
In early 2023, the former Transition Garden Project coordinator Joyce Douglas decided to approach the District with a new vision for the farm.

After securing funding for the 2023-2025 school years through a Child Nutrition Program Grant from the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), Douglas was able to get new equipment, seeds, and materials to jumpstart the SPS Farm once again, but this time with a focus on building a Farm to Cafeteria program.
 
In July 2023, Douglas began the process of revitalizing the topsoil—removing weeds, well-rooted blackberry bushes, and many critters from the farm grounds. She was assisted by Johnny Laws, who has been a volunteer at the farm since 2017 and has now been hired by SPS as the farm assistant. The entire process took them eight months of hard work.
 
“The biggest challenge was not clearing the land, but figuring out what to plant and how to produce at scale,” explains Joyce Douglas, SPS Farm coordinator. “We are kind of going through and writing down when we harvest and our quantities. So far, we have harvested more than 2,687 pounds of produce this season.”
 
Despite having only three hoop houses and fields to work with, Douglas and Laws have successfully planted, grown and harvested a variety of crops, including blue corn, cherry and roma tomatoes, peppers, yellow onions, broccoli, cauliflower, and melons.
 
The produce has been distributed primarily to Hamlin Middle School, Thurston Middle School, Gateways High School, Springfield High School and Thurston High School. Any excess goes to Catholic Community Services on G Street in Springfield.
“The farm is a tool for education and produce, but the goal of this project is a wider farm to school program,” says Douglas. "Through work experience I was able to see how much it affected students’ lives and their families. How excited they got about produce and food—the pride of just planting a seed, seeing it grow and be able to harvest it!" As the farm continues in its new setup, the hope is to have more students visit the farm, learn about sustainable agricultural practices, the benefits of organic produce, nutrition and food science.
 
“Our partnership with local farms and suppliers supports the growth and availability of local, sustainable food–positively impacting the health of our students and supporting our local economy,” says Heather Murray, nutrition services supervisor. “Our SPS Farm is a key component in this effort, serving as an educational hub, but also as a supplier of unique fresh produce.”

Fresh organic produce has many benefits, for one thing it has no exposure to pesticides and industrial fertilizers. When produce is locally sourced from growers less than 150 miles away from our schools, its production and transportation have a lower impact on the environment, making it by definition more sustainable. Organic produce is often higher in nutrients, vitamins, antioxidants, and omega-3s than non-organic produce.
 
In addition, organic crop production focuses on maintaining or improving soil quality. Healthy soils help counteract climate change by removing carbon from the atmosphere.
 
“At home, parents can encourage their children to value fresh and organic produce by planting seeds together or buying a plant,” says Douglas. “Tomatoes are the easiest vegetable to grow in the Pacific Northwest! Kale is the second easiest, and it also self-seeds.”
 
 
 
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE NATIONAL FARM TO SCHOOL NETWORK
More than 67,300 schools participate in a Farm to School Program (~65% of U.S. schools). These programs benefit 42.8 million students and generate $1.26 billion in local food purchases. The Food to School Network has more than 20,000 members in 46 states.