2008-2009 Garden to Cafe Pilot Project

Posted by Christina Grace, NYS Dept of Agriculture & Markets, and Billy Doherty, NYC Depart of Education, SchoolFood

What is Garden to School Café?
Garden to School Café is a pilot program of NYC Department of Education, SchoolFood and NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets in collaboration with Cornell Cooperative Extension; GreenThumb; Added Value; and more than 20 community-based organizations.  The goal is to connect school gardening and school lunch menus through seasonal harvest events and supporting educational activities.

Objectives of the Garden to School Café Pilot
•    Increase student’s healthful eating by promoting consumption of plant-based menu items and connecting kids to local   food and farming
•    Connect school gardening with SchoolFood’s broad-based efforts to source more local foods
•    Build awareness of the benefits of school gardening
•    Demonstrate the learning opportunity of integrating school gardening and school lunch.

Pilot Participants
In the spring, twenty schools were recruited to participate in the pilot program.  Participation in the Garden to Café pilot project required that schools and partner community-based organizations meet basic criteria.  Schools were chosen through an open competitive application process. 

Participation in the program required: 
•    An established garden or farm
•    An established children/youth gardening program
•    Liability insurance for community gardens or urban farms
•    Safe soil demonstrated through soil test results or proof of new soil from a safe source.

Participating Schools:
New Design HS
NEST+m
Food and Finance HS
PS 171
Millennium Art Academy
PS 28
Bronx Green MS

International HS/HS for Violin and Dance
Automotive HS
IS 71
Brooklyn New School
PS 15
PS 27
PS 29

PS 295
Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment (BASE)
Urban Assembly School of Music and Art
PS 89 @ IS 302
John Bowne HS
PS 219

School Site Partners
The pilot relied heavily on partner organizations to provide garden sites and/or gardening expertise:

•    Open Road
•    Cornell Cooperative Extension (Hydroponics Program)
•    Union Settlement
•    Montefiore School Health Program
•    CENYC-Learn It, Grow It, Eat It
•    New York Restoration Project & FamilyCook Productions
•    Slow Food USA/Harvest Time Program
•    Added Value (4 schools)
•    6/15 Green Community Garden
•    Brooklyn Botanic Gardens
•    City of NY Parks and Recreation (Highland Park Children’s Garden)
•    John Bowne High School

What Happened?
In the Gardens
Pilot participants gardened on school sites in outdoor raised bed gardens, in classrooms with EarthBoxes, at nearby community gardens and in much larger urban farm sites.  Some began growing for a fall harvest event in the spring.  Others started growing in September.  Many varieties of vegetables were grown including an array of salad greens, collards, peppers (bell and hot), squash, cauliflower, herbs (loads of basil!), tomatoes, carrots, and potatoes. 

Garden to Café Educational Activities
Every school site was different.  Harvest Day events included:
•    Auditorium assemblies where students, teachers, and farmer experts discussed the process and benefits of growing foods to the entire student body.
•    Individual classroom sessions where student farmers, agriculture professionals, and culinary experts interacted with students more closely.  Some sessions included cooking demonstrations.
•     Cafeteria presentations by school "Teen Iron Chefs" demonstrating their harvest recipe on the cafeteria menu
•    Student farmer-operated information booths in the cafeteria to share materials and experiences with fellow students.
•    Student photo and video projects
•    NYS Ag & Markets provided posters, produce seasonality charts, farmers’ market maps and other materials to promote local food in NY.

On the Menu
•    SchoolFood utilized existing and developed new recipes to best feature gardened produce to appeal to students and stretch their taste palettes.  For example, food service staff prepared spicy vegetable burritos, Spanish squash stew, pasta pesto, collards and chickpeas, colcannon, and other dishes across the 20 sites depending on the harvest.
•    Where necessary, student-grown foods were supplemented by other fresh vegetables.  Where possible, locally-farmed produce was used.
•    SchoolFood staff assembled tasting tables and in some cases worked with students and volunteers to encourage school kids new to these foods to try them.   

What’s Next for 2009?
There will be limited expansion of Garden to School Café in 2009 to include more school sites in Harlem and kick off participation in Staten Island.  Our main goal will be to institutionalize the program within existing sites through more seasonal harvest day events, increased gardening technical assistance, and new partnerships to increase gardening and cafeteria staff capacity.   

For More Information
To find out more or to get involved, contact Billy Doherty at williamd@schools.nyc.gov/718.707.4478 or Christina Grace at christina.grace@agmkt.state.ny.us/718.722.2834. 

Download this overview in pdf below.