Food for thought

Md. makes right move by putting farm-fresh products in front of schoolkids

Anthony Geraci, director of school food service for Baltimore public schools, took the concept another step and did away with costly packaging. He has crates of fresh food brought directly from the farmers to the warehouse. The crates are returned and reused.

And in Cecil County schools, Food Supervisor Kathy Thomas goes directly to local farms to purchase produce, then has the farmers deliver right to the schools. Thirty-five farmers participate in the program.

Forty out of 50 states now have some sort of Farm to Schools program in place. Excellent programs, guides, and grants are available to help states expand their programs (information is available at www.farmtoschool.org). But Maryland is the shining example in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Schools set next years' menus in the spring. This coming school year, every Maryland county is working with Ms. Storrs and the Maryland Department of Agriculture. If the program goes well, the state's students will be regularly treated to fresh, local, nutritious food, and they will make the connection between the land and what they eat.

Cindy Ross has written six books about the outdoors. This article is distributed by Bay Journal News Service.