"Farm Fresh" Under Consideration in Easton

Easton studying farm-fresh school menus
By JOEL C. THOMPSON
Staff writer
Article Last Updated: 12/16/2008 12:44:28 AM EST

A new committee, established to oversee the bidding process for a lunch provider in the Easton and Redding schools, also will explore whether fresh foods from some of the region's farms can be added to school lunch menus.

The Easton, Redding and Region 9 school boards at their annual joint meeting last week agreed to set up the committee both to manage the bidding process for the lunch contract and to address the "farm-to-school" issue that has arisen among parents in both towns.

Sodexho, a nationwide food service firm, has the contract to provide lunches at schools in the two towns. Its contract ends at the end of this school year, opening the way for bids on the lunch program for the coming and subsequent school years.

Alan Katz, the Easton school board chairman, said the ad hoc committee in coming months will help write a request for proposals for a food service firm to provide lunches at the Easton and Redding elementary and middle schools, as well as Joel Barlow High School. Barlow is shared by the two towns and overseen by the Region 9 board.

Katz said both towns are home to several small farms that could provide fruits and vegetables to improve the quality of local school lunches. Details of that program, however, still must be worked out.

The committee will include one member from the Easton, Redding and Region 9 boards along with a parent from both communities, he said.

Kiko Teed, an Easton parent, and Victor
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Alfandre, a member of the Easton Land Acquisition and Preservation Authority, have both advocated adopting the farm-to-school initiative and the use of locally grown produce in the schools.

Ann Metcalf, general manager for the Easton-Redding school lunch programs, said Sodexho uses fresh produce from the Northeast region whenever possible and endorses the farm-to-school idea as promoted by the state Department of Agriculture.

Metcalf said farms providing produce to Sodexho must be inspected and approved. Local farms, she added, might find it difficult to provide the volume of produce needed or supply basic foods needed for school menus throughout the academic year, which does not coincide with their growing season.