Farm to School is a movement brought about to strengthen communities through the food system. Farm to School projects connect kids and the cafeteria workers who feed them to fresh produce and the farmers who grow it, increasing food access while supporting local economies. Farm to School also importantly aims to inspire a cultural shift through hands-on garden education that imparts the values of supporting local ag to the next generation.
Lost Sierra Food Project is a Farm to School partner for Plumas County, motivated by our core mission and made possible thanks to funding from the California Dept of Food and Ag. In addition to working with school cafeterias to try to get our produce into kids lunches, we provide farm education opportunities for local kids. This year over 300 TK-6 students from Quincy, Greenville, Portola, and Truckee visited the farm on field trips led by our incredible Farm Educator Jessica Ritchey. Jessica teaches students about the ecological farm practices we use, like silage tarps and hedgerows. These lessons complement what students are already learning in their grade’s outdoor core (garden, insects, mammals, birds).
At LSFP, we’re all about empowering kids with cooking skills. This fall, students made snacks in our outdoor kitchen using tomatillos, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants they harvested from our cat tunnels. Students made salsa roja, salsa verde, and baba ghanoush- all powered by our outdoor classrooms brand new solar battery. In addition to harvesting and cooking activities, students learned about seed saving and made watercolors using flowers found in the outdoor classroom’s garden space.
