Farm to School Newsletter

October 2024

Happy Farm to School Month!

Image for National Farm to School Month provided by www.farmtoschool.org.

Farm to School Month is a time to celebrate connections between schools, local food, and farmers! These connections provide kids with access to nutritious, high-quality, local food so they are ready to learn and grow. Celebrating can be as simple as reading a book about food and farming, or cooking a recipe. Click here for relevant book recommendations. Click the photo for more Farm to School Month resources and ways to celebrate.

In October, we will host Pop-up Farmers Markets at Courtade and Buckley (see below for dates and times), provide a healthy tasting at Suttons Bay's annual Norse Dash fundraiser, kick off our first cafeteria taste tests, and even begin lessons at Creekside!

September Recap

Buckley

In September at Buckley, we brought students to the garden for our big fall harvest! Students harvested lettuce and spinach, tomatoes, green peppers and jalapenos, green beans, squash, and radishes! Students were thrilled to see how the garden had grown and enjoyed eating the vegetables straight from the garden. Many discovered a love for fresh green beans that they didn't know they had.

Courtade

We started the school year with a big fall harvest! Students joined us in the garden to harvest potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, beans, zucchini, cucumbers, radishes, and herbs. Students were excited for the opportunity to harvest the vegetables that they had planted in the spring and taste fresh vegetables from the garden. The amazing food service staff included some of this produce on their salad bar and we will use some for cafeteria taste tests as well!

Northport

September was full of farm-to-school at Northport! The fall harvest at Northport yielded potatoes, butternut squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, kale, Swiss chard, sweet peppers, beets, radishes, and even a few ears of corn! The Northport food-service staff will incorporate this produce in their school lunches.

In addition to the bountiful harvest, we hosted the annual Pop-up Farmers Market. The event would not have been possible without the support of our partners at MSU-E of Leelanau, the Leelanau Township Community Foundation Youth Advisory Council (YAC), and the amazing farmers and vendors!

Suttons Bay

The 2024 Pop-up Farmers Market was a huge success at Suttons Bay!

Students were able to interact with local farmers, purchase fresh produce, press cider, and ride a bike-powered blender.

The event would not have been possible without the support of our partners at MSU-E of Leelanau, the Suttons Bay Parent-Teacher Organization, and the amazing farmers and vendors!

Look for us at the Norse Dash on October 4th!

October Pop-Up Farmers Markets!

Volunteer with us!

If you would like to volunteer, click the button above to complete our Google form.
Questions? Contact Megan (marmstrong@northwested.org) and Brooke (bjuday@northwested.org).