Fresh From the Farm and Into the Classroom

A Los Angeles Unified School District Pilot Program

By MARGARET HAASE, ANDREA AZUMA, ROBERT GOTTLIEB, and MARK VALLIANATOS.
January 2004.

INTRODUCTION: A SNAPSHOT OF THE PROGRAM

During the 2002-2003 school year, thousands of students in more than 990 classrooms at 41 different Los Angeles Unified School District school sites had the opportunity to taste and learn about farm fresh produce grown in Southern California and brought directly into the classroom. These activities were part of an educational program seeking to integrate health and nutrition, agriculture and the environment. Utilizing a model called Community Supported Agriculture that ties consumers directly to a local or regional farm, this LAUSD program, entitled the “Fresh From the Farm Pilot Project,” has been able to establish a direct connection between the classroom and a Southern California organic farm. The result is a unique, hands-on learning experience for the students, as well as increased income for local, organic agriculture.

The project partners in the Fresh From the Farm pilot each had distinctive though parallel goals in pursuing the program. The project was facilitated by the Center for Food and Justice (CFJ), which is a division of the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute (UEPI), housed at Occidental College in Los Angeles. UEPI is a community-oriented research and advocacy organization that serves as the umbrella for a variety of affiliated programs addressing work and industry, food and nutrition, housing, transportation, regional and community development, land use, and urban environmental issues. The pilot project is directly related to CFJ’s objectives-- namely to improve access to fresh and healthy foods and to facilitate environmental, health promotion, community development, social justice, and land use strategies that empower local communities and strengthen the capacity of local and regional farmers.

The participating farm involved in the pilot was the Tierra Miguel Foundation (TMF). Tierra Miguel leases 87 acres of certified organic farmland in the Pauma Valley in North San Diego County. Its activities have a dual purpose: the production of organic food and the enhancement and conservation of the soil. Since September of 2000, the farm has operated a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in which produce is distributed to an average of 290 subscribers in San Diego, Riverside, Los Angeles and Orange counties. Subscribers, also known as shareholders, purchase a share of the farm produce for a predetermined price, which they pay in advance. Each week the shareholder receives a box full of seasonal, certified organic produce. The CSA model of food distribution enables consumers to partner with the farmers who produce their food, sharing in the risks and rewards of food production, and learning (through a weekly newsletter) about the importance of healthy soils in producing nutritious foods. Although most of the farm’s produce is distributed through the CSA program, the farm also sells at farmers' markets, a farm stand at the farm, and to local health food stores and restaurants.

The third party in the program, the Los Angeles Unified School District Nutrition Network (LAUSD NN), was the key player in enabling the program to be established. The LAUSD NN, supported by federal nutrition education funds provided through the California Department of Health Services, supports collaborative nutrition education efforts between teachers, food service professionals, school nurses, parents, administrators, community members and students. Its goal is to encourage nutrition education for children so they have the desire and information needed to make healthy, positive nutritional choices.

The LAUSD NN funds nutrition education programs in about 200 low-income schools in the district. In discussions with CFJ, the LAUSD NN expressed interest in establishing a CSA in the classroom-type initiative. These discussions led to initiation of the pilot program. LAUSD NN had both the framework (through its participating schools) and the funding to support the pilot.

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