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Classroom Snack Program

 

A creative strategy to bring more fresh fruits and vegetables into schools is providing fresh snacks during their classroom snack time. Our WHL Classroom Snack Program Overview provides a summary of the program including costs.

In the fall of 2005, Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch (WHL) partnered with the Willy St. Co-op kitchen, Lincoln Elementary, and Tipi Produce to launch the Classroom Snack Program. Carrots from Tipi Produce were cut into coins and served to Lincoln elementary students for the 2005-06 school year.

MMSD Food Service came on as a partner to help distribute the snacks for the 2006-07 school year and the program was expanded to four schools and included kohlrabi, sweet potatoes and whole apples.

Starting in the 2008-09 school year WHL has taken responsibility for preparing and delivering the snacks. Peter Robertson of RP's Pasta Co. allows a team of WHL volunteers to use his kitchen facility every Sunday to prepare carrots, sweet potatoes, and kohlrabi into ready to eat snacks. The snacks are purchased from local producers for much of the year.

Once a week all students at Lincoln, Leopold, Schenk, Glendale, Lake View, Lapham, Marquette, and Shorewood Elementary Schools receive a fresh fruit or vegetable snack. Classroom teachers are provided 'Snack Bites' with each snack which provide information about the farm where the snack came from and nutritional information that can be shared with students as they enjoy their snack.

Asparagus Snack Bite

Carrot Snack Bite

Kohlrabi Snack Bite

Sweet Potato Snack Bite

Jicama Snack Bite

*WHL is seeking volunteers to help prepare these delicious, nutritious snacks!

  • 2-3 hour volunteer shifts are available on Sundays
  • Work happens at RP's Pasta Co., 1133 E. Wilson St.
  • No experience needed. Desire to work hard (and safe) and have fun is.

    Contact Melissa Kieffer, WHL Program Assistant to sign up: melissak@reapfoodgroup.org, 310-7836.


In each of the past three school years:

  • over $5,000 worth of carrots, apples, sweet potatoes, kohlrabi, and asparagus have been purchased from local farms
  • over 3,000 lbs of fruits and vegetables have been made available to students

   
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Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch
A joint project of the REAP Food Group and
the University of Wisconsin's Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems

Contact Doug Wubben, project coordinator, at dwubben@wisc.edu

http://www.reapfoodgroup.org/farmtoschool
Web site designed and maintained by Lori Compas
at the UW Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems
Updated February 3, 2008