Pictured: Irasburg 3rd graders prepare sweet potato gnocchi for their school’s December HOM Taste Test, highlighting sweet potato.
Each month, our AmeriCorps Farm-to-School Coordinators collaborate with our member schools to cook something with students in celebration of the Vermont Harvest of the Month (HOM). This winter’s HOM foods were: Dec – Sweet Potatoes, Jan – Beets, Feb – Carrots. HOM is a core aspect of our Farm-to-School program and allows students to try foods that may be new to them, and learn ways of preparing local, seasonal foods.
AmeriCorps members coordinate with the school’s Food Service Directors to select a recipe, and then lead a class in preparing the recipe. These in-class workshops teach students valuable hands-on cooking skills, and provide opportunities to apply math and science as they measure and mix. Students also express their creative side as they decorate a colorful banner naming the recipe and the HOM food item. During lunchtime, the whole school has the opportunity to visit the GMFTS table to participate in a Taste Test, sampling the HOM recipe and sharing their feedback by voting whether they “loved”, “liked”, or “don’t like the recipe yet”. If they enjoyed the recipe, they are encouraged to take a recipe card home to recreate it with their family. New this year, students are also letting us know if this is the first time they are trying the HOM product or recipe.
Farm-to-School Coordinator, Courtney Fortunato, remarks on HOM, stating: “The monthly Taste Tests truly are a school-wide celebration. Together, we celebrate the seasons and the joys of cooking and eating new foods together. Typically, during the winter, we can forget that many foods are still in season. I often find myself looking forward to summer’s red and ripe tomatoes, so plump they sag toward the earth with their juicy weight. HOM reminds us that there are in-season vegetables to enjoy even during the coldest months of the year. It makes it all the more special that I get to be a part of students learning to look forward to participating in seasonal cycles from a very young age.”
