School food service directors and culinary staff from across the Imperial Valley region gathered at the Imperial Valley Food Bank on November 12 for a workshop focused on integrating locally grown fruits and vegetables into school menus. The event was organized in partnership with the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Farm to School Program and the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Personnel from Farm Smart, UCCE advisors, CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE educators, and UC Master Gardeners provided information about upcoming events related to their current CDFA Farm to School project at a resource table during the workshop.
The $349,213 project is a collaborative effort among several organizations: Imperial Valley Home School Academy, Imperial County Office of Education, El Centro Elementary School District, and University of California Desert Research and Extension Center. Its aim is to enhance teachers’ and school educators’ abilities to implement Farm-to-School activities that promote students’ understanding of food, nutrition, and agriculture. The initiative will offer teacher training sessions, local farm tours, student-teacher field trips, networking opportunities between farmers and teachers, peer mentoring activities, as well as workshops on nutrition and food safety conducted by UC Master Food Preservers and UC Master Gardeners.
Desert Research and Extension Center (Desert REC) will host two upcoming events connected to this initiative. On Friday, January 23, it will hold a CDFA Farm to School Conference designed specifically for Imperial Valley school teachers and food service staff. Registration for this one-day event can be completed online at https://forms.gle/jgj6ioek4NRBq1A78.
“It’s a conference tailored specifically to Imperial Valley school teachers and food service staff focused on providing resources to bring food, agriculture and nutrition into their classrooms,” said Mariana Gonzalez Castro, Farm Smart community education supervisor. “The conference will feature a tour of a local farm and hands-on workshops.”
On Saturday, January 31 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Desert REC will also host a CDFA Farm to School Resource Fair open to the public.
“It will be an opportunity to network and get to know the types of workshops our partners will provide throughout the year such as the UC Master Gardeners Program and the Master Food Preservers Program,” Gonzalez said. This resource fair event will be hosted at Desert REC as well.
