Food at Boston Public Schools getting a nutritious boost from western Massachusetts farm
BOSTON - Boston Mayor Michelle Wu will visit a farm in western Massachusetts Monday to highlight the city's farm-to-school partnerships.
From Hadley to Boston
Boston Public Schools spends about $3 million a year to source food locally. Joe Czajkowski's farm in Hadley is part that arrangement, even though it's two hours west of the city.
"We're happy to work with the schools. It works, you know," Czajkowski told WBZ-TV. He owns and operates a 400-acre farm that supplies Boston schools with everything from Brussels sprouts to sweet potatoes.
"We should harvest probably all together about between eight and nine million pounds of crops. We have more than we can eat," Czajkowski said.
Boston Arts Academy is benefitting from having locally source food for school lunches. One of the items on the menu is freshly made American chop suey.
"This is something that the kids asked for and the managers asked for and so we put it on the menu," said Annaliese Tanner, BPS executive director of food and nNutrition.
That's not the only selection. A nearby salad bar is stocked with colorful, ripe vegetables and an assortment of choices.
Food reflecting diversity
"We have focused on cooking in-house. Making our foods fresh for our kids. Making our foods reflect the diversity of our student body and making sure that we're contributing to our local economy by purchasing Massachusetts and New England products," Tanner told WBZ.
Boston Public Schools also sources locally made bread, bagels, fish and granola. This concept has made the district a national leader. In July, the city hosted a conference for 7,000 school nutrition professionals from around the country. In August, BPS completed its first-ever weeklong culinary training program for its kitchen staff.
"The staff felt very valued that we had spent the time and the budget to train them," said Tanner.