How Elba Central School District is strengthening students’ connection to their foodHow Elba Central School District is strengthening students’ connection to their food

Elba Central School District in New York, has become the new place in town for fresh apples. It earned the recognition after the nutrition team switched from sourcing its apples from an out of state provider to an orchard just up the road. 

Students, and also the community at-large, have noticed the difference a 'good apple' can make. 

“We have community members that come in and they're like, ‘Hey, do you have any of those good apples?’ So, we pass them out, and we're becoming known for our apples,” says Superintendent Gretchen Rosales. 

The shift to local apples is one of the many changes Elba has made to increase the quality of its school meals, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. They recently won an Innovative School Meals Healthy Meals Incentives award from the U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDA) and nonprofit Action for Healthy Kids. 

Alongside incorporating more local ingredients in their meals, the nutrition team has also reworked its menus to include more ingredients and recipes that students and their families requested. 

“We would ask [students] in class, in homeroom, through different activities, 'What is it that you like to eat? What are you looking for?' And some of their choices were just incredible, like, roasted cauliflower,” says Rosales.

In addition to cauliflower, the team found that students enjoy a wide range of ingredients, including feta, pesto and squash blossoms. 

“One item that is particular to Hispanic culture, specifically in Mexico, is actually the squash blossom,” says Rosales. “So, it was great to see some of our kids see an item on our cafeteria line that hadn’t seen since many of them lived in Mexico.”

Elba students can further engage with their food through a student-led culinary class where high school students teach elementary students how to prepare a variety of recipes.

“Our students had the idea of working with the younger kiddos and teaching them a variety of different cooking skills and utilizing different types of food,” says Rosales. 

The district has also extended its farm-to-school activities to the summer months when school is out of session. During summer break, the district allows community members to grow produce in raised garden beds on campus while school is out. 

At the end of the summer harvest season, the district then holds a community dinner where families prepare recipes using the produce that they grew. 

Community members can use raised garden beds and seeds provided by the district to grow their own produce over the summer.

This past summer was the first time the district offered a community garden and Rosales is looking forward to hosting it again in a couple of months. 

Another activity hosted by the district that has become a beloved summer tradition is the student-led farmers market. 

“This summer will be our third year running that, and it's really grown into a pretty incredible program,” says Rosales. 

Every week, students in the community set up their own booths at the market to sell their own products, which range from flowers to honey to produce. 

“The students run their own tables. They manage their books. They do a profit sheet. It’s kind of made it into this, like interdisciplinary project over the summer,” says Rosales. 

While Elba’s farm-to-school program is already robust, there are plans to continue to expand it in the future. Currently, the district is constructing its own greenhouse on campus to allow it to grow additional produce for use in students’ meals. 

Rosales would also love to have students learn more about food manufacturing and the process behind it. For example, she wants to have students see how the apples from the local orchard can be dried, canned and more to be turned into different things. 

“I think that something like that would be a great experience for the kids,” she says. “So, I'm hoping to have more opportunities to work into the processing of things, and to show our kids that processing doesn't have to mean adding chemicals and really getting so far away from what's natural.”