The Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) is taking the idea of farm-to-table a step further. By stocking SCUSD cafeterias with the produce grown at its farm, school officials enrich students’ diets with nutritious fruits and vegetables.
Located on the Peterson Middle School Campus since 2017, the farm is also the site of many educational field trips.
David Tuttle, the district’s farm manager, said more than 90% of the food grown onsite goes to the district. Students sell the remainder at its farm stand. The money raised from the sale of produce goes back into the schools, funding things such as field trips.
Although not United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified, Tuttle said the farm uses organic methods.
The farm operates year-round. Planting cover crops in the winter and sampling the soil in the spring keeps the farm vibrant, he said. It is essential to build the microflora to produce nutritious food.
“The product that comes out of that soil is a byproduct of healthy soil,” Tuttle said. “We always get a screwball by Mother Nature. She dictates everything … We have to pay close mind to what she is saying.”
In the winter, farmers grow radishes, bok choy, carrots, beets and cabbage. Meanwhile, during the warmer months, growers cultivate, among other things, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, zucchini, kale, cucumbers, broccoli and cauliflower.
With a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables at their disposal, Tuttle said the district tries to shake things up a bit, offering purple or orange cauliflower or atypically colored carrots.
“We like to grow different funky stuff for the kids, something that mom and dad won’t plate up for them,” Tuttle said. “We want to encourage kids to approach food a little differently than what they would do at home.”
USDA nutrition guidelines specify that school menus include no more than 30% fat and contain less than 10% added sugar.
Karen Luna, director of child nutrition at SCUSD, said given those guidelines, the district strives to include food with natural sugar. While the district’s menu is low-sugar, Luna said sugar is “not evil;” people need sugar, but given the plethora of great options available to get sugar, there is little need to add it to food.
“The fruit from the farm is amazing. The watermelon tastes like candy,” she said.
Although it doesn’t get all its produce from the farm, supplementing it with local food growers, Luna said the district chooses its produce “very carefully.”
“The amount of time the produce sits before it is eaten is minimal. The longer the produce is sitting before it is eaten, the more nutrients they lose,” Luna said. “Everything we do, we try to give the kids the best-tasting, most nutritious food possible.”
Cathy Thornton helped start the student-run farm stand. She started a front-yard garden inspired by the farm and promotes it on social media, posting recipes. Seeing the stand take off makes her proud, she said.
Echoing the importance of healthy soil and the benefits of having the farm local to ensure produce retains its nutrients, Thornton said there is also a social benefit for students.
“Their phones aren’t out when they are there. When they are out at the farm, they are present in nature,” Thornton said.
The stand, located at 1055 Dunford Way in Sunnyvale, is open from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays.
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