As a director of food and nutrition, it's mundane to spend each day feeling stuck in the same endless cycle. "We really wanted to break that kind of mold," said Erin Primer, the director of food and nutrition services for the San Luis Coastal Unified School District, starting with flavor.
"What kind of flavors could we introduce to our students? And a lot of times, looking at different cultures and different parts of the world, you can really lead with delicious flavors."
They've since started serving sweet potato, black bean chimichurri bowls and plates of coconut rice with a red lentil dal, which the students have loved. San Luis Coastal Unified is among more than 300 districts across California that receive funds from Local Food for Schools — a federally funded program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which allocates money to states to help schools develop farm-to-school pipelines.
The program is widely seen as a win-win for schools that receive fresh, local produce and opportunities to teach students about food systems; for local economies and farmers who are granted a reliable income source; and for the environment, as locally sourced foods don't need to be shipped long distances. Roughly half of the state's students benefit, to some extent, from farm-to-school programs, and California schools have received about $23 million in Local Food for Schools (LFS) grants.
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