eval report cover.indd - New Jersey Farm to School Network Wiki

CLP-CA: DAVIS JOINT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT,CALIFORNIA – THE “CRUNCH LUNCH” PROGRAMDavis Joint UnifiedSchool District, CAFree / reduced mealeligibility: 15.9%Total schools: 16Enrollment: 8537Demographics:64.7% White, 14.2%Asian, 13.6% HispanicLocal product used in:Salad bars / prepackaged saladsOther program components:In-class nutrition education,school gardens, wastemanagement and recyclingprogram, farm tours,farmer in the classroomof the farm toschool salad bar program. However, with expansionof sites came increases in labor and equipmentcosts that were prohibitive. To cut down overalllabor costs for the food service operations, a stateof the art central kitchen was established, which hasthe capacity to package more salads per day. Th e inaugurationof the central kitchen meant the end ofthe self-service salad bar. The packaged salads alsoused some local produce.DJUSD’s farm to school program, one of the fewin the country that has been studied extensively, isthe only one evaluated on a longitudinal basis from2000 to 2006. Unfortunately, the cafeteria model forserving local product in DJUSD schools changedsubstantially over the six years for which data wasavailable, making it difficult to make comparisons,without taking into account all the related factors.Th e data gathered, however does provide a strongbase for understanding six years of a farm to schoolprogram, its impacts, and the reasons behind thechanges that occurred at the district.Feenstra Gail and Ohmart Jeri, UC Sustainable AgricultureResearch & Education Program, Yolo County Farm to SchoolEvaluation Report 2005.Feenstra Gail and Ohmart Jeri, UC Sustainable AgricultureResearch & Education Program, Yolo County Farm to SchoolEvaluation Report Year 4 Annual Report Fall/Winter 2005-06.Feenstra Gail and Ohmart Jeri. Yolo County Farm to SchoolEvaluation Report for the California Farm to School Program,Center for Food & Justice, Occidental College. October 2004.Davis Joint Unifi e d School District’s farm toschool program was started in 2000. Throughits years of operation, the program had strongsupport in the community through the Davis Farm toSchool Connection, a project of the Davis EducationalFoundation whose members participated in the planning,implementation and marketing of the project, aswell as supporting the food service as needed. Several ofthe members on this committee were parents who joinedothers in volunteering at the school district to supportthe educational activities, gardens and recycling programs.A brief history of how the program progressedis outlined below.A key driver for the changes in the salad bar model wasthe attempt to attain financial viability. Initially, it wasthought that increasing the number of schools, andtherefore the volume of local product served, would evenout the costs2000-01 One elementary school operatinga salad bar; studentsoffered choice between saladbar and hot entrée everyday2001-02 Th ree elementary schoolsoperating salad bar; studentsoffered choice between saladbar and hot entrée everyday2002-03 Five elementary schools,only salad bar offered as themeal everyday, includingprotein, bread and milk andadhering to USDA requirementsfor a fully reimbursablemeal. Growth to sevenelementary schools, onlysalad bar offered as the mealeveryday, including protein,bread and milk and adheringto USDA requirements for afully reimbursable meal2003-04 All eight elementary schoolsoperational with samemodel as above2004-05 All eight elementary schools,change to salad bar offeredon two days a week withchoice of hot entrée2005-06 Pre-packaged salads offereddaily to all eight elementaryschools, along with hot entréewww.farmtoschool.org 65Conclusions Farm to School and Program RecommendationsProfiles