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

COM-CA: COMPTON UNIFIED SCHOOLDISTRICT (CUSD), CALIFORNIAConclusions Farm to School and RecommendationsProgram ProfilesThe COM-CA evaluation focused on the efforts to increasestudent consumption of fruits and vegetablesthrough farm fresh salad bars. Th e program evaluationwas led by the University of California Sustainable AgricultureResearch and Evaluation Program (UC SAREP) withsupport from the Center for Food & Justice at OccidentalCollege.CUSD is a Provision 2 school district where all students areprovided school meals free of charge. Th e reach and impactof a farm to school program was thus potentially more significantsince all students ate in the cafeteria. CUSD begantheir farm fresh salad bar program by opening five salad barsin elementary schools in the spring of 2004. In the 2004-05school year, Tracie Thomas, the CUSD Salad Bar Coordinator,opened salad bars in the remaining 19 elementary schools,for a total of all 24 elementary schools. Schools offered thesalad bars every day as a USDA fully reimbursable meal andas an alternative to the hot lunch. District-wide data wascollected for some aspects of the farm to school program. Amore detailed comparison of two salad bar schools, Willard and Caldwell, with two non-saladbar schools, Clinton and McKinley, was conducted to gain insights on the impacts of the saladbars on produce purchases, financial viability, meal participation, and consumption patterns.Methodology for data collection:►►►►►Compton UnifiedSchool District, CAFree / reduced mealeligibility: 95.2%Total schools: 40Enrollment: 30,233Demographics:72.3% Hispanic, 25.9%African-AmericanLocal product used in:Salad bars as USDAreimbursable mealOther programcomponents: In-classnutrition education, saladbar etiquette trainings, farmtours, farmer in the classroomSchool District Produce Purchases: Monthly data on total fruit and vegetable purchasesfor the district and for four study schools collected from invoices and year-end budgets.Student Participation: Meal participation rates collected on a monthly basis for salad barand non-salad bar schools.Student Food Choices: (a) Food service daily production records collected to analyze thenumber of servings of fruits/vegetables per student in two or three sample months fortwo salad bar/hot lunch schools and one non-salad bar school. (b) Took digital photos ofschool lunches, comparing hot lunch and salad bars at two salad bar schools.School Food Service Fiscal Feasibility: Analysis of school food service budgets for fourstudy schools for the 2004/05 school year to determine the costs and feasibility of maintaininga salad bar program.Challenges/Lessons Learned: Interviews with key stakeholders, including the salad barcoordinator, the food service director, kitchen personnel, and teachers/principals to learnabout their experiences in implementing the program and what solutions were developed.Data from this project was available for one year, which was somewhat useful, but insufficientfor making broader interpretations. Unfortunately, the Farm Fresh Salad Bar program at CUSDwas discontinued after a year of implementation, though associated nutrition education activitiesthrough the California Network for a Healthy California continue at the school sites.Feenstra Gail and Ohmart Jeri, UC Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program, Final Evaluation Report,Compton Farm to School Demonstration Project, July 1, 2004- June 30, 2005.66 Bearing Fruit: Farm to School Evaluation Resources and Recommendations