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

WSD-CA: WINTERS JOINT UNIFIEDSCHOOL DISTRICT, CALIFORNIAWinters Joint UnifiedSchool District, CAFree / reduced mealeligibility: 48%Total schools: 16Enrollment: 1,940Demographics:63.6 % Hispanic, 43.2% WhiteLocal product used in:Once a week salad bars offeredas USDA reimbursable mealsOther program components:In-class nutrition education,school gardens, farm toursWinters’ Farm to School program was initiatedin 2002 as a pilot demonstration sitesupported through a grant from the W.K.Kellogg Foundation received by the Center for Food& Justice, Occidental College. The program evaluationwas conducted by the University of California SustainableAgriculture Research and Education Program(SAREP) from 2002-04. In the first year of the project,one school implemented the farm fresh salad bar(Rominger Elementary). In the second year, WaggonerElementary also started implementation. Evaluationcomponents included:School District Produce Purchases: Monthly data ontotal fruit and vegetable purchases for the district andfor the two schools was collected from invoices andyear-end budgets.School Meal Participation Rates: Average daily participation collected from both schools,2002-04 to compare participation on salad bar and non-salad bar days, as well as salad barand hot meal option.Student Food Choices: Collected food service daily production records to analyze the numberof servings of fruits/vegetables per student in the two schools – salad bar and hot mealoption.School Food Service Fiscal Feasibility: Analysis of school food service budgets for twoschools for the 2002-04 school years to determine the costs and feasibility of maintaining asalad bar program.Challenges/Lessons Learned:Interviews with key stakeholders, including the salad bar coordinator, the food service director,kitchen personnel, farmers, teachers, and principals were conducted.Th e two year trend data available from WSD-CA was valuable in understanding how theprogram operated in those years. In 2006, Winters Joint Unifi e d School District hired anew food service director, who continued with the once a week salad bar program, but wasnot buying the salad bar foods from the local farmers. Th e reasons for discontinuing relateto the cost of the food and associated labor. Due to previous connections made with localfarms, some farmers sometimes offered excess crops to the school district to be served tostudents.Feenstra Gail and Ohmart Jeri, UC Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program. Yolo County Farmto School Evaluation Report. 2005Conclusions Farm to School and Program RecommendationsProfilesFeenstra Gail and Ohmart Jeri. Yolo County Farm to School Evaluation Report for the California Farm to SchoolProgram, Center for Food & Justice, Occidental College. October 2004.www.farmtoschool.org 83