Public school’s Farm-to-Cafeteria program benefits from Library Fair

Hard work, fresh, organic product and innovative marketing: three winning ingredients that produced record sales of fresh organic salads and home made jams at the farm-to-cafeteria booth this year at the Library Fair. It all added up to more than $900 (almost doubling last year’s sales) that will go toward the 2008-2009 farm-to-cafeteria program in the public school.

“Annie Sparks-Dempster and Owen Cheevers worked very hard to put it all together – and it spelled success in spite of the intermittent rainfall!” said Madie Murray, advocate for the four-year old program, originally set up by Tom Forster and Anne Marie Schultz.

The abundant salad greens were mixed in front of your eyes and presented with edible flowers and yummy, fresh dressings. Nearly 60 jars of raspberry and blueberry jams were enthusiastically scooped up by jam lovers.

Kari Schuh, who has been very actively promoting the farm-to-cafeteria/FEAST efforts with the school and the Governor’s Task Force, provided the berries and made the jams in the school Home Ec room with her son and daughter, Cameron and Analiese, and several FEAST students on Friday, Aug. 8. Keith Whitaker and Marian O’Brien contributed custom made farm-to-cafeteria labels for the jam jars.

The salad greens and fresh veggies, provided by Hilary Canty, Morning Star Farm, La Campesina, Orcas Farm and Sweet Home Farm, were also prepped the day before at the school by Amanda Sparks, Anne Ford McGrath, who also helped in the booth Saturday, and FEAST students Stephanie Shaw, Iris Parker Pavit, Leah Cardinal and Seabern Gieger.

Anne Garfield and Paula Towne contributed the home-made dressings, and Charles Dalton provided plates. Murray says, “A great big thanks to everyone who contributed their time or bought the jams and salads!”

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