From San Diego Unified
San Diego’s Food Day School Passport Challenge brought nearly 1,000 San Diego Unified School District students, staff and families to three Farmers Markets around the city, with Sunset View Elementary winning the challenge over Rosa Parks, Central, Cherokee Point, Crown Point and Pacific Beach elementary schools. Sunset View received a healthy local food party catered by Chef Andrew Spurgin of Waters Fine Catering.
Students and their families were invited to visit their local Farmer’s Market throughout the week of Oct. 14 for fun activities to introduce students to new fruits and vegetables and meet their local farmers. Multiple activity stations were set-up at each Farmers’ Market where the students received a stamp on their Food Day Passports. Activities included “ask a farmer” what local means or “try me” local food taste tests. When the passport were full, kids received “Market Bucks” to purchase local produce. The school with the most completed passports, Sunset View, won the party.
Food Day was organized by 15 community agencies driven by Kate McDevitt of UCSD’s Network for a Healthy California and supported by the district’s Food Services Department. Other supporters included local businesses such as Local Habit and EcoCaters, chefs such as Andrew Spurgin, farmers and volunteers from Slow Food Urban San Diego. The passports where printed for free by Thomas Ackerman of Spirit Graphics.
The volunteers demonstrated a strong commitment to San Diego Unified ’s students and the mission to develop healthier eaters and thus better learners. Food Day activities also support the good food and farming message found in San Diego Unified’s cafeterias every day on salad bars and the local seasonal Harvest of the Month.
For more information, contact Vanessa Zajifen, Farm To School Coordinator, at vzajfen@sandi.net.
