Do Marin County’s high school students eat their
greens? They do when those greens are organic, and grown in West Marin.
That’s what Sandy Partee, canteen manager at
Sir Francis Drake High School in San Anselmo, said as she unloaded boxes
of zucchini and yellow cucumbers from the Allstar Organics farm in Nicasio
(run by Woodacre residents Marty Jacobson and Janet Brown) off the back
of a delivery truck.
"This is really exciting," Partee said.
"[Students] love it. This is a big deal for Drake High School."
The deliveries were part of the Organic School Lunch
program – now in its second year – run by Point Reyes Station-based
nonprofit Marin Organic and the Marin Food Systems Project. Last year,
Marin Organic executive director Helge Hellberg said, about 12,000 pounds
of food were delivered.
Roughly a dozen organic farmers, most of them based
in West Marin, contribute to the program (for a full list of participating
farmers, see below). Fruits and vegetables that might otherwise be left
in the field because of what farmers call "cosmetic" faults
– zucchini that are too large, for example, or crooked carrots
– are donated to almost 70 schools. Social-services centers, such
as the San Rafael-based Canal Alliance and the Novato homeless shelter
New Beginnings, also receive food.
Donations haven’t been limited to fruits and
vegetables. Last year, a sizable batch of Straus organic yogurt was
mislabeled for flavor. The yogurt, no longer fit for retail, was donated
to the Tamalpais Union High School District. Drake High canteen manager
Partee and her staff used it to create a parfait that was a hit with
students.
‘Ecoliteracy’ cited
"They’ve all been asking since school started,
‘Where’s the Straus yogurt?’" Partee said. Carrot
cake and a Tuscan vegetable soup have been among students’ other
favorite dishes prepared from organic ingredients, she added.
Sales figures in school cafeterias confirm students’
enthusiasm for organic lunches: since the program was started, Hellberg
said, revenues at participating lunchrooms have risen by hundreds of
dollars per week. Partee confirmed that Drake High canteen sales have
"greatly increased" since organic ingredients were introduced.
Hellberg said that the program’s popularity comes
as little surprise in an area that prizes its history of sustainable
farming.
"We have feedback that as soon as kids knew they
were organic carrots, they ate them," he said. "The level
of ecoliteracy in Marin County is so high that if they know it’s
grown here and organic, they’re much more open."
The cost of free produce
But West Marin’s agricultural bounty comes with
strings attached. Hellberg said that with the money freed up in their
budgets from the food donations, schools are required to buy more organic
produce from farmers participating in the program. As a result, he said,
the schools get an equal or greater quantity and superior quality of
produce in their cafeterias.
"Schools have never really been an outlet for
farmers because of their very tight budgets," Hellberg said. "This
program brings them together. Everyone in this program wins."
Starting this fall, Hellberg said, he hopes to take
that cohesion a step further. Marin Organic has plans to purchase a
machine – called the "Dieselmeister" – capable of
producing biodiesel. Students in science classes at participating schools
will use the Dieselmeister to turn grease into biodiesel fuel. The grease
will come from restaurants that use locally-grown organic produce, and
the biodiesel will power Marin Organic’s refrigerated delivery
truck. The truck itself was provided by an anonymous local donor.
The Marin Food Systems Project rounds out the program
by educating students at participating schools about the importance
of organic food. At some schools, students have planted their own organic
gardens.
More organic lunch programs
Al Baylacq of Forest Knolls is one of the owners of
Good Earth Natural Foods in Fairfax, which runs its own organic lunch
program at 11 schools in Marin County, including the West Marin and
Lagunitas Schools. While the Good Earth program differs from the Marin
Organic effort – the store delivers prepared meals, rather than
ingredients – Baylacq said the programs share the goal of getting
healthier food into our schools.
"The way we’ve been feeding kids in this
country, the results show that it’s been a pretty deplorable effort,"
Baylacq said. "It’s time that we change our focus and really
understand and appreciate what good nutrition can do for our kids."
If a healthy diet is rare among schoolchildren, it’s
also rare among another group benefiting from Marin Organic’s produce
distribution – low-income families in San Rafael’s predominantly
Latino Canal District. "For them to have access to fresh fruits
and fresh vegetables is unheard of," said Canal Alliance development
associate Anna Lindgreen. Unlike participating schools, the Canal Alliance
is not required to purchase food from organic farmers, but receives
a free delivery of produce once a week.
Benefits Latinos
The Canal Alliance, which provides social services
to residents of the Canal District, now uses the produce in its emergency
food program and youth cooking classes. But Lindgreen envisions other
programs – such as a "weekly box" of organic produce
– accompanied by more education on the virtues of eating organic.
"We’re just starting to introduce the idea
of why organic is better," Lindgreen said. "There’s a
lot of really good possibilities here."
West Marin organic farmers participating in the
Organic School Lunch program include Warren Weber, Peter Martinelli,
Don Murch, and Dennis and Sandy Dierks of Bolinas; the Straus family
of Marshall; David Little of Tomales; Peter Worsley of Inverness; Diane
Matthew of Lagunitas; Janet Brown and Marty Jacobson of Woodacre, Dave
Evans of Point Reyes Station; Mike and Sally Gale of Chileno Valley;
Muir Beach’s Green Gulch Farm, run by Liz Milazzo of Sausalito;
and Jesse Kuhn, who farms near the McEvoy Ranch off the Point Reyes-Petaluma
Road.
Also participating in the program is Fairfax Fresh,
run by Patti Elliott of Fairfax. Schools interested in becoming part
of the Organic School Lunch program can call 663-9667.
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