The summer campers took part in a cooking contest based on the TV show "Chopped." The students and adult team leaders created meals out of locally grown "mystery" ingredients.
I had a blast working with the students on our dish, and it was yet another reminder of the success of our farm-to-school program.
We are getting more and more healthy, locally grown goods in our schools, and our students are loving the new options available in their school cafeterias. After the competition, the students enjoyed a picnic featuring locally grown foods.
ANCA has administered our North Country Farm-to-School Pilot Program for the past years. They pointed out the event at Wiley demonstrates what's possible with the leadership and collaboration of passionate food service directors, school administrators, local farmers and Farm to School support staff.
I'm proud to have spearheaded the Drive for 25 program in the state Assembly to allow our schools to have the funding needed to purchase local foods. The $900,000 in state funding I have secured for the North Country Farm-to-School Program over the past three years has allowed our growers and farmers to forge and strengthen relations with our schools.
The North Country is a leaders in this effort statewide and that's good for farmers and producers, allowing them to tap into new markets, and it's good news for our students.
