DUMMERSTON — In honor of National Farm to School Month, Food Connects will celebrate Dummerston School principal Julianne Eagan as a Farm to School Champion.
According to a news release, Eagan's efforts “have resulted in getting a new Farm to School program launched on a solid foundation at the school and keeping the momentum going despite the challenges of the past two school years.”
Eagan, a first-time principal and new administrator, took the reins at Dummerston School during the 2019–20 school year, not long before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“Watching children prepare beds, plant seeds, and nurture young plants with their teachers was a highlight of our last academic year together and critically important during a year of unprecedented challenge,” said Eagan.
Eagan said she finds this work energizing.
“I have been so inspired by the Dummerston School community's passion and commitment to expanding our food production,” she said.
Those efforts include “integrating the garden into our school curriculum, establishing partnerships with local farms, and realizing the potential of our beautiful and sunny rural campus,” she continued.
Eagan serves as an active member of the Farm to School committee, participating in monthly committee meetings and prioritizing its work at the school. Some of the new initiatives:
• Launching a share table at school (pre-pandemic), which program organizers hope will continue when school meals return to “something more normal.”
• Starting a school breakfast program.
• Hosting a workshop for all staff on the topic of trauma and nutrition.
• Planning a move of the school garden to a sunnier, more centrally located space adjacent to the playground so that students can garden during recess.
• Planting a small apple orchard on campus last spring with trees donated by Scott Farm.
• Finding creative ways to increase funding and capacity for Farm to School–related activities, including securing funding to hire a part-time garden coordinator.
Food Connects describes itself as “an entrepreneurial nonprofit that delivers locally produced food as well as educational and consulting services aimed at transforming local food systems.”
It operates a Food Hub that aggregates and delivers goods from more than 150 regional farms and food producers to more than 150 buyers in southeast Vermont, southwest New Hampshire, and western Massachusetts.
The organization's educational services focus on Farm to School programming, supporting more than 30 schools around Vermont to increase local food purchasing, school meal participation, and food, farm, and nutrition education.
For more information, visit foodconnects.org.