Farm to School Newsletter

For Farm to School lessons, fourth grade practiced using adjectives to describe fresh vs. dried fruits and vegetables. They made trail mix using dried fruit. The 2nd and 3rd grade students learned about pollination and the importance of pollinators in our food system. They played a game simulating the pollination process. Students enjoyed an Apple Sunrise Smoothie as their tasting.

In SNAP-Ed, 1st graders learned about the human body and the importance of being physically active. For a tasting, they enjoyed a Let's Move Mix. The 3rd and 5th grade students enjoyed a snow day in place of lessons! So stay tuned for next month to learn what's cooking in upper elementary.

For a cafeteria taste test, all students had the opportunity to try a Garlic Parmesan Acorn Squash.

Click the photo for a link to recipes used at Buckley.

This month, the 1st grade students participated in a special activity. They harvested sunflower seeds from sunflowers that they planted in the school garden as kindergarteners! They used these seeds to make bird feeders to hang around the school. This was a great lesson on the full life cycle of a plant.

The 2nd and 3rd grade classes began experiments with germination. Some of the classes started bean buddies and will watch their beans grow, other classes planted seeds in clear cups to observe root growth. They all enjoyed a tasting of bean and corn salsa.

In the 4th and 5th grade classes, students used their senses to describe fresh vs. dried fruits and vegetables. The 5th graders made energy bites and 4th graders made trail mix with dried fruit.

Since February's Harvest of the Month was beets, students had the opportunity to try a beet hummus as their cafeteria taste test.

Click the photo for a link to the recipes used this month.

In February, lower elementary students (K-2) learned about the importance of moving our bodies and had fun with a physical activity game. They enjoyed a Let's Move Mix as their tasting.

The upper elementary students (3-5) applied their nutrition knowledge to think of creative ways to make common meals healthier. They practiced their knife skills cutting spinach and zucchini for a veggie pasta. Adding vegetables to pasta is a simple and delicious way to make a common meal, like spaghetti, healthier.

This month's cafeteria taste test was beet hummus.

Click the photo for a link to the recipes used at Northport this month.

For February's cafeteria taste test, students tried beet hummus. Beets are a triple threat in February! First, they are the MI Harvest of the Month. Second, beets are good for your heart health and February is recognized as American Heart Month. Third, when roasted they are bright pink in color which makes for a healthy way to celebrate valentines day!

See below for the beet hummus recipe.

At Creekside, we kicked off a 6-week program of nutrition lessons with their upper-school students. Since we're meeting weekly, we covered a lot in the month of February!

We started off with a lesson on MyPlate and the food groups. They had a tasting of tuna salad stackers.

The second lesson, students learned about how to read a nutrition label and why it's important. They had great questions about the way different nutrients impact our body/digestion. For this tasting, they tried apple oatmeal.

The third lesson was more hands-on. Students had the opportunity to help prepare hummus and roasted chickpeas. Chickpeas (and other beans) are an inexpensive way to pack extra protein in your diet and can be prepared in many different ways.

The fourth lesson students learned about whole grains and food processing. They also helped cook a vegetable fried rice.

Click the photo for a link to the recipes used at Creekside this month!