Real Food for Thought

Contact: Pamela Flory
E-mail: pamelaflory@gmail.com

Website: http://realfood4thought.blogspot.com/

Organization Description and Mission

Real Food for Thought is a group of environmentally aware community members who support improved nutrition in schools, the development of school gardens, and the inter-connecting of these ideas.  Their four primary initiatives are: to serve healthier, more sustainable whole foods in the cafeteria; to provide adequate time for the children to enjoy their meal; to adopt greener lunchroom policies; and to establish school gardens. 

In the Garden State, everyone is surrounded by farms growing food in abundance.  Real Food for Thought wants children to access these locally-grown fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as other healthy, whole-grain foods.  Real Food for Thought intends to help Hopewell Valley schools bring this food to cafeterias from local sources instead of far away distribution centers.  Mutually beneficial farm-to-school programs nationwide give children locally-grown, sustainable foods while supporting local agriculture.  Real Food for Thought supports local schools as they join in this national trend. 

Real Food for Thought wants students to have enough time to eat lunch without rushing, to make conversation, and to enjoy games outside.  Children make better food choices and waste less food when given adequate time to eat a meal.  Research tells Real Food for Thought that better nutrition aids concentration and benefits learning.  Children who are given a healthy lunch and sufficient time to enjoy it learn more effectively for the remainder of the day. 

Children are much more likely to eat vegetables that they have planted, nurtured, and harvested themselves.  Introducing salad bars with fresh ingredients can teach children how to eat the right amount of nutritious food that they will be less likely to throw away.  School gardens enhance students’ awareness of the environment and where food comes from, while giving them an opportunity to get outside.  Planting and maintaining a garden teaches lessons in subjects such as botany, geology, nutrition, and weather science, and gives ample inspiration for almost any form of literary and artistic expression.  The colors, smells, and textures resonate with the youngest students, while older children plan plots and select the seeds best suited for our climate.  Real Food for Thought is a district-wide initiative in Hopewell Valley School District.

Community and Population Served by the Organization

Real Food for Thought serves students of all ages in the Hopewell Valley School District. 

Research Questions

• The Farm-to-School movement is gaining traction nationwide.  Students could document models of school systems working successfully with local farmers. How did they work with the school district, the food service providers, and the farmers? What kind of political will was required?  Case studies could come from Vermont, Oregon, California, and New Jersey.*
• Many New Jersey agriculturists have shifted from growing plants for consumption to growing them for landscaping.  While these cosmetic granges count as “farms,” Real Food for Thought needs to quantify the number of food farms in the state.  A student could do an asset assessment to determine how many food farms there are in the state of New Jersey.  These food farms could be further classified as farms generating vegetables, milk, animal products, grains, etc.

• What are the economic benefits of farm-to-school lunch systems (on the state and local level)?  How does buying produce within state boundaries affect the state tax return for a municipality?  Does the municipality benefit by receiving more funding for the school?  Is there a win-win situation for keeping tax dollars in state (rather than buying from national corporations that avoid local taxes)?  Case studies should focus mainly on public schools but may also include private schools as references.* 
• What does opting out of a commodities program do to a school district budget? If a district opts out of commodities, how large is the resulting increase in food costs? What are schools doing to offset this cost increase?*

* Case studies should focus mainly on public schools but may also include private schools as references.

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