Last week, I mentioned the Harvest of the Month program and other efforts to bring local food into school cafeterias. Tomorrow, Wednesday September 26, schools all over the state of Washington will join the movement by serving grown-in-Washington ingredients on Taste Washington Day, “an annual celebration of Washington grown foods served in school meals.” (http://www.wafarmtoschool.org/Page/28/WSDA-Farm-to-School-Taste-Washington-Day) Here in Whatcom County, Taste Washington Day is being celebrated on Thursday, September 27 instead in order to coincide with the traditional Thursday Harvest of the Month.
What’s on the menu?
According to Holly O’Neil of Whatcom Farm-to-School, Bellingham students will have an all-local lunch of roasted Draper Valley chicken, salad made with local salad greens from Viva Farms and Growing Washington, cherry tomatoes from Osprey Hill Farm, Hopewell Farm carrots, a roll from a local bakery, and cobbler made with Williams Farm berries. Mardi Solomon, another member of the Whatcom Farm-to-School support team, said that yesterday she and a team of volunteers processed 200 pounds of fresh Hopewell Farm carrots into slices and shreds for students in Blaine and Bellingham.
Other schools will feature apples from Bellwood Acres and additional local ingredients. In Lynden, tomorrow (Wednesday) will feature a Washington grown-meal of chicken drumsticks, homemade wheat rolls, cherry tomatoes from Growing Washington (also being served in Blaine and Nooksack), and Clark’s strawberries. Thursday will feature salad (at the elementary level) with local ingredients. In Ferndale, students will enjoy braising greens from Growing Washington, among other menu items. Blaine and Mount Baker School Districts will serve tomato-basil pasta salad (recipe below).
Why does it matter?
In the words of congressional representative Jay Inslee, from the proceedings of the 111th congress, “Taste Washington Day offers our kids a chance to establish a deeper connection and develop a better understanding of our state’s food system, from farm to fork and each step in between. The more opportunities our children have to learn about the people, time effort and resources necessary to turn a seed into a crop, the more they will appreciate the food on their plates. As the next generation, it will be up to them to continue our state’s agricultural heritage and history.”
Tomato Basil Pasta Salad
Preparation time: 20 min. Serves 4-6. Recipe by Chef Garrett Brendan, RD. Reposted from the Bellingham School District’s online calendar, available here.
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked whole wheat bowtie pasta, chilled
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup sliced black olives
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper ¼ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon dried basil
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup fresh basil, finely shredded
What to do:
Combine the chilled pasta, cherry tomatoes, black olives, and Parmesan cheese in a mixing bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl combine the red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, salt, pepper, sugar, and dried basil. Slowly add the vegetable oil while whisking. Pour the vinaigrette over the pasta. Gently stir until the salad is well coated with vinaigrette. Mix in the fresh basil just before serving. Basil will turn brown from exposure to the vinegar.
Nutrition information per serving: 231 calories, 15 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 247 mg sodium, 21 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 5 g protein.
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