Five "Feed My School for a Week" Participants Selected

News release issued by the Georgia Department of Agriculture press office

 

Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary W. Black recently announced the five elementary schools selected for this year's Feed My School for a Week program sponsored by the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the Georgia Department of Education.

 

Colbert Elementary in Colbert, West Chatham Elementary in Savannah, Skyview Elementary in Macon, Sharon Elementary in Suwanee and Southside Elementary in Cairo are the chosen schools for this year's program. The Feed My School initiative increases awareness about the importance of proper nutrition and healthy eating while assisting schools in sourcing local produce and products.

 

"The pilot program of Feed My School was such a great success that we were encouraged to expand the program to five schools across the state," Black said. "With this program, students will discover the importance of agriculture through learning about the process that brings local produce and goods from an area farm to the cafeteria table, while at the same time receiving a healthy, delicious meal."

 

The program aims to help bridge the gap in the nutritional value and quality of food served in Georgia schools and provide more farm-to-cafeteria opportunities. The result will be healthier Georgia students, decreased barriers in farm-to-school efforts and increased awareness as students learn and experience, both educationally and nutritionally, where their food comes from.

 

During a one-week period in the spring semester, all lunches served out of each selected school's cafeteria will include 75 to 100 percent Georgia-grown food. The schools will host an agriculture guest speaker, hold taste tests for Georgia commodities and conduct an essay contest. There will also be an art contest at each school focused on a single Georgia commodity, in addition to several other education activities throughout the designated week.