West Chatham Elementary Selected For Second “Feed My School For a Week” Program


Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary W. Black and State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge announced West Chatham Elementary is one of the five schools selected in the second “Feed My School for a week”
Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary W. Black and State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge announced West Chatham Elementary is one of the five schools selected in the second “Feed My School for a week”

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary W. Black and State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge announced on December 14, 2012 that West Chatham Elementary is one of the five schools selected across the state to participate in the second “Feed My School for a Week” program sponsored by the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the Georgia Department of Education.

“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,” said Commissioner Black.

“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 phrase “farmto school” is becoming increasingly popular in the U.S. when it comes to offering healthy, fresh produce options to students.

To keep Georgia a step above the rest, the State Departments of Education and Agriculture have combined efforts to better assist all school districts in this initiative. “Georgia is second in the nation in childhood obesity,” Superintendent Barge said.

“The ‘Feed My School for a Week’ program is a great first step in raising students’ awareness of nutritional options, as well as promoting healthier meals in our schools.”

The “Feed My School for a Week” program aims to help bridge the gap in the nutritional value and quality of food served in Georgia schools, while providing 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.

Each of the five school systems will be represented by an elementary school in their district. During a one-week period in an upcoming semester, all lunches served out of each selected school’s cafeteria will consist of 75-100 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 that is focused on a single Georgia commodity, in addition to several other educational activities throughout the designated week.

The five schools selected for the 2013 school year are West Chatham Elementary in Savannah, Skyview Elementary School in Macon, Sharon Elementary in Cumming, Colbert Elementary in Danielsville and Southside Elementary School in Cairo. To learn more about the program, please visit: www.agr.georgia.gov/ feed-my-school-for-a-week. aspx


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