Page 29 - Valley Table- Winter 2025

Local, farm-fresh food goes down easy
in some Hudson Valley cafeterias—but
not without the focused efforts of
school leaders who see big benefits for
both students and area farmers.
BY STACY MORRISON
FARM-TO-SCHOOL
LUNCHES
Mmm, farm-to-
table eating. Just
hearing the phrase
conjures a visual
feast, a cornucopia spilling over
with rainbow-hued produce,
a basket of pastel eggs from
free-range fowl, fresh cuts of
chicken, beef, pork, waiting to
be cooked up in imaginative
recipes that make the most of
what we grow and harvest here
in the Hudson Valley. Envision
a meal hand-crafted from this
beautiful bounty, served on…
A plastic cafeteria tray?
Yep! Served on a school
lunch tray—with a carton of
fresh Hudson Valley milk to
wash it all down.
Imagine a meal of
strawberry and asparagus
salad with a honey dressing
(Ellenville Central School
District); Asian-style meatballs
with garlic green beans and
brown rice (Pawling Central
School District); Sfoglini pasta
with local New York beef
sauce served with a side of
roasted butternut squash (Red
Hook/Rhinebeck/Pine Plains
school districts).
These are actual menu
items that were served to
area students in the 2023-24
school year. And yes, the kids
ate them. Discussed them.
Learned from them.
And the benefits of these
tasty, locally sourced meals
extend far past ensuring fresh,
nutritious food for the students.
Farm-to-school purchasing
infuses millions of dollars right
back into local farms. It creates
more resilient food supply
chains. It connects disparate
communities and centers the
importance of our local food
December 2024 – February 2025 | valleytable.com 27