Marquez Charter School Celebrates National Farm to School Month

In October, Marquez Charter School celebrated National Farm to School Month for the second year in a row.  During our celebration, we gave away fruits and vegetables donated by local farmers. This year we received strawberries from Harry's Berries from the Santa Monica Farmers' Market. We also received stone fruit, apples and grapes from Fresno based G Farms  (the plums were wonderful) of the Palisades Farmers Market and vegetables from Givens Farm and Frecker Farms also vendors at the Palisades Farmers Market.   Here's the count:  

4 boxes of pears  (G Farms)

4 boxes of apples    (G Farms)

6 crates of grapes   (G Farms)

3 boxes of plums   (G Farms)

1 box of carrots. (Frecker Farms)

1 box of mixed fruit and veggies (John Givens Farms)

1 flat of strawberries (Harry's Berries)

We were overwhelmed by the generosity of the donations! Not only did we give away fruit and veggies two mornings, but we delivered fruit and vegetables to many classes and also used a lot of the vegetables for cooking experiences.

Several classes wrote thank you notes to the farmers and many students signed a thank you card.

Cooking with Donations from Local Farmers

This week several classes cooked with donations from local farms Given's Farm and Frecker Farms. Both are vendors at the Palisades Farmers Market. Second graders made salads with the vegetables and third graders made lettuce wraps. The lettuce wraps also contained black beans, corn broccoli and tomatoes donated by Gelsons. These kids love their veggies! Many kids wanted seconds of the ingredients and of the ranch dressing.

The students added the non ranch dressing remains to the nearby compost bin.