Farm to School Awareness Day 2018

Farm to School advocates from across the Commonwealth gathered at the Massachusetts State House on Wednesday, October 3rd to share their stories of bringing healthy, locally grown foods and food education to students with each other and their legislators. They heard from Senator Anne Gobi, Chair, Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture (and 2016 Kale Blazer award winner), Kurt Messner, Regional Administrator, United States Department of Agriculture, Commissioner John Lebeaux, MA Dept of Agricultural Resources, Robert Leshin, MA Department of Elementary & Secondary Education, and our 2018 Kale Blazer Award Winners Nancy Burke, Haverhill Public Schools, Representative Stephen Kulik, and Lara Lepionka, Backyard Growers.

The Massachusetts Farm to School Kale Blazer is an individual who has demonstrated excellence and leadership in farm to school activity in Massachusetts.

Representative Stephen Kulik (1st Franklin District), has been a longtime champion of farm to school and other efforts to build a strong local food system in Massachusetts, by supporting programs such as the Agricultural Preservation and Restriction Program, the Community Preservation Act, the Dairy Farm Tax Credit, the Healthy Incentives Program, and by introducing the legislation that created the Massachusetts Food Policy Council from which the Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan was developed. His work has created a robust foundation for farm to school work to continue to prosper across the Commonwealth.

Nancy Burke, paraprofessional at Haverhill Public Schools (and longtime home gardener), was inspired to start a school garden when she realized the students she was working with did not know how food was grown or where it came from. She started with a small garden containing a single raised bed where she was able to bring together her special education students and other students from within Haverhill High School. Her small garden has grown into a garden half the size of a football field and has fostered the growth of a garden club made up of students with differing abilities and in different grades. She embodies leadership, commitment, and dedication to all the good that comes from school gardens.  Click here to read the Haverhill Gazette article covering Nancy Burke. 

Lara Lepionka, Executive Director of Backyard Growers based in Gloucester, MA, has built an organization that provides resources and support to establish vegetable gardens at public schools, homes, housing communities, and non-profit organizations, and offers accompanying programs and initiatives that promote a love of fresh, local produce. Lara is helping to raise a generation of healthy eaters who understand where their food comes from as well as inspiring other communities around the state to develop their own garden education programs.