Southampton 'Farm To School' Project Wins State Award

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — A program that aims to provide students with fresh food in the Hamptons won a state award recently, school officials said.

The East End Farm to School Project, a coalition of the Bridgehampton, Southampton and Tuckahoe school districts, was awarded a $99,389 grant from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, which will help the districts to continue the farm-to-school program, the Southampton Union Free School District said.

Since 2017, the Farm to School Project has enabled the three school districts to access locally sourced, nutritious food, as well as to provide education promoting the health and wellness of students, staff and the community, the district said.

Monthly taste tests are also offered to students; the program also incorporates Harvest of the Month recipes into cafeteria menus.

During the pandemic in 2020, the schools continued with the project by teaming up with the East End Food Institute, a nonprofit Southampton organization whose mission is to support, promote and advocate for local producers to design and implement a distribution system that delivers local food to schools, the district said.

Heather Meehan, then-manager of East End Food Institute’s outreach and education division, worked with the districts; she secured emergency grants and a new “Farmer of the Month” initiative was initiated. Harvest of the Month taste tests also continued, with fresh local apples from the Milk Pail, butternut squash from Halsey Farm and kale from Balsam Farms, the district said.

"This has been a challenging year due to the pandemic,” said Regan Kiembock, director of food services at Southampton Union Free School District. “But with Heather as our coordinator, we have been able to continue our farm-to-school goals on a smaller scale.”

Meehan, who will continue to serve as farm-to-school coordinator for the three districts, plans to continue offering local Harvest of the Month menu items, increase local produce and product purchases by the schools, and integrate agricultural education into the curriculum, the district said.

The schools have even started serving a local fish taco with underutilized seafood sourced from Haskell’s Seafood in Quogue, the district said.

“I look forward to meeting all our farm-to-school goals this year, especially now that more students will be coming back to in-person schooling,” said Kiembock.

“Farm-to-school activities benefit our students, farmers and the entire community,” Meehan said. “The last year has highlighted disparities in food access within our community, and farm-to-school can improve equity while also benefiting local producers.”