Port Burwell Public School, Port Burwell, ON
Grant term 2020-2022
Port Burwell PS is a K-6 school of 130 students is a rural port village on the shore line of Lake Erie in Southwest Ontario. In our final grant year, we are getting closer every day to enjoying our salad bar service goals! Geographic isolation and low socio-economic challenges have resulted in food insecurities. Students rely on our school’s healthy snack program and have benefited from first hand knowledge of food nutrition priorities from their homes, especially over the winter months.
Student lunches often lack fresh food because we have no grocery store. The Farm to Cafeteria grant has allowed our students an opportunity to create an awareness of food options for growing and accessing fresh and healthy local foods that work within limited budgets and transportation challenges. Thanks to the support of this grant, we hope to instill in our students a desire to produce and enjoy fresh produce as a healthier lifestyle with our new and improved healthy snack program with salad bar!
Some of our salad bar wish-list events for the fall:
- ”Hot Potato” Baked potatoes from locally sourced Mooseburger Farms, with special toppings
- Three Bears Oatmeal day with fruit/seeds/cream sourced from local farms
- Fruit Salad, Yummy Yummy mix and match with local additions to the salad
- Veggies with dip combos from our community and tower garden
What People have to say:
“I love the trip to learn about how honey bees give us food and are needed for our environment.”- grade 3 student
“It’s fun to learn about where we can find local food for our snack program.”- grade 5 student
“This Farm to Cafeteria grant has provided the means for our small and underprivileged school community to help diminish the food insecurity challenge by creating locally grown food and learning about local places where their families can go to purchase or grow their own food. Thank you for the opportunity.”- teacher at Port Burwell PS
“The dishwasher and new salad bar tools will be a welcome addition to our newly constructed servery, for use by students of the “You’re the Chef” program and by our snack program staff and volunteers. Thank you!”- Snack program Volunteer
Some Recent Activities
One of our future trips is to the local fish market to understand the role of their service to the community and the role fresh fish plays for our local community.
Food Literacy
Food literacy has been a key component of this grant process, so that students can move beyond pre-packaged options to quick and easy menu options using fresh produce that are local and easy to purchase or grow ourselves. Inviting growingchefsontario.ca to our school for a food systems webinar, allowed students to explore where our food comes from.
Our strong partnership with the local health unit provides us with additional support and resources, such as menu items for families to access related to cooking and menu prep using simple and local produce.
Student Involvement
Students were bussed to Clovermead Apiaries, a local farm in Aylmer Ontario, and enjoyed an educational honeybee tour, learning about the interconnectedness of our environment, nature, and the importance of bees to pollination and our food supplies. They also learned of the medicinal and culinary benefits of this natural and pure food Source. Once the servery is complete, students will resume food preparation for our healthy snack program as well as in the You’re The Chef club and food literacy will be a key component from start to finish.
Thank you F2CC! You made a mark in our Port town!
[…] teacher at Port Burwell Public School shared in their blog post, “This Farm to Cafeteria grant has provided the means for our small and […]