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River Falls School District spotlights student-led hydroponics and local-food programs
Summary
At a regular meeting of the River Falls School District Board of Education, the board recognized River Falls FFA and food-service staff for expanding farm-to-school programs, including student-run aeroponic systems, a maple-syrup project backed by Ford Foundation grants and Chartwells classroom demonstrations at a Montessori school.
At a regular meeting of the River Falls School District Board of Education, trustees recognized the River Falls FFA and the district food-service team for expanding farm-to-school and hands-on food-education programs that supply cafeteria meals and classroom learning.
The board presented Wildcat Pride Awards to River Falls FFA and district food-service staff for participation in the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s Local Food for Schools program. A board member said, “Your dedication to providing local, unprocessed, and minimally processed foods has greatly benefited the students in our districts. You are true ambassadors of Wildcat pride.”
Andrew O’Connor, a junior and student in the district’s horticulture class, described the student-run systems now producing greens for school meals. “I’m Andrew O’Connor. I’m a junior. I’m one of Mr. Pachek’s students. I’m currently taking horticulture where we’re working with the fork farm systems like he mentioned. We’ve been planting lettuce and growing it through a hydroponic system,” O’Connor said, identifying the system used as an aeroponics-style setup.
District presenters said the high school has 10 “fork farm” systems (hydroponic/aeroponic towers) and that eight of the 10 systems are currently operating. The district also described a new maple-syrup project supported in part by grants from the Ford Foundation and said a food-products and processing class is planned for the fall to expand on-school food processing and student learning.
The food-service team gave an update on classroom outreach delivered through Chartwells, the district’s food-service partner. A member of the food-service staff said, “Chartwells has a program for just about for every month,” and described a “Discovery Kitchen” program that has visited the Montessori School. Presenters said staff have taken the program into classrooms for roughly 20-minute sessions and have delivered sessions for all five grades at the Montessori twice so far.
Program topics described to the board included “Noodles Around the World” and a herbs-and-spices lesson that allowed students to smell and taste fresh herbs; presenters noted that raw mint tastes notably different from the mint-flavored foods children typically encounter. The food-service staff also said they plan to spread the Discovery Kitchen program to additional district schools and have applied for — or are seeking — grant funding to expand staffing for these activities; an identified grant application was not specified as approved.
District staff also mentioned upcoming local-food outreach events, including scheduling adjustments for planned programs in January, February and March and a planned visit from the Wisconsin “Spudmobile,” an educational program about potatoes.
Board members and staff framed the activities as combining agricultural, science and business learning with tangible cafeteria benefits: student-grown greens and other minimally processed foods fed back into school meals. Presenters repeatedly emphasized that the programs are intended to teach sustainability and give students hands-on experience producing food.
No formal motions or votes related to these programs were recorded during the portions of the meeting provided in the transcript.
