VIEW GALLERY: SPS Farm-to-School Vendor Tour and Program Partner Lunch

Event draws nearly 40 vendors, partners and school nutrition professionals to observe and tour SPS Food & Nutrition Services Farm-to-School, SFSP programs

Nearly 40 food service professionals — some from as far away as Hawai’i — spent Wednesday afternoon at the Salem Public Schools Food & Nutrition Services Farm-to-School and Summer Food Service Program Tour and Luncheon at Salem High School.

Among the fruits and vegetables grown on several of SPS campuses include variations of peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, watermelons, herbs and more, which are included in SPS Food and Nutrition Services menus and donated to local food pantries.

In the midst of its Summer Food Service Program, SPS Food and Nutrition Services serves free breakfast, lunch and dinner at different locations throughout the City of Salem five days a week to students aged 0-18, from July 8-Aug. 16.

View SPS Summer Eats Program Schedule

Following the tour of the garden at SHS and the garden beds at nearby Horace Mann Laboratory School, guests were treated to a menu of locally sourced food such as:

• Red’s Best fish sticks (Boston)
• New Entry Sustainable Farming Project apples and low-fat milk (Beverly, Mass.)
• One Mighty Mill bagels (Lynn, Mass.)
• Sauteed summer squash and SHS Garden zucchini
• Whole grain bread sticks
• Arugula salad
• Potato salad

Among the guests attending the Tour and Partner Lunch included:

• USDA Food and Nutrition Services
• Hawaii Child Nutrition Programs (Honolulu, Hi.)
• Hawaii Department of Education (Honolulu, Hi.)
• Hawaii School Nutrition Association (Honolulu, Hi.)
• Sodexho North America
• New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (Beverly, Mass.)
• HomeGrown Urban Abundance Gardening (Salem, Mass.)
• North Coast Seafoods (Boston, Mass.)
• UMass Extension (Amherst, Mass.)
• One Mighty Mill (Lynn, Mass.)
• Teachers & Students (Salem, Mass.)
• Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School (Danvers, Mass.)
• Root (Salem, Mass.)
• Food Policy Council (Salem, Mass.)
• Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (Boston, Mass.)
• Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Boston, Mass.)
• Project Bread (Boston, Mass.)