 Welcome to another episode of In the Studio. The program is brought to you by Davis Media Access and broadcasts on Davis Community Television that's Comcast Channel 15 and AT&T, new verse, menu 99. We're also online at dctv.davismedia.org and recently on YouTube as well. I'm your host, Lynn Weaver, and today we're going to talk about a program in Davis for the Davis School, the Farm to School program. And with me to learn more about this or to tell us more about this are two wonderful guests. I have Beth Harrison. She's the executive director of YOLO Farm to Fork, which is the umbrella organization within which Farm to School fits. And also Dorothy Peterson, who is the chairperson for the Farm to School. Welcome both. Thank you so much for being on our show. I'm really delighted that you took a little time to tell us about these wonderful programs. So the first thing that I'd like to ask is how did you get involved, Beth, in the program and maybe a tiny bit about you? Well, I'm excited to be part of this program. As executive director, I came in around October of last year in 2013. I am fortunate to be the first executive director of YOLO Farm to Fork. It is a relatively new organization, even though Davis Farm to School has been around since 2000. I found out about this organization because it involves health and education and gardens and nutrition and just so many of my personal passions. When I found out that the executive director was being sought, I immediately applied for it and just was excited as it could be because I think this is such an important program for kids in the community and knowing that this organization was also going into YOLO County, it's just a great opportunity. And my background has been anywhere from, well, I've been in nonprofits for almost 20 years in management, strategic leadership, but also involved in health, education and just a variety of roles in small and large organizations. Well, that's great. And you're a Davis resident? I am a Davis resident, yes. Yes, and obviously you must love good nutrition. Yes, absolutely. And I have two kids in the Davis School systems. I see, so that makes you even more motivated, yes. And Dorothy, can you tell us how did you get involved? And a little bit about your background, you're a Davis resident as well. I've been here since 1961. I graduated from Chico State, took my first job here, started our family and I've been retired since 1999 after 37 years of teaching and I did not want to give up all the good things that I had experienced. I helped set up the state prototype for special education in the state. Davis was one of the pilots and I taught through the special education program for 23 years, where I discovered gardens, nutrition and garbage or waste management. That's right. That's an important part of this new initiative, yes. What comes from the earth should go back to the earth. So when I retired in 1999, there was a program through the state that a person who was not quite a certain age, they could take the funds from the state, give it to the district and I could create a program. So what I did was I started all the gardens in Davis with the tutelage of Delaine Easton who was at that time state superintendent of public construction for the state of California. And because of her garden in every school, that set a focus and a bunch of us got together and we met about twice a month and we said we need to really look at our nutrition program. We need to look at our guidance that we're giving the children and supplement a lot of what is happening out of the textbook. And enrichment without direct teaching. It's experiential teaching and that's what Farm to School offers people. Well, it sounds wonderful and thank you for your dedication and for sharing this knowledge that you have. So basically it's good nutrition, good nutritional habits and hands-on tutorials to children to recognize where the food comes on and also benefits the community. It seems like a win-win situation so I think people ought to know much more about it and get involved if they can. Beth and Dorothy, very recently I believe your organization has produced a very nice video and with your permission I would like to show it because it illustrates some of the programs in a very entertaining way. So if we can have the video, it's a short video, that would be wonderful and feel free to comment as we are watching the video. Yellow Farm to Fork is an organization working through Yellow County. Right now we are working with schools through their gardens. We're helping to initiate and sustain them. This is also about increasing the local fresh produce in school meals and reducing waste through composting and recycling programs. Why it's important is it allows us to really get product that is as fresh as possible at the highest quality and at peak levels that really not only is it good for you but also helps the local economy of our area here in Yellow County. Our vision is really to help people learn where their food comes from, basically from farm, understanding the farm-based education but really getting ownership and experiential learning and bringing that home into the families. The next generation is going to be ones that we will never see their successes but they will be doing the kind of work that they really feel involved with and that's why we do the gardens, the waste and the nutrition. So presently right now we are purchasing 65% of our produce, it's all local produce that comes around from the area and next year hopefully we're going to increase that to 70, almost 75%. What's happening today is that a lot of schools have their gardens so they can eat straight out of the garden, the vegetables that they grow. It's amazing to see these kids are taking ownership of the food that they're growing and actually eating broccoli and choosing that in the school line. People sometimes don't realize that students are here with us almost 8, sometimes 10 hours per day and so they spend more time with us than they do really at home and so it's really our obligation to our students to help support them in good nutrition to really take a look at the whole student. We don't want to textbook the kids, we want them to experience it, it just comes naturally. To me that is one of the most powerful things I've ever seen, is a child teaching someone else. To see a student, let's say a 10 year old, holding up a stalk of broccoli and eating it like it's a lollipop. We've seen the reaction of our students that appreciate scratch cooked food that's made here in this beautiful central kitchen that we have that we distribute out to all our schools. And it is so exciting to see because you know that they will have a lifelong interest and habit of healthy eating. Beautiful colors, the greens and the red and the whites, wonderful, yes. And of course once again what is stressed is to give the children a hands-on experience. What impressed me the most was that children now choose broccoli out of the school line. I must say that I have to see this to believe but I trust that that is an accurate fact. Well kids love to eat what they grow and so by giving them this experience and actually seeing something grow and then being able to pick it straight from the garden and eat it has given them truly a sense of ownership of what this is about and then they do share it with their family. It's fantastic. At least most children. Can you tell me what's new this year that you're doing? Well with Yolo Farm to Fork as the Davis Farm to School program has been incredibly successful and we are in every school in Davis with school gardens and just in so many ways we're involved in the recycle programs and Dorothy could talk a little more about the Davis program. But with Yolo Farm to Fork we're actually going outside of Davis including Davis but in West Sacramento and Woodland. Yolo. Yolo Farm to Fork is. Yes, yes and this is great and so the two you manage, you direct both so you can absolutely interchange. Well we share what works and then we find out every community is unique. Every school is different. Everything that people are looking for fits what works for them and their community. So we really do go in to find out what do they need? What are they looking for? It might be a recycling and composting program or it might be needing a new school garden. So we approach each school individually. Individually, yes. Yes and we have found an incredible diversity of the needs that are in our community and we are reaching out to schools that have never had gardens, never had programs, to some that have some things in place but need a little more. So it's been wonderful and we just earlier this year were fortunate to have received grant funds that we turned around and granted out to 16 schools in Yolo County. And we can talk a little more about that later on during the interview. What events are coming up? I know that by the time this broadcast some of the events have already occurred but perhaps Dorothy you can talk about one that you can catch. I mean that the viewer can catch. Okay one of the things that is coming up this Saturday is the Village Feast. It's our main fundraiser. It's an high-end charge but we just finished with tour to Clark. And that is where over 700 people tour backyard chicken coops in Davis. And that is meant to keep the fee for the entry fee low so we can get families. And I know we just finished putting in a chicken coop with five beautiful ladies and they were one of the stars. We had over 450 people managed in our cul-de-sac who came through, exited and just had a wonderful time. And of course once again this event by the time we go on air will be gone but the chicken coop will stay. The chicken coop will stay and this year we celebrated our fifth year of tour to Clark. And this year this coming Saturday will be our tenth year of Village Feast. This is August 23rd for SIPO. And you have to realize that this could not happen without the businesses and the partnerships that we have forged over the past several years. And again we can talk about that a little more. And what else comes later on? I think you have something in October which is interesting, the grain to bread. Okay that is a program that has been supported over the year by the K-Pay Valley Farm Community. They are now in their 27th year of hosting a two day weekend harvest event. It's like a fair, if you can imagine the early pioneers years ago going to a farm and camping out all night. I mean people do, they bring their sleeping bag and they sleep under the fruit trees. And during the day times they listen to music, they have hands-on experiences for the children. And our participation in the past five years have been to show the children how they can get a finished product of bread. I have an Indian grinding stone that they can touch, they can grind the grain. Oh that's marvelous. As well as different other modern day grinders that they pick up and use at their meals now. But they can grind it, they can winnow it, they go through all the processes and then it goes into the flour and they make their own little small pizza and it goes into a wood fired oven. Oh that's fantastic. And of course the aim is also I'm sure that the children gain a terrible new respect and appreciation of what goes into how difficult it is to prepare, I mean first to grow and then prepare and simple, I mean staple like bread. Whereas you know we go to the safe way and buy it. This is wonderful. So that's another event that you're planning. And that is a big one and the whole community participates. And we get people from San Francisco have come over the years to relive the experience and they bring their children and the kids at the end of the day are filthy dirty. But they have had so much fun in the creek, on the jet lines, working with their hands, dancing to the music and everything is zero waste. So when they finish all the plates are either washed, returned to the vendors and everything is composted. So they live the way we should all live. Yes. For a whole weekend. Yes. And where does it take place? It takes place at full belly farms. Not very far from here then. It's up in the Cape Valley area. And for those people who have never been in that area, it is one of the most beautiful areas all four seasons. Right now it's kind of brown and yellow. But in the spring it just comes alive. And in the fall too? And in the fall because of all the different colors. Yes. And so yes, it's an experience that everyone should have. And I'm amazed at the amount of people who have never ever heard of it. Well I am too because they're only researching for this. I learned about this event. Is this a free event or do you accept the nations? There is a charge. Okay. And it's called hosedown. And what they do is the vendors are charged a fee to participate. And then at the very end they help with funding other nonprofits. Some of the money back to the community. I understand. They keep enough so that they could generate it from year to year. Yes. And so that they could have the health facilities, the emergency facilities there. And really quality. Two years ago I went there and I closed my eyes. I was sworn that Elvis Presley was down singing. It was delightful. It really was. Now what schools in Davis do you feed all of the United District? The Davis Unified School District, well all of the schools in Davis have school gardens. And we do have the program in each of the schools in terms of farm, well we can talk about farm trips. Second graders, Dorothy has been involved in this for a long time as well. But second graders get to go to farms. And so they're involved in that. A big part of what we do is also working with the student nutrition services director. And this is what I'd like to focus on for a minute. So do you have, how does it work, Beth? Do you have a contract or a letter of understanding with the school system? And how do you bring in this nutrition? Are you involved in network, on putting the cooks with the farmers? How does it work? Can you explain that to me? Actually in the video you saw Dominic Maki. And he is the Davis Joint Unified School District Student Nutrition Services Director. A cook it looks like. He is also a wonderful chef. Sorry, sorry. We're very fortunate to have him in the Davis School District providing these foods because he calls it scratch cooking or home house made. And one of his goals has been to of course bring more fresh local produce into the school meals. And another thing is to make sure that he doesn't use pre-packaged foods that are high on sodium. And he actually makes for instance his own teriyaki sauce. So from the gourmet meals that are served in the lunch program, which is fantastic. It's nothing like I remember eating when I was in school. This is quite different. And this is why more kids are now looking to the lunch program. And the parents are finally getting to know it. He's been with the schools in our area now for a year. And we're gearing up for a second year. As far as the memorandum of understanding, Dorothy has just worked with him. When we started this partnership with Davis Joint Unified School District, we created a memorandum of understanding between them and our non-profit. And really it's very generic. We will work very hard to assist you. You work very hard to assist us. In other words, we can go for funds that they cannot go for. So in the very early on, in the year 2000, we started getting grants to utilize for the school district. We helped with that grant by the salad bars, for example. That is a memorandum of understanding. Now they have to sign off on everything. But still, we went out, we used our power and we used our knowledge to access this to the very point that now we just updated the memorandum of understanding, which should be done every two years because of personnel changes and habits changes. But it is just a matter of trust and partnership. So that I can walk into the Davis Joint Unified School District and say, I have an idea. I'll make an appointment with someone, they'll listen, and they'll tell me from their side, the legal side and the federal mandate side what can and cannot be done. Understand. And then I take it back to the schools and say, okay, here's what we have. How can we make this work? Then I take it back because we don't own the program. That's Davis Joint Unified. We can tell them we can get some farmers. We can help you get taste testers. That's one of the biggest things Dominic Mocchi has done. He's created a partnership with the university to get interns to go to the lunch lines during the school week. And he is creating menus to see if the kids like it or dislike it. Oh, I see. So in other words, he's also integrating some research done by UC Davis, which is wonderful. Yes. Who buys the food? The kids do. No, I mean the products that come to the school. Who is in charge of that? Dominic Mocchi is in charge of that because he has to follow certain federal mandates. Yes. And he gets a certain amount of free and reduced costs through the government. But what we have done, we have passed a parcel tax and approximately $70,000 a year go to the nutrition program to supplement with local seasonal farm fresh product. He has to access that from the farmers or distributor. Now that is what makes our lunch program pop. Interesting. And what is the percentage of local farmers or local produce that is brought into the school? I think he mentioned... He said 65%. 65% is quite a lot. And I recently spoke with him and he said we're beyond that now. Yes. So even that was... Yes. And then of course this benefits, as I said a little while ago, benefits the economy of this region in a wonderful way. And your role, I believe, one of your roles is also to screen these farmers and to make sure that they are solid and produce good products, wouldn't you say? Actually that's a county decision. It's a county decision. I see. But we have such an amazing agriculture. The area around here and these farms and farmers are quite known among each other. Yes, of course. So it isn't a difficult enterprise. Let's talk a little bit about your supporters and benefactors. I don't know whether you want to disclose their names, but let's talk about it. And also how costly is this program? If you have some comparison, maybe it's impossible. But with other states or other counties, perhaps that's a little difficult. You don't have that type of statistics. Well, and our organization is quite unique. I mean there are farm to school programs across the country, but each one does something, you know... A little bit different. It's a little bit different. And we are not funded publicly. We do not get government grants typically. So at least YOLA Farm to Fork, what we do is work with individuals and partnerships is really the main source of income. Now we recently, as I earlier mentioned the grants that we gave to the schools, we were funded through Sutter Davis Hospital and through Orchard Hill Family Fund to be able to provide this. We actually had two programs, but they were our major funders in that. So we've been able to, we can disclose that. But the majority of our funding does come from individuals and donors in the community that know us. Yeah. How many people work in YOLA Farm to Fork approximately? Is it mostly volunteers? Yes. It's mostly volunteers, yes. And volunteer, committed volunteers, yes. And I just wanted to add to show another one of these very strong partnerships. Our belief is what comes from the earth must go back to the earth. Yes. And so early on to show the children that things can decompose and nourish the soil and vitalize the growing plant. I came up with an idea and got a grant, which... Congratulations. Yeah, and it was, it funded three schools. And what we did is we did a pilot and we took the best of the processes, made a template, created a program in the elementary school so that I could show the school district that we could cut their garbage bill 50%. Oh, that's fabulous. But it took me three years. And the person who funded this, the business, was Davis Waste Removal. Interesting. We're just about out of time. You won't believe it. However, I just wanted to mention this particular pilot. Can we find some information on your website for this? That was in 1999 in the year 2000. Yes. I don't know if we have the whole grant, but that agency is no longer funding anything like that. But there are other very important things that we can find on your website. And it's a very nice website, by the way. There is a web page that describes all the resources with the links to where you can get information nationally and by state. So that's maybe a very good way to start. And of course, you can always contact Beth or Dorothy if you have a particular question about this program. Thank you both so much for coming to talk to us. And thank you for the wonderful information that you've given us. So, Dorothy Peterson and Beth Harrison, thank you. And thank you all for watching. You've been watching in the studio. You can stream this program by going to our website, dctv.davismedia.org. We're also on YouTube. And maybe while you're on our website, you might want to stream some of our other interesting programs from all of us here at Davis Media Access, particularly the tech team. Thank you and see you next time.