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In school lunchrooms around Lake Tahoe, students line up for a red, hairy fruit called a rambutan. On pozole day, they shout, 鈥淲e want more!鈥� And when the salad bar runs dry, they ask the staff to refill it 鈥� over and over.

This brings joy to the cafeteria crew, but Gage Gautheier recently bestowed the highest possible praise from a middle-schooler: 鈥淚 have literally never heard anyone complain about the food.鈥�

Tahoe-Truckee Unified is among 500 California school districts that get their food through the state鈥檚 Farm to School program, which pairs local farmers, ranchers and other food producers with school districts to provide fresh meals to students. The program has been since it started in 2021 that this month the state and made it a permanent part of the Department of Food and Agriculture.

鈥淚鈥檓 so relieved the state decided to step it up and make this program permanent,鈥� said Christina Lawson, director of nutrition services at Western Placer Unified in Lincoln, a Sacramento suburb. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 been my abiding fear 鈥� that our funding would dry up after all this work we鈥檝e done.鈥�

The Farm to School program is part of a broader state effort to improve school meals, which for decades consisted mostly of soggy hot dogs and frozen pizzas. Through the program, schools get grant money to obtain fresh, local food; send students on field trips to farms; and send cafeteria workers to culinary academies so they can learn to cook things like braised short ribs and roasted root vegetables.

Another grant program helps schools upgrade their kitchens. And during the pandemic, the state started offering universal school meals to all students. In all, the state has invested well over $1 billion in healthy school meals since 2021.

鈥淥ur goal is not only to ensure every California child has access to nutritious, locally grown, regenerative organic meals that fuel their full potential, but to continue setting the national standard for what school food can and should be,鈥� said First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a longtime champion of the state鈥檚 overhaul of school meals. 鈥淲hen we invest in healthy, thriving kids, everyone benefits.鈥�

One of the most helpful parts of the Farm to School Program, according to school nutrition directors, is that it pays for food hubs to act as intermediaries between schools and farms. The food hubs place orders with farmers, deliver produce to schools and handle much of the logistical paperwork 鈥� tasks that can be overwhelming for harried cafeteria workers.

Spork is a food hub based in Davis that works with more than 100 small farms and 40 school districts from Crescent City to Los Angeles Unified. Crews deliver up to 120 tons 鈥� or 720 truckloads 鈥� of produce a week to school kitchens. 

Deliveries include items like vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, purple daikon radishes, Hakurei turnips, and something called a painted serpent cucumber 鈥� a snake-like, striped vegetable with a thin skin and a sweet, mild flavor.

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e trying to do is change kids鈥� eating habits at a young age by showing them how great fruits and vegetables can be,鈥� said Jacob Weiss, general manager of Spork. 鈥淧eople think kids don鈥檛 like vegetables, but we found that if you give them fresh, delicious vegetables, they love it.鈥�

A boost to local farms

Another goal of Farm to School is to give a boost to small farmers, who often struggle with fluctuating markets and customers鈥� fickle tastes. A farmer might plant a field of a specialty item like heirloom tomatoes, for example, but only sell half of them. Contracting with schools can provide a stable, predictable market, allowing farmers to plan crops more efficiently. Overall, the program works with nearly 600 small farmers in California.

Patrick Bollinger co-owns Foothill Roots Farm in Meadow Vista in Placer County. On 20 rolling acres in the Sierra foothills, he and his crew grow 50 different crops, much of it for the Tahoe Food Hub, which distributes to Tahoe-Truckee Unified and other sources. 

鈥淚f we get an order for watermelon radishes, I know we鈥檒l be able to sell them before we even get the seeds in the ground,鈥� Bollinger said. 鈥淎nd when we sell to the food hub, we don鈥檛 have to do the deliveries or marketing. 鈥� It鈥檚 been incredibly advantageous for us.鈥�

The state that every dollar spent through Farm to School results in $2.10 in local economic growth. Bollinger said he鈥檚 saved enough money to retain more employees year-round and lease an additional 8 acres since he started working with the Farm to School program. It鈥檚 also allowed him to plan more strategically, growing more salad greens, carrots and winter squash while still saving room for things like beets, herbs and chard.

At Tahoe-Truckee Unified, Kat Soltanmorad has never been happier in her 25 years as a school nutrition worker. 

鈥淲e now have access to the richness of California agriculture,鈥� said Soltanmorad, director of the district鈥檚 food services department. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good for the economy, it鈥檚 good for the environment, it鈥檚 good for student wellness.鈥�

She and her crew come up with menu items like barbecue ribs with whole grain garlic bread, organic mashed potatoes and kale caesar salad; mango lassis; and potstickers with oven-baked pancit and cilantro lime brown rice.

They taste-test new menu items with students and offer a wide variety of options at the salad bar so everyone can find something they like.

鈥淚 have become a radish expert,鈥� Soltanmorad said, noting that the district offers radish varieties such as baby French breakfast and Easter egg from small farms near her district. 鈥淲e dress them up with Tajin and lime juice or cilantro, and the students love it.鈥�

Gauthier, who just finished eighth grade, transferred to Tahoe-Truckee two years ago from Reno, where he said the school food was unimpressive. 

鈥淚n Reno they鈥檇 give us little sandwiches in plastic bags. Not cooked or anything, just a cold sandwich,鈥� he said. 鈥淗ere, they actually make an effort. They try.鈥� 

Back in Lincoln, Lawson choked up when describing the changes to her district鈥檚 lunch program thanks to Farm to School. The 8,200-student district now offers things like homemade muffins made from locally milled flour, low-sugar Greek yogurt from Sierra Nevada Creamery, local homemade tortillas and pupusas, and fresh produce ranging from kumquats to canary melons to finger limes. 

The staff, too, has benefitted. Because there’s more work for them, they’re getting more hours and bigger paychecks, plus greater job satisfaction, she said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the best thing that鈥檚 ever happened to school food service,鈥� Lawson said. 鈥淭he staff is happier, the farmers are benefitting. And the kids are actually eating the food.鈥�

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