Henry Got Crops! Vegetables in Saul Cafeteria

After a few years of dreaming about it, and then an entire year of actively pursuing it, we have just recently been approved as an official vendor for the School District of Philadelphia in order to sell produce to the Saul cafeteria (Fan fare! Fireworks!). This is a very exciting step for everyone! The farmers and farm educators are proud, the students are excited, the school district is supportive and the Saul staff are thrilled. Students from Saul can already get free produce to take home from the raised beds  which they tend with Clare and Tara as part of the Henry Got Crops farm education programs; and now this is yet another way we can get healthy, fresh produce which the students themselves help grow, into their mouths. We are starting small with this new plan, in order to work out the kinks. We will try various types of vegetables to see what works best for the cafeteria staff and what is most well received by the students. We will deliver just a case or two of vegetables a week until the winter sets in, and then one or two smaller deliveries a month of salad greens from the hoop houses during the winter. However we hope deliveries can be bigger and more regular once the spring starts up again and we can specifically plan for the cafeteria’s needs. Everything that goes into the cafeteria must be on the approved menu, which was created by a school district dietician. This never would have been possible without the willingness and support from the Saul principal, the cafeteria staff, and of course the Food Services of the Philadelphia School District.