New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher has recognized Terhune Orchards and the Mount family of Mercer County as the winning farm participating in the first Jersey Fresh Farm to School Farmer Recognition Award.
“New Jersey school students benefit greatly from consuming healthy local produce but also can learn a great deal from our farmers about how their food is grown,” Fisher said in the release. “The Farmer Recognition Award presented to Terhune Orchards is an opportunity to highlight how farms can engage with local schools to teach Farm to School activities and encourage more farmers to connect with schools.”
The presentation took place during the 8th annual Jersey Fresh Farm to School Week September 24-28, according to the release.
“Terhune Orchards’ on-farm education for students of all ages is the reason the first award was presented to them,” Beth Feehan, NJDA Farm to School Program Coordinator, said in the release. “From their ‘healthy soil’ lessons for preschoolers to teach about worms, to their observational lessons watching apples being pressed into cider, students are truly able to see how a farm works and what it produces.”
The release said that during the 2017-18 school year, the influence of the Farm to School Program led to 255 schools purchasing local produce from their main distributor, 223 districts buying local produce directly from growers, 212 districts using a curriculum that ties cafeteria meals to healthy eating education and 114 districts organizing field trips to farms.
Information about the program is available at www.farmtoschool.nj.gov.
