First, a shout-out to Curt Miller of Miller's Citrus Grove in Penryn. He was tired of sitting around at farmers markets every weekend, so he contacted Sacramento City Unified School District and asked if they would buy all the citrus they wanted, and he would deliver it himself. That's how many students learned about -- and loved -- mandarins. Miller was one of the first farmers to work with Sac City Unified to get its "Farm to School" efforts into high gear.
That's one of the many interesting facts we learned in this great "Food for Thought" panel talk we held last month. ( There's also a useful "Farm to School" resource list of organizations listed here that panelists mentioned during their talk.)
It's a great 90-minute discussion, but if you're pressed for time, go to the 58:05-minute mark to learn how smaller school districts can emulate Sac City Unified's efforts and/or to the 1 hr-7 minute mark, where panelists give their most recent successes in getting Farm to Fork into Schools.
Refer to the "Podcast Play by Play" section to zero in on specific parts of the conversation.