The WNY farmed food landscape continues to shift. Buffalo’s ‘farm to school’ program is doing a deep dive, in order to better accommodate the needs of an increasingly diverse community.
There is an innovative movement at hand, fueled by those who want to see all students living healthier lives, soul, mind, and body. After all, it’s all connected, right?
Eating garbage food has been an accepted practice at WNY school for far too long. Orange drink that contains no oranges. Mystery meats. Pizza. Grilled cheese. Hot dogs and burgers. Sugary desserts. These are all of the cheap alternatives – easy-to-source, freezable and re-heatable food items – that kids have become accustomed to consuming over the years, no matter what schools they attend.
But the times, they are a-changin’. Better late than never.
Currently, schools are rethinking ways that they can interact with a new wave of local farmers, to introduce more appropriate foods into meal programs. To that end, we are now seeing a welcome initiative by the Buffalo Public Schools’ (BPS) Farm to School program, which is in place to address the dietary needs of a culturally diverse student base.
PFC Chef Sharif Abdi and Mahamud Mberwa (PFC Farm Mentor and Incubator Farmer – photo above) trained BPS food service staff and Buffalo Farm to School team members how to prepare githeri, kachumbari, and chapati – dishes native to their homeland. Photo Credit: Cheryl Bilinski
This is being done by supporting BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) farmers and producers who have a better understanding of the needs of an underserved segment of the student population. The initiative also lends crucial support to the formerly-disenfranchised farmers and producers who have historically been denied equal standards in their respective industries.
While Providence Farm Collective (PFC) is 20 miles south of Buffalo, many of the farmers’ children attend BPS and have yet to enjoy a recipe at school native to their culture – a reality this Initiative aims to correct.
“We are grateful that the Buffalo Public Schools has engaged in this project highlighting culturally-relevant foods and the traditions of families who regularly partake in them, especially at this time when many immigrants and people of color are striving to be recognized as important and valuable parts of American communities,” said Dennice Barr, Buffalo Food Equity Network member and Fruit Belt community advocate. “Our team from Food for the Spirit’s Buffalo Food Equity Network is honored to have this opportunity to engage parents and other adult mentors in supporting positive youth development through culturally-relevant, local food nutrition, and farm systems education in Buffalo Public Schools.”
Celebrating Cultural Diversity with Buffalo Farm to School project team members gather for a kick-off meeting at Providence Farm Collective. Photo Credit: Rebekah Williams
(L-R) Bridget O’Brien Wood (BPS Food Service Director) and Mahamud Mberwa, roll out chapati dough for Sharif Abdi (PFC Chef) to pan fry. Photo Credit: Cheryl Bilinski
When asked during the kick-off if anyone had tried this food before, one young student noted, “I know this menu because my mom makes githeri at home and I’m used to it. It’s a surprise to know my school lunch is now featuring our own language and culture within the school.”
As a way to ensure that the policy plans become measurable actions, BPS Food Service awarded additional priority points to BIPOC producers in their latest round of school food bids.
These values include:
Local economies, with the highest number of points awarded to Buffalo-based urban farms
Environmental sustainability, with points awarded to organically-produced products
Food safety, with points awarded to producers adhering to the highest food-safety standards
Women-owned businesses
Animal welfare
A total of $930,420 was awarded to NY food and farm partners. A summary of the awards is as follows:
Providence Farm Collective ($4,765), the Initiative’s primary farm partner, is a consortium of New American farmers, largely from East Africa and Myanmar. They will be supplying the district with items never served in BPS school lunch before: African maize, Asian eggplant, African eggplant, sweet potato leaves, roselle leaves, Swiss chard, and collards.
Flat 12 Mushrooms ($7,000), an indoor mushroom farm on Buffalo’s west side.
Groundwork Market Garden ($8,900), a diversified urban farm on Buffalo’s east side that grows to organic production standards and is co-owned by a woman.
5 Loaves Farm ($1,200), a diversified urban farm on Buffalo’s west side that grows to organic production standards.
Eden Valley Growers/Western NY Food Hub ($342,454), a 60-year-old NY Grown & Certified vegetable cooperative in Eden that supports over twenty multi-generational farms.
Bippert’s Farm Market ($16,000), a certified woman-owned-business and 4th generation farm located in Elma.
Headwater Food Hub ($54,986), a certified B-Corp who works collaboratively with a network of regional farmers and food producers to coordinate a “Good Food System” that delivers sustainable foods year-round.
Wardynski’s ($264,515), a family-owned and operated Buffalo business since 1919, who custom produces NY Grown & Certified beef products, free of nitrates, artificial ingredients, and preservatives.
Slate Foods ($189,700), a certified woman-owned-business that partners with a consortium of farms and processors in various regions across the state to provide schools with NY Grown & Certified beef, free of growth-promoting antibiotics and hormones.
Empire State Farms ($40,900), a central NY business that provides institutional markets with NY Grown & Certified beef products.
“I am proud that the district is launching this initiative with our community partners to provide more diverse and robust menu options for our Buffalo Public School students that reflect the many different cultures within our BPS family,” said Lou Petrucci, Buffalo Board of Education President. “A meal that a student doesn’t eat is of no benefit to either the student or the district. This program will help to both increase participation in our meal program by offering selections our students are more familiar with and will reduce food waste by offering healthy foods and menu choices that children want in addition to supporting the work of our local growers.”
(L-R) Sharif Abdi works with Bridget O’Brien-Wood and Cheryl Bilinski (CCE Harvest NY Specialist) on standardizing the githeri recipe. The githeri was prepared with African maize grown in PFC’s soils from seeds brought over from Tanzania. Photo Credit: R.J. Anderson
“Often the children from the Somali Bantu community do not eat their school lunches because the food is not familiar to them, or it is not halal,” said Mahamud Mberwa, PFC Farm Mentor and Incubator Farmer. “They want to eat healthier, but they do not see in the cafeteria the healthy foods that they eat at home. For them to eat githeri or sambusas at school and know they are eating food grown by their community would make them excited for school lunch.”
In partnership with pilot schools, the project team will offer opportunities for youth engagement, adult leadership development, and culturally-relevant recipe development.
“We are looking forward to developing culturally relevant recipes that our diverse population of students will enjoy at school! Training food service staff will be critical to ensure recipe integrity and customer satisfaction,” said Bridget O’Brien Wood, BPS Food Service Director.
“Cornell Cooperative Extension is so grateful for our long-standing partnership with Buffalo Public Schools,” said Cheryl Bilinski, CCE HNY Local Food Systems Specialist. “It allows us to affect positive change in areas core to our mission: strengthening local economies, advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, fostering youth empowerment, and providing nutrition education.”
The Initiative – made possible through the support of a USDA Farm to School Implementation Grant. Project co-leads include BPS Food Service and Cornell Cooperative Extension Harvest New York (CCE HNY) – launched as a pilot in six of the district’s schools: Harriet Ross Tubman (#31), Lafayette High School (#207), International School (#45), International Preparatory (#198), Frederick Law Olmsted (#156), and Waterfront Elementary (#95).
Core project partners include Food for the Spirit, Urban Fruits & Veggies, Buffalo Food Equity Network, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Erie County, D’Youville University, Buffalo School of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management, and the Cornell Vegetable Program.
Lead image: Sharif Abdi, PFC Chef, works with BPS Food Service staff to prepare bell peppers for use in the githeri. Photo Credit: Mahamud Mberwa
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