Farm-to-Fork Dining Program at The Unquowa School

Inspired by a talk on sustainable food systems at the first NAIS Sustainability Institute in 2005, The Unquowa School’s head, Sharon Lauer, and several faculty members returned to campus and launched a sustainable dining program. They hired the consultant from the institute, who worked closely with Lauer to create a mission statement and a set of measurable goals to work toward. Their basic objective was to reduce waste, serve organic milk and cage-free eggs, and replace as many existing lunch items with regional and seasonal foods as possible.

In the first year of the initiative, the school built a small organic kitchen garden on campus, established a composting program that the students would run, and by year’s end made a connection with an organic farmer who was willing to allow students to spend time at her farm planting and harvesting so they could experience the cycle of food production and the simple magic of growing things. Additionally, the school managed to stay under their modest budget for the program. In the second year, Unquowa has increased the percentage of seasonal and regional foods served and hired a new chef with a strong commitment to sustainable foods.

Unquowa is trying to model more sustainable behavior and to teach students to be stewards of a small part of the world that they can control. With so many legitimate distractions of school life to threaten their success, the consultant has been a critical factor in helping them stay on track. Having the dining program well on its way, Unquowa is moving on to better monitored recycling and energy programs and the integration of bird crafting and invasive plant management into the curriculum.

Click here for a link to Sharon Lauer's article Starting in the Garden: The Journey to Sustainable School Dining, which appeared in the fall 2006 issue of Edible Nutmeg.

Unquowa’s Dining Mission

The Unquowa School Farm to Fork Mission Statement – Revised 2007

“To provide a nutritionally balanced, good tasting, environmentally and fiscally responsible menu that utilizes local, sustainably produced quality ingredients.”

Unquowa’s Work to Date

Nutrition / Health Impact

• Organic cage-free eggs, vegetables, and fruits
• Removal of fryer and all fried foods
• Non rBGH growth hormone local milk
• Only whole wheat bread and pasta
• Only homemade, low-fat salad dressings
• Only from-scratch cooking

Local Economic Impact

• Produce from Sport Hill Farm and High Hill Orchards
• CSA Membership
• Serve only milk from local dairy
• Serve only local, all natural, grass-fed beef

Environmental and Social Impact

• Compost all kitchen waste
• Organic, integrated pest management (IPM), and antibiotic-free produce, meats, and dairy products
• Elimination of paper supply usage and individual packaging
• Cage-free eggs and pasture-raised beef

Curricular Impact

• Weekly “Chef’s Talks” with the students
• Seasonal menus
• Summer farm camp
• School kitchen garden
• Student composting program
• Student kitchen prep program
• Farmer lecture series
• Student-produced granola

Please click here to read The Unquowa Sustainable Food Story written by John Turenne.

Contact: Sharon Lauer
slauer@unquowa.org

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