Waterville Students Transform School Lunch

Waterville Students Transform School Lunch

By Troy Bishopp

Eve Sawyer said, “Never underestimate the power of passion”.  Within the confines of the Waterville High School, a health class of 9 spirited students and their teacher took a passion for local food to a whole new level.  This burning desire to change the school lunch menu came from of all places, a survey from their classmates.  And so the first annual WCS healthy food day was born.

In the midst of final exams, senior-itis and dreaming of summer vacation these inspired young people took charge of their dream to leave a legacy for next year’s classes.  “We wanted to promote healthy local food choices that would benefit the school and the community”, said Chairman of the food procurement committee, Christian Stewart.  “They did their homework on this project, said Health Teacher, Tammy Alcott.  They researched nutritional profiles of food, obesity concerns, conventional vs. organic food systems, looked at the carbon foot print of food and the couch potato effect, were educated by dieticians and local farmers, and asked, What’s all that breading covering up?”

The driver to taking on the status quo school lunch came directly from classmates who where disappointed in the menu choices offered, taste and the eating quality of slightly warm food disguised by breading.  Armed with enough information and inspiration, these culinary aficionados took their enthusiasm to the Waterville School Foundation.  The board of directors overwhelmingly supported their desire to make this day happen and appreciated the benefits of educating the student body and faculty, keeping food dollars local, and the idea of showing the community what is possible.  Little did the students know how much they would learn about themselves, their organizational skills and the effect of “doing”.

In just two short weeks, the team consisting of James Barnes, Danielle King, John Brown, Katie Bishopp, Robert Hughes, Patrick Carroll, Allie Shore, Cody Thompson and Christian Stewart developed a budget, brainstormed on a local menu, planned the event, designed a logo, sourced and paid for the ingredients from local farms and businesses, prepared the food and served it up to classmates and faculty.  There was even a small farmer’s market in the parking lot selling in-season produce.

The smells and smiles of recreating a Grandma’s kitchen-like venue resonated well with the 120 kids and faculty.  Who couldn’t love local beef from Sunnybrook Farm, baked potatoes from Pryputniewicz Farm, salad greens from Common Thread Farm, tomatoes and honey from Longview Produce Farm, dairy products from Queensboro Farm Products, apples from Twin Orchards and strawberries from Mosher Family Farm. 

 The local menu choices drew accolades from School Superintendent, Gary Lonczak who said,  “This is the best hamburger and Sloppy Joe recipe I’ve ever tasted”.  Classmate quotes indicated an excitement that was contagious.  Comments like, “Popcorn chicken or this?  It’s no contest.  It’s a shame that it didn’t happen sooner in the year and we should eat local everyday” graced the conversations around the cafeteria.

“It was way harder to put this together then we thought, but boy is it satisfying to see the result”, said Cody Thompson.  The soft-spoken chairman, Christian Stewart, summed up the first ever project by saying, “The pressure deadline kept us focused and on track.  It was a great learning experience on organizing an event, working with members of the community, promoting a healthy food agenda and seeing hard work pay off for our fellow students.  And the freshness and taste of our region’s food from local farms  will definitely leave a strong legacy of leadership for other area school districts to follow”.

“This was just fun”, said Danielle King.

For more information on this project contact: Go to www. wcshealthyfoodday.com/index.php to learn about the student’s website or contact Tammy Alcott (talcott@watervilleschools.org) or The WCS Foundation (wcsfoundation@watervilleschools.org)  Published in The Country Folks and Waterville Times