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Welcoming our New Afghan Neighbors with Culturally Relevant Foods

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By Farm to School Coach, Sheila Humphreys

My grandmother taught me that a thoughtful way to welcome new neighbors into the community is to bake them a pie and deliver it to their front door with a warm smile. Here in Brattleboro, our schools and community are in the process of welcoming approximately 100 new neighbors from Afghanistan. That’s a lot of pies!

In Windham Southeast Supervisory Union (WSESU) schools, Food Service Director Ali West and her staff welcomed Afghan students through her Where in the World are We Eating program. These special meals often take more work for the food service team, so our Marketing & Outreach Manager, Laura, joined the team to help peel potatoes and prepare the meal for the following day.

On a windy, cold Thursday in February, several Food Connects staff joined Ali and Brattleboro Union High School (BUHS) students for lunch to enjoy these delicious new flavors together. On the menu that day for the “Welcome Home Afghan Allies” meal was Borani Banjan (fried eggplant with tomatoes, mint, and garlic yogurt), Bolani (Flatbread stuffed with potato, onion, and peppers), Beef Kafta Kebab, and Lavash. The mix of flavors and spices was outstanding! Here’s what a couple of the students had to say about the meal:

“I like it. I like the naan and the meat has good flavor and seasoning. And the yogurt is good in flavor and texture.”
— Cyrus Smith, 10th grade
“Oftentimes the cultural food is a lot better than the other food.”
— Nash Miller, 10th grade

WSESD’s Nutrition program is not the only way the Brattleboro community is welcoming our new neighbors with nourishing food. The Brattleboro Multicultural Community Center-Ethiopian Community Development Council (MCC) is leading the effort to welcome our Afghan neighbors in many ways, including multiple opportunities each week for community members to provide a fresh main dish for lunch daily through a Meal Train site. Volunteers are encouraged to use a collection of Afghan recipes linked on the site, and feedback from our neighbors so far has been that our locally made versions of their traditional recipes are “somewhat bland.” Therefore cooks are encouraged to “be generous with spices, herbs, salt, and oil in the recipes.” Our neighbors say, “We especially want spicy food when we feel sad.” My coworker Beth and I made a meal a few weeks ago, and my kitchen smelled deliciously spicy afterward, those spices perhaps offering a tiny bit of healing to our new neighbors who have been through so much.

In addition, school garden coordinators at WSESD schools, in collaboration with Food Connects and Wild Carrot Farm, are planning to grow two culturally relevant crops in school gardens this season, gandana and nigella, and Kathy Cassin, the Garden Coordinator at Academy School, is featuring some Afghan dishes in her cooking projects with students. The Brattleboro Community and Food Connects family are so happy to play a small part in helping our new neighbors feel welcome, and we look forward to continuing to support and learn from them as they integrate into our area.

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The Brattleboro Food Co-op: An Outstanding Community Partnership

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When Food Connects reflects on some of our partnerships throughout the community, one business stands out as one of our top supporters—the Brattleboro Food Co-op (BFC).

A monolith in Brattleboro, BFC has served the community since 1975 by providing high-quality locally sourced, organic, and nutritious foods. Food Connects is fortunate to have BFC as one of our top wholesale customers—purchasing our source-identified New England foods to share with the greater community. And with over 8,000 active members, that means more local food is getting into homes across the county.

Not only is the Co-op a major partner to our Food Hub, but they are also a huge supporter of our Farm to School (FTS) program. Last August, they chose our FTS program as one of their Round Up For Change recipients. Because of the generosity of the Brattleboro Food Co-op and its patrons, Food Connects raised over $7,000! These funds went directly to our programming for the 2021-2022 school year, including coaching for Brattleboro schools and professional development for teachers and garden coordinators.

However, the Brattleboro Food Co-op’s generosity doesn’t end with Food Connects. Between December 2020 and December 2021, the Co-op raised over $84,500 through their Round Up program that they distributed to 13 different non-profits. This year, each month is shared between two different organizations to share the wealth among different causes and organizations. This month’s recipients are Brattleboro Time Trade and our partners at Edible Brattleboro. So, next time you are shopping at the Brattleboro Food Co-op, ask to Round Up your change at the register!

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Oak Grove’s Pre-K Students Eat Up Their Local Veggies!

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The youngest Oak Grove School community members recently completed a delicious in-depth study of local foods, gardening, and cooking! Oak Grove School’s Pre-K program was one of the 2021 Early Childhood Education CSA grant recipients through the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. In its first year, this grant subsidizes 80% of the cost of a community-supported agriculture (CSA) farm share at the Vermont farm of your choice. Oak Grove’s Pre-K chose to work with Full Plate Farm in Dummerston, VT.

13 lucky 4 to 5-year-old students got to enjoy many locally grown treats this year, including radishes, kale, beets, scallions, brussels sprouts, and winter squash. It was their first time trying some of these new flavors for many students. Pre-K staff Jen Tourville and Jamie Champney and garden coordinator Tara Gordon found creative ways to inspire the students to try new things. Adding mystery to the tasting lessons was one successful approach—from the five senses mystery box to mystery smoothies, student curiosity was encouraged. 

Each week, Jen and Tara put a different produce item into the five senses mystery box—an oatmeal container with a sock sleeve attached by a rubber band. They invited the students to put their hand in and feel the item and describe it with words, strengthening their language skills while also piquing their curiosity.

Recently, Jamie made a mystery smoothie for the class with bananas, frozen berries, yogurt, and a mystery ingredient (spinach). “Some students had never been willing to taste a smoothie before because they were already convinced that they wouldn’t like it,” Jamie said. “Adding mystery to the activity made all students curious enough to try it, and big surprise—they all liked it!” After they had tasted the smoothie and made guesses about the secret ingredient, Jamie revealed the spinach to her surprised students.

Produce that arrived weekly in the CSA share helped students make a connection to their school garden, where many of the same plants were growing. Tara regularly took students to the garden to harvest produce, and they combined their school garden-grown produce with produce from Full Plate Farm to cook some delicious recipes. The class cooked twice a week throughout the season, which was new and wonderful! Here are several of the most popular things they made:

  • Fresh vegetable spring rolls

  • Many soups, including stone soup and root vegetable soup

  • Sweet and salty radishes

  • Coleslaw

Jamie shared that often the students’ first response to the idea of new food was, “Yuck, I don’t like this!” but she discovered that when they cut the veggies into fun shapes or tried adding interesting flavors, for example, agave syrup to change the flavor of the radishes, students were pleasantly surprised to learn that in fact, they did like that food after all! For the more reluctant students, Tara introduced a five senses taste test, where the students closed their eyes and sometimes even plugged their noses when trying new food to focus on the texture of the food in their mouths.

The entire Oak Grove community benefitted from this in-depth study of local food and cooking by the Pre-K in several ways:

  • Food cooked by the Pre-K was often shared with school staff as a special meal. The staff got to enjoy several different soups and a root vegetable casserole prepared by the students and their teachers.

  • Bags of extra fresh produce were sent home regularly for students to share with their families. The produce came with a small sample of the meal that the students had made in school and the recipe, and families were encouraged to try the same recipe at home.

  • Extra produce was also shared with other classrooms in the school. For example, Erek Tuma’s 4th-grade class benefitted from pre-K’s abundance of kale for their kale Harvest of the Month taste test.

The classroom curriculum connections were particularly rich, linking cooking, gardening, and produce exploration with science and literacy. A visit from Ragan Anderson supported the program, nutrition educator from the Brattleboro Food Co-op, who came into the classroom, read stories with the students, and did a cooking project featuring butternut squash.

Jamie is already thinking about what she will do differently next season to improve the program. Some of her goals are:

  • Increase family feedback and family engagement. For example, send home every recipe with ingredients and invite families into school to participate in cooking and harvesting.

  • Build more community throughout the school. For example, have cooking buddies from other classes and cook for other classes.

  • Cook something once a week for staff.

Overall, this program was a huge success! As a result, the students are very excited about the school garden, and they look forward to cooking and gardening as a regular part of their weekly routine. Support from garden coordinator Tara Gordon was a key component to the success of this program, allowing students to spend time in the garden every week and engage in cooking activities throughout the whole season.

Junior Iron Chef Debuts at Bellows Falls Union High School

By Farm to School Coach Jenny Kessler

One of the best meals I’ve had since moving to Vermont two years ago was served to me late on a Monday afternoon by a 16-year-old in an industrial kitchen at a local high school. Why, oh why have I never eaten mushroom katsu before? I posed this question to my partner, a professional chef, as soon as I got home. (He also agreed this dish, sweet potato curry with mushroom katsu, served over coconut rice, was one of the best he’d had in Vermont). 

I attended a weekly meeting of the Bellows Falls Union High School (BFUHS) Jr Iron Chef Team, where they were practicing for their competition debut on March 12 (UPDATE: the event was delayed due to weather).  

Jr Iron Chef began in Vermont in 2008 and has grown into a hugely popular event, with over 5,000 students participating in the past few years. Jake Gallogly, the Nutrition Assistant at BFUHS, is a Jr Iron Chef veteran, having coached a Twin Valley Team to a Crowd Pleaser Award in 2016. He thought starting a team at the high school level would be an excellent opportunity for the students in the Foods Class to expand their knowledge and experience. 

Senior Kevin Patterson and junior Joey Jacques have met eight times since Jake started the team.  Both students had significant experience cooking with their families at home, and both also mentioned the techniques they had learned under Jakes's guidance. Joey shared, “I 100% learned new techniques and vocabulary here. Julienne, mince, mise en place. Learning how to do things correctly is a big thing here.” 

Watching them in the kitchen, you can easily see the professional training in action. Kevin meticulously cleans every surface on which he works. He’s also precise and measured in all his cuts and preparation. Moving through the kitchen, it’s become second nature to give the “behind,” “coming through,” and “in-between” vocal markers so the young chefs avoid any unnecessary bumps and spills. And both Joey and Kevin have also seemed to embrace the idea that chefs don’t rely on perfect measurements. Kevin added “a splash” of sesame oil to the marinade; they seasoned everything “to taste” (and without any measuring spoons). As the dish was nearing completion, Jake reminded them, “Think about salt. Think about flavor. See what it needs.”

Jr Iron Chef VT has some stringent rules around recipe development. Dishes must be vegetarian, nut-free, and feature 3 to 5 ingredients from Vermont. They developed the recipe together and with some trial and error. Both Kevin and Joey admit that while the dish is new to them, they find it quite delicious. And it gets better every time they make it!

Stay tuned next month for an update on how the team fared in the (still to be rescheduled) competition.

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Scott’s Clean Sweep Sponsors Farm to School in the Deerfield Valley

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Food Connects is fortunate to have corporate sponsors throughout the region. And one area we are looking to expand our Farm to School (FTS) work in the future, the Deerfield Valley of Vermont, has a Farm to School champion right in their backyard.

Scott’s Clean Sweep is a full-service Vermont Chimney Sweep company based in West Dover, VT. Servicing the Deerfield Valley since 1997, owner Sarah Shippee has gotten to know her community deeply. Her steadfast commitment to improving life in the Deerfield Valley is apparent, and we are excited to step into a new chapter of philanthropy with her. 

Sarah shared with us a few thoughts on the importance of Farm to School and giving back to her community.

Why is giving back to your community important to you?

Sarah Shippee (SS): As local business owners, my husband, Roscoe, and I believe strongly that we have a responsibility to give back to the community, without whom our business would not exist. It makes us very grateful to have the opportunity to say “thank you.”

What first interested you in the FTS movement?

SS: My interest was sparked by the opportunity to support Jr. Iron Chef in the Deerfield Valley. I know firsthand what an impact that program has had on our middle- and high-school students—my son participated for several years. I saw it broaden his 'food horizons' and those of many of his classmates, as well as teach teamwork and planning.

Photo from 2020 Twin Valley Jr. Iron Chef.

Why did you decide to support the FTS program at Food Connects?

SS: Food Connects is important, I think, because our children need to have the chance to learn about food and explore things they might not see at home. We are moving away from the time when everyone had a garden out back, and children could see where their food came from. Food Connects helps re-establish that relationship, and I believe that that is a big part of making good choices about what we put in our bodies.

I hope to be able to support Food Connects with this and other programs in the years to come.

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Who Feeds Our Kids: Lindsey Mills

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Welcome to Food Connects’ series highlighting the amazing essential workers in our community who work hard every day to keep our children fed. Read on to learn more!

Lindsey Mills

“I’m really happy that they (students) have a super safe place to be and go like Guilford. Life can be scary and unpredictable, but I think this is a really safe, supportive place for them to be.”
— Lindsey Miller

We are so pleased to introduce Lindsey Mills! Lindsey started as the Site Lead/Head Cook at Guilford Central School about three months ago and is already showing massive dedication to making sure that Guilford students really enjoy the food they are eating. She has 13 years of experience in food service, but this is her first job in a school kitchen. We were lucky enough to be able to chat with Lindsey at the end of her work week to get to know her a little better, and here are some highlights.

Sadie Hunter (SH): How long have you been working in school nutrition?

Lindsey Miller (LM) : I’m actually brand new this year! I worked in food service for 13 years before this. It’s been really rewarding—more so than my other jobs. I love hearing kids come over and say they loved something new that they maybe had not tried yet. It’s a bit of a tougher crowd (than the restaurants), though.

 SH: What was your biggest challenge when responding to COVID-19?

LM: I guess I’m just really lucky because I’m by myself back here and I’m not really exposed to anyone else as much anymore in the kitchen. At my last job, being in a public setting was terrifying, but now I feel a lot safer working at a school. Everyone is super precautious, and I’m super grateful for that. I wish I had worked at the school before COVID so I could see how they served everything then - now everything is individually wrapped, etc. When I was in school you would go up to the lunch person and get it from the line, and it's a lot more complicated now. 

SH: Do you have children at home? If so, how did you manage child care or balance remote school with your work?

LM: No kids, but a new nephew who is less than a year and is the light of my life! I moved up (to Vermont) to be closer to my sister and nephew. It’s crazy how much things change when your sister and brother-in-law have a kid—my life really shifted because of this little boy. 

SH: What do you think is one of the most important aspects of having children back in the schools this year? 

LM: I’m really happy that they (students) have a super safe place to be and go like Guilford. Life can be scary and unpredictable, but I think this is a really safe, supportive place for them to be. Even if kids aren’t coming from the best homes, they are safe here, cared about, and loved. 

SH: What advice would you give to someone who is interested in this career?

LM: Have an open mind and be ready to be on top of food safety! Be adaptable and always make your food with love. 

SH: What has your team done well that’s led to the success of the program?

LM: I’m by myself in the kitchen, and I often feel like I’m a one-person team here, but if I need help, my supervisor, Ali West, is as accommodating as possible. When the equipment isn’t working, we always find a way to get the food made. Everyone has been super helpful; no one has ever said no to helping when I ask—both people at Guilford and people at Fresh Picks Cafe. Everyone is willing to jump in and help if I need it. 

Update: Deb Johnson, who's been with Fresh Picks for three years, has been stepping in three hours a day before going to her own school (Green Street) in order to help out in the Guilford kitchen.

SH: What is your favorite memory working in school nutrition?

LM: I’ve only worked here for three months, but it’s got to be all the positive feedback I get from the kids. There is a girl who is gluten-free, and one day she didn’t like her breakfast, so the next day, I worked extra hard to redeem myself. She loved it and came dancing into the kitchen to tell me! 

SH: How can the community support you and other school nutrition professionals?

LM: I guess really just by reaching out if their kid has special dietary needs. It’s really about lots of communication from parents! It would be super helpful if I had more feedback from parents about what kids like and don’t like and making sure that I have all the information that I’m supposed to have. I honestly would not mind taking 30 seconds to ask the kids what they want to eat in order to have them better understand what they are eating and not want to send it back. 

SH: What brings you joy? What are some things that you do outside of work that bring you joy?

LM: My nephew and my sister bring me joy. I really love animals too, and I love to cook even when I’m not at work. I love the beach—I didn’t make it last year, but when I do, it brings me a lot of happiness. 

SH: What is one thing you are grateful for?

LM: I’m grateful for every day and every new opportunity that I am given. 

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The “Dream Team”—Trauma and Nutrition from Home to Cafeteria

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In December, Farm to School (FTS) coach Sheila Humphreys teamed up with two other passionate presenters for a workshop hosted by Massachusetts Farm to School to discuss the topic of trauma and nutrition from home to cafeteria. 

The workshop covered how food and trauma are intertwined. Food can establish a strong sense of community, but can also be a point of stress and anxiety. The aim of the workshop was to "increase participant awareness of implicit biases about food, clearly articulate the connection between trauma and food, and provide tools for coordinating Farm to School and nutrition programs in their school through a Trauma-Sensitive lens. You can learn more about the workshop and watch it online.

This workshop wasn’t Sheila’s first rodeo—she has led or participated in other workshops on this topic that have been entirely school and cafeteria-focused. What was exciting and different about this discussion was that co-presenter Tracy Roth joined Sheila. Tracy is a certified nutrition coach based in Amherst, MA, who explored this rich topic through the lens of how families and individuals can address these issues at home. Tracy “is on a mission to end the diet industry because those quick-fix restrictive diets just make us feel bad about ourselves and mess with our relationship with food.” She shared her personal experience growing up with food insecurity and her work as an adult to heal her relationship with food and her body. She also provided practical suggestions to help shift our relationship to food, like mindful eating techniques, increasing food literacy, and honoring joy, culture, and connection through food. 

Diona Williams also joined the team. Diona is an early childhood education professor at the Tribal Community College on the Tohono O'odham Nation in Sells, AZ. Diona shared her personal experience as the adoptive mother of a child who previously experienced food insecurity. She discussed food hoarding and other challenging behaviors sometimes seen in children who have experienced food insecurity and how to approach these behaviors with compassion and understanding. Diona is passionate about early childhood mental health and shared inspiration from her many years of experience as an educator using the school garden as an outdoor classroom for special education preschoolers. 

Sheila knows the power and importance of weaving her own experience with food insecurity into her work. This opportunity to engage in a panel discussion with these two outstanding professionals who were willing to share their personal experiences as well as their professional expertise was a dream come true! They met several times before the presentation to prepare. They all felt a powerful synergy working together by the end of their presentation. They agree that they are a “dream team” and want to find more speaking opportunities together to move these essential conversations forward. If not for the virtual world we’re all living in now due to COVID-19, these three amazing women may never have had the opportunity to meet and collaborate, so that’s something to be grateful for!