Recharging for Spring

Leah Grunzke is an MTCC AmeriCorps VISTA serving with the FoodCorps team in Dillon, MT.

The wind is yowling through the canyons.  Skeletal fingers of cottonwood and willow shiver and quake in the February cold, and some days I can hardly recall the taste of sunshine in a fresh-picked tomato.  In the throes of a long Montana winter, the joys of growing fresh, nutritious food right in our own backyards can seem like a hazy, untouchable memory.  What better time for the Montana FoodCorps team to come together, to refresh our commitment to getting healthy local foods to kids?

This month brought the opportunity to do just that, as we braved frozen highways to land in the breathtaking Paradise Valley for the FoodCorps Winter Retreat.  We found ourselves in the Tom Miner Basin at the spectacular B Bar Ranch, a unique organization committed to advancing a “healthy, thriving ecosystem and the human endeavors within it”.  It was the perfect setting to cozy up, swap stories, learn from each other and recharge for the work that lies ahead.

Leah Grunzke shares her strategic plan

With more than half our year’s term of service complete, we had plenty of stories to swap.  While we’re all working to provide nutrition education, engage and empower our neighbors, and increase access to healthy local foods, the challenges and opportunities that arise in each of our communities take very different shapes.  Sharing what’s working (or not!) has proven to be the best way to generate new ideas for what lies ahead.

Opportunities for learning and planning abounded during our three days at the ranch.  We chatted with Cecily Upton, the Program Director for National FoodCorps, and Mary Stein of the National Farm to School Network and Katie Bark of Montana Team Nutrition shared resources and practical guidance.  We brainstormed ideas for a user-friendly Farm to Cafeteria Connections network, discussed how to connect with Montana campuses and universities, got practical advice on greenhouse production and season extension, and heard inspirational stories of success using local foods at Livingston HealthCare.  And of course, our fearless leader, Crissie McMullan, shared her positivity, enthusiasm and support as we practiced strategic planning and leadership development and reflected on the work we’re doing.

On top of all the work we got done, we still found time to hike and ski, visit the draft horses and chat with the gregarious ranch chef, tour the greenhouse, and strengthen our bond as a group of people with the same passion for sustainable food systems.  We left the ranch recharged and excited about the days ahead.  Spring is right around the corner, and we’ve got seeds to plant, bellies to fill, and a new generation of leaders to cultivate.  It’s time to get to work.

Summer Associate Positions!

Recruitment for 2012 MTCC and PRC Summer Associate positions are underway!  Summer Associates work for 10 weeks, June-August, at a FoodCorps site, helping to maintain or construct school gardens, helping provide healthy meals/snacks for kids during the summer, and helping to provide educational opportunities for kids in the garden during the summer.

This is a great opportunity for college students looking to gain new experience during the summer, and a wonderful chance to learn about a new region of the state.  Summer Associates receive a modest living stipend and the option of an education award or an end of term stipend for their term of service.

Applications for MTCC and PRC Summer Associate positions will soon be posted on www.americorps.gov.  Keep checking back if you are interested in applying.  If you have questions, please email Sarah Bhimani at fcbhimani@gmail.com.

Cafeteria Man

 Lindsay Howard is an MTCC AmeriCorps VISTA serving with the FoodCorps team in Ronan, MT.

Students watching the film at the Wilma

On the morning of February 23^rd, I attended the screening of the new documentary Cafeteria Man in Missoula with fellow FoodCorps friend, Becky Naab. When we walked into the Wilma we had no idea that it was a special screening just for high school students. Mistaken as a student, I was even told by a teacher to put my cell phone away! Funny as it was to be in a room full of teenagers, it ended up being a truly valuable audience to participate with. The students were engaged, interested, and actually asked questions like, “How can we do that here?”

The film, according to the website, “… is a story of positive movement. It’s about the aspiration of social activists and citizens coming together to change the way kids eat at school. It’s about overhauling a dysfunctional nutritional system. And, it’s the story of what it takes, and who it takes, to make solutions happen. The feature documentary film chronicles an ambitious effort to ‘green’ the public school diet serving 83,000 students in Baltimore. Leading the charge to replace pre-plated, processed foods with locally-grown, freshly-prepared meals is Tony Geraci, food-service director for the city’s public schools…His bold vision includes school vegetable gardens, student-designed meals, meatless Monday’s, and nutrition education in the classroom. His mission is as audacious as it is practical.” http://www.cafeteriaman.com/synopsis

Lindsay, Tony Geraci, and Becky

We then attended the Q&A session hosted by the Community Food and Agriculture Coalition and Garden City Harvest and were surprised to sit at a table with Tony Geraci himself and Richard Chisolm, the film's director. Also at the table were community members, teachers, and non-profit leaders all with the goal of discussing farm-to-school opportunities and challenges facing Missoula Public Schools. Both Tony and Richard shared valuable knowledge from their experiences in Baltimore and walked the group through a strategic thinking exercise. The conversation covered all sorts of topics, such as how to engage the school board and administration and how to empower students to be leaders of change. In this work, many road blocks can surface from different angles – whether it be school policy, county sanitation policy, or something you would have never anticipated – and Tony had an answer for how to deal with it.  His key strategy for dealing with people who say, “You can’t do that” is to straight up tell them to show you the proof! Policy can be interpreted differently by different people and the lesson here is to always do the due diligence so that you can counter challenges that arise.

Tony Geraci and Richard Chisolm

One issue that came up – and one that has come up for me repeatedly during my work with FoodCorps – is the obvious fact that Montana faces a short growing season during which students are not in school. One of the many brilliant things Tony has done is to take a different perspective and flip this issue into an opportunity. In Baltimore, he turns the central kitchen into a food processing facility! The kitchen is not being used at all and the staff appreciates the option to work over the summer to earn extra income eliminating the labor barrier. I was stunned at this simple solution and am excited to explore ways that the model can be used in Montana. 

All photos are courtesy of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival