Students in Hillsborough County have been enjoying a refreshing addition to their school lunches during the month of March! Wish Farms partnered with the Hillsborough Country Public School District to offer whole, fresh strawberries to the school lunch menu.
On March 21st, the Student Nutrition Services of the district orchestrated a meal entirely sourced from local growers, producers, and manufacturers, marking the occasion as Florida Food Day across all schools.
Arianne Corbett, a nutritionist with Hillsborough County Public Schools stated “We are serving this meal to all of our students in Hillsborough County. We have about 190,000 students in 240 schools, and every student has the opportunity to experience this meal.”
The menu featured a variety of items, including fresh strawberries from our farms in Plant City, chicken empanadas from Sunsof Corp in Hialieah, Mexican street corn from R.C. Hatton in Pahokee, and milk from M&B Products in Temple Terrace.
G&D Farm Manager, Ty Pierson, represented Wish Farms at Alafia Elementary School in Valrico which was chosen as the venue to highlight this menu and initiative. Ty shared his knowledge of the strawberry growing process and helped students make a deeper connection to the farm where the strawberries they love to eat were grown.
The district attributed the success of this initiative to the collaborative efforts of their Farm to School Coalition. School leaders expressed their hopes that this endeavor serves as a stepping stone towards a broader initiative to incorporate more locally sourced foods into school menus.
