Wheat Continued from Page 16
are throwing less away and more willing to try new foods. “You teach the kids, and the kids go home and teach the parents,” she said. “It’s slow to change, but I think it’ll change more and more every year. It’s just nice to see the kids going home and telling their parents, ‘I want to eat this or taste this.’” With a background as a registered dieti- tian and a trained chef, Thomas said school districts such as San Miguel and Shandon are beginning to change the narrative that “school food is crap.” They’re offering nu- tritious food that’s also delicious, she said. They’re also showcasing what local farms are producing, thereby supporting farmers and their businesses, she added. “I think people are slowly recognizing that we’re putting those dollars and those federal funds back into our local commu- nity,” Thomas said. “I think that part is so, so, so important.” There’s also recognition that farm-to- school projects such as “wheat 2 school” would not be sustainable without govern- ment and public support. Eating locally and buying directly from farmers is more expensive, teacher Wilkinson noted. “That could be a problem if school dis- tricts don’t have the funding,” she said. As one of the most traded agricultur- al commodities in the world, wheat is handled in economies of scale, and the amount of unmilled wheat the two districts
bakery that makes 50% whole grain prod- ucts, said Lauren Thomas, food and nutri- tion services director at San Miguel. The education component of the pro- gram, which the commission helped de- velop, incorporates lessons on math, sci- ence and history that relate to wheat and agriculture, Carter said. At San Miguel, Christina Wilkinson, who teaches agriculture to sixth graders at Lillian Larsen Elementary School, runs the school garden that includes a small field of wheat that students helped plant. Her lessons range from the wheat plant itself to where it comes from, what it needs to grow and its nutritional value. At the end of the school year, her stu- dents share what they learned in a pre- sentation to other elementary students. An afterschool cooking class further con- nects the dots, with students harvesting the wheat from the school garden, grinding it into flour and making pasta noodles, muf- fins, cookies and pizza dough. “For them to harvest it and actually see the berries or the kernels from this mod- ified grass … that was an ‘aha’ for them,” Wilkinson said. By exposing children to whole grains at an early age, Thomas said the hope is to shape their palates so that they form healthy eating habits that last. In this sec- ond year of the program, she said students
Gelene Coelho, food service director for Shandon Joint Unified School District, mills 150 to 300 pounds of wheat a week. The amount is used by her district and San Miguel Joint Union School District in the so-called “wheat 2 school” program started by the California Wheat Commission.
currently buy is considered small. They have to look to small-scale farmers such as Eck, who farms about 16 acres and sells mostly to people who run cottage bakeries that make 100 to 200 loaves a week. “(The school districts) were looking at this huge grain infrastructure and wonder- ing how they can tap into it, and it’s really difficult,” Eck said, “so getting connected with small local farmers is a better path.” But it does cost more, he acknowl- edged. With a harvest of about 16,000 pounds of wheat, most grain elevators would not even take his crop unless it’s at least 100,000 pounds, he said, or they would charge a “huge fee” to handle his small lot. “I’m paying top dollar for everything be- cause I have this small amount,” he said. The commodity system, he added, “works,
and it’s super-efficient, but it’s not flexible.” Carter at the wheat commission ac- knowledged that the process “does sound complicated,” and that without continued grant funding, what Shandon and San Miguel are doing “is probably temporary.” But she said they are also proof of concept that could pave the way for more school districts to follow. She noted that South Monterey County Joint Union High School copied what the two school districts did and received a grant, which will allow it to purchase a stone mill. “It’s like planting a seed,” she said. “It’s showcasing what’s possible.” (Ching Lee is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at clee@cfbf.com. This story was first published in the March/April 2023 issue of California Bountiful ® magazine.)
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Quotations are the latest available for the week ending March 3, 2023 Year Ago Week Ago Latest Week Livestock Slaughter Steers – 5-Area Average Select & Choice, 1150–1460 lbs., $ per cwt. 142-142.50 163.89 164.90 Hogs – Average hog, 51-52% lean, Iowa-Minn. market, $ per cwt. 98.65 76.69 77.63 Slaughter Lambs – $ per cwt. 125–175 lbs. National weekly live sales 200.81-229.55 121-135 123-215 Field crops – basis prompt shipment Barley – U.S. No. 2, $ per cwt. Truck, Stockton-Modesto-Oakdale-Turlock No Quote No Quote No Quote Cotton – ¢ per lb., Middling 1 3/32” Fresno spot market 91.17 83.87 83.31 Corn – U.S. No. 2 yellow $ per bu. trucked 8.48 8.77 8.49 Alfalfa Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Region 1, Northern Inter-mountain 240-265 (P) No Quote No Quote Region 2, Sacramento Valley No Quote No Quote No Quote Region 3, Northern San Joaquin Valley No Quote No Quote No Quote Region 4, Central San Joaquin Valley 370-380 (S) No Quote No Quote Region 5, Southern California No Quote 23 (P, per bale) 24 (P, per bale) Region 6, Southeast Interior 300-310 (P/S) 310 (P/S) 320-350 (S) Oat Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Northern California, dairy No Quote No Quote No Quote Oats – U.S. No. 2 white, $ per cwt. Statewide, trucked price No Quote No Quote No Quote
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March 8, 2023 Ag Alert 19
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