Nutrition
Growing a Garden
The Nutrition Subcommittee of the School Wellness Advisory Council is encouraging our families to explore the wonderful world of gardening! You don't need a big yard or any equipment to get started. A container garden can be a fun way to learn about plant growth and care, with the added benefit of producing delicious healthy fresh food!
Healthy Recipes and Food Safety Tips
The Nutrition Subcommittee is sharing a series of recipes from the Partnership for Food Safety Education. These recipes were developed using the Safe Recipe Style Guide. Please find links to the recipe below:
With no access to school-provided meals on the weekends, some families struggle to provide enough food for their kids. The Weekend Backpack Program is a partnership between Franklin Public Schools and the Franklin Food Pantry to provide weekend food for kids in need. With enough food to eat, kids have the energy to do better in school, enjoy their friends, and are absent less often. Overall, they are healthier – physically, and emotionally.
School Breakfast Program
Franklin Public Schools provides breakfast programs at all of our K-12 schools. we recognize the importance of students coming to school nourished and ready to learn. This program began as a pilot program and has since expanded to meet the needs of our students in all K-12 building locations.
Food Services
FPS Food Services continues to expand and improve upon the food options offered to our students. Last year, they increased the volume of organic produce by partnering with local organic farmers. This year, they partnered with Red’s Best to provide local seafood sourcing. Red's Best provides locally caught and sustainably sourced seafood to our schools for fresh preparation. This program not only allows us to serve freshly caught seafood in our schools but also helps local fishermen.
Hydroponics
Under the guidance of our Food Services Director, FPS began growing tomatoes, lettuce, herbs, peppers, bok choy, peas at Franklin High School. The goal is to serve and make use of the freshly grown produce and herbs as part of our school lunch program. Prior to the closure, there was some interest in FHS AP Environmental Science classes and the Green team club to help care for the plants.
Pollinator Pasture
A Pollinator Pasture was planted at the entry to the Remington-Jefferson complex. Seeds were started by students in the classroom, however, due to the abrupt closure in March 2020, the pasture was not able to be planted in the ground by the students. One of our elementary teachers cared for the plants, in an effort to keep it going, and she, along with one family, planted the pasture in June 2020 with support from DPW. We are hopeful that the Pollinator Pasture will be able to be reseeded and cared for in Spring 2021
Family Dinners
The SWAC Committee focused on spreading the message about how important it is for families to make time to eat together, creating a public service announcement detailing the benefits. The Importance of Family Dinners flyer is posted on our websites and was included in the Superintendent's Message to all district families. Families today are busier than ever and finding time to prepare a meal can prove difficult. To help support our families, we also provided a Quick and Healthy Meals flyer with the help of our parent representative and nutritionist, Stacey Federico. This flyer gives examples of healthy meals that can be prepared quickly with items available at any local supermarket. FPS Lifelong Learning offered a cooking class in the evening with Colin Boisvert titled Quick, Easy, and Healthy Weeknight Meals, to provide and enhance skills and knowledge needed to cook at home.
Community Gardens
In an exciting development this year, our Food Service Director obtained approval from the Franklin Board of Health to serve the vegetables grown in our school gardens for lunch. As a result, we expanded the Franklin School Garden Project, which includes raised beds and hydroponic gardens across multiple schools. Also, we partnered with some of our local gardeners, farmers, and farming suppliers who generously offered to provide seed donations, gardening supplies, and knowledge from their own experience. We want to thank Fairmount Farm, Franklin Agway, the Franklin Garden Club, and the Franklin Community Gardens for their support. We plan to continue this goal in collaboration with our community members next year.
