Cultivating Community's FoodCorps Service Member made a blueberry crisp at Central Kitchen to bring to East End Community School's May Community dinner.
Incoming kindergarteners and their families got to sample some crisp, learn about taste test programming and take home some maple syrup!
From Ecuador
This is just a small portion of the pasta that Central Kitchen cooks for spaghetti and meatballs.
Large food processors like this robot coupe make prepping cucumbers for PPS salad bars a snap!
*Reiche and East End Schools will have sweet potato taste tests this month!
Watch how Central Kitchen washes hundreds of kiwis for the salad bar!
These green kiwifruits were grown in Italy.
Central Italy is an ideal place for growing kiwi because of it's mild winters and not too hot summers. The rich volcanic soil also makes for great growing conditions.
Slicing the kiwi
YUM!
Forelle Pears for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program
Forelle Pears are an heirloom variety first cultivated in Germany. The word "forelle" means "trout" in German. They got this name from the pattern on the pear's skin looking similar to that of a rainbow trout!
Making Chicken and Kale Stew for Taste Tests. This school meal is the result of the Culturally Important Menu Development Project.
Packing up Super Snack which included yogurt, Maine wild blueberries, granola & cucumbers!
Local food purchasing is not limited to the Harvest of the Month. Central Kitchen purchased wild blueberries from the Passamaquoddy Wild Blueberry Co. in Columbia Falls, ME.
Photo - Passamaquoddy Wild Blueberry Co. Instagram
Passamaquoddy Wild Blueberry Co. is 100% owned, managed and operated by Passamaquoddy Tribe members.
They have been in operation since 1981 and manage and harvest 2,000 acres of wild blueberry barrens in Columbia Falls, ME.
Heading out to schools who are part of the FFVP (Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program)
On October 20th, 2022 Central Kitchen made mashed potatoes using school garden Potatoes from Reiche, Rowe, and East End elementary schools as well as local potatoes from Green Thumb Farms. Watch the video to see the process from school garden to PPS school lunch!
Central Kitchen Supplemented the School Harvest with Local Maine potatoes
Find breakfast and lunch menus for Portland Public Food Service here
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