North Stokes has the first school farm in the state certified to serve its produce in the school’s cafeteria. Federal regulations require all produce served by schools come from producers with GAP certification – a standard of good agricultural practices set to ensure food safety.
The school received its certification just last week and has already begun using its lettuce crop for lunches. Cafeteria Manager Bertha Amos said she used the first harvest in a salad mix last week.
“It makes a beautiful salad,” Amos said.
The lettuce comes from the school’s hydroponic greenhouse. The plants are grown without soil, planted in a table that continuously circulates nutrient-rich water through the root system. From seed to harvest, the entire process is managed by students in the newly GAP certified greenhouse.
Bell Hall, North Stokes agriculture teacher, said he chose lettuce because it’s relatively easy to grow, his classes can produce a large enough volume to use in the cafeteria and it goes from seed to harvest fast enough (about two months) for students to see the entire process in a semester. In the hydroponic greenhouse, Hall has two lettuce tables, plus tomato and cucumber systems. Those take longer, he said, so students who start them won’t be the ones harvesting them.
While other farms in the state participate in the Farm to School program to supply produce to school cafeterias, North Stokes is the first high school in the state to gain the required GAP certification.
Cindy Marion, director of child nutrition for Stokes County Schools, said she’s made a commitment to getting as much of the system’s produce from the Farm to School program as possible.
The GAP certification allows the school’s child nutrition program to purchase the produce for use in the cafeteria, but it serves another important function as well. It’s an opportunity for students to learn best production practices and gives them a glimpse at what a career in agriculture would entail.
Heather Barnes, marketing specialist for the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said more and more restaurants and retailers are requiring GAP certification in efforts to improve food safety and traceability. Learning it now will only benefit students in the future, she said.
“We want to see more young people in agriculture,” Barnes said.
