HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE >> Students at Coyote Valley Elementary kicked-off the Harvest of the Month (HOTM) program with a cafeteria tasting of Lake County melons — the HOTM selection for September. Parent volunteers Lisa Rogers and Cindy Leonard arranged the tasting of watermelon from Russ Cremer of Adamson Ranch Produce of Lower Lake.
Educational materials including posters and “I ate local food today” stickers were provided by Terre Logsdon with the Lake County Farm to School program, part of North Coast Opportunities’ (NCO) Community Wellness Programs division. During the week the teachers gave samples of Eel River and Old Time Tennessee melons in the classroom grown by Strong Roots Farm and delivered by the MendoLake Food Hub.
Harvest of the Month is a program that provides fresh fruits and vegetables for students to taste in the classroom. The goal is to encourage kids to try new things, as well as to learn about nutrition and the local farm where the produce was grown. The MendoLake Food Hub, another program of NCO, sources seasonally-available produce from Lake and Mendocino County farmers for HOTM programs and promotions throughout the two counties.
All elementary schools in Lake County are provided the Harvest of the Month program by the Lake County Department of Health Services SNAP-ed program if 50 percent or more of the student body qualifies for free and/or reduced price lunch. Coyote Valley is the only elementary school in Lake County that does not meet this qualification, but their Parent Teacher Organization decided that the HOTM program is important enough to raise the funds to provide this education to their students.
The HOTM program is a nationwide effort to introduce students to different fresh fruits and vegetables they may not have tried before. HOTM providers and farmers in Lake and Mendocino County made suggestions to the MendoLake Food hub on what produce is available each month of the year. Then, a HOTM calendar was created to reflect seasonally-available fresh produce that is grown in our specific climate and in season each month. In October, the HOTM selection will be pears. The calendar can be found here: https://www.ncoinc.org/programs/farm-to-school-lake-county/lake-county-farm-to-school-hotm-recipe-booklet/
Parents are encouraged to include the HOTM item each month in family meals or in lunches packed for their kids to take to school — a delicious and nutritious way to continue nutrition education throughout each month.
