Farm to School program brings locally grown produce to the lunchroom | Family | Kentucky.com

Farm to School program brings locally grown produce to the lunchroom | Family | Kentucky.com: "Even in a state as rural as Kentucky, a lot of students have no exposure to agricultural life, said Dr. Jayaram Srinivasan, chief resident in the preventive medicine department at the University of Kentucky and an advocate of the program.

'A lot of these kids don't even know where their food comes from,' he said.

Farm to School is a cooperative effort among a number of local groups, including the UK College of Public Health, the Lexington- Fayette County Health Department and Lexington Farmers Market.

The program at Lansdowne is a pilot for a program that Srinivasan hopes will be offered eventually in all Fayette County public schools. The goal is to not only let kids understand where food comes from and why eating healthy food is important, but also to connect local farmers to the school system so that fresh, locally grown produce can become a standard part of a school menu.

Taste tests, like the one conducted last week, are merged with classroom lessons about food groups and making healthy choices."