Locals plan Time For Lunch event in San Benito to raise
awareness of school nutrition
On Labor Day, Sept. 7, Tim and Nants Foley are inviting folks
over to their place for a potluck picnic with a purpose. The goal
of the event is twofold
– to draw attention to Slow Foods USA’s Time For Lunch cause, a
movement to get healthier lunches into schools across the nation,
and to get locals involved in the nonprofit San Benito Bounty.
Locals plan Time For Lunch event in San Benito to raise awareness of school nutrition
On Labor Day, Sept. 7, Tim and Nants Foley are inviting folks over to their place for a potluck picnic with a purpose. The goal of the event is twofold – to draw attention to Slow Foods USA’s Time For Lunch cause, a movement to get healthier lunches into schools across the nation, and to get locals involved in the nonprofit San Benito Bounty.
“It’s a grassroots effort to capture the attention of legislators,” Nants Foley said, of the Time For Lunch event.
Every five years, the federal government reauthorizes the Child Nutrition Act, and it is up for reauthorization this year. It governs the reimbursement for free and low-cost lunches, and essentially decides what kind of food is served in public schools.
“The need for this has never been more pressing,” Foley said. “Today, one in four children are overweight or obese. One in three will develop diabetes in his or her lifetime.
“The Time For Lunch National Day of action asks the President and Congress to invest in children’s health, protect our children against food that puts them at risk and teaches children healthy habits to last a lifetime.”
One hope is that the movement might also give schools an incentive to buy locally-grown foods.
The Foleys, and other board members for San Benito Bounty, have been discussing the possibility of implementing the Harvest of the Month club at some local schools. The program is run through the Community Alliance for Family Farmers, a nonprofit that is run out of Santa Cruz. One goal of CAFF is to get more locally-grown foods into schools.
“That is a situation where they bring in produce once a month that is in season,” Foley said. “The kids get to taste it and get recipes. The lessons meet California curriculum standards.”
Slow Foods itself is a movement that started in Italy in 1989, and the goals of Slow Foods USA are spelled out on their Web site as good, clean and fair food.
“The idea of good means enjoying delicious food created with care from healthy plants and animals. The pleasures of good food can also help build community and celebrate culture and regional diversity,” according to the site.
As for clean, it means that it is nutritious food that is “as good for the planet as it is for our bodies.”
Fair food means that everyone has the right to access healthy food and that those who produce it should be “justly compensated for their labor.”
Some of the ideas boasted by Slow Foods fit in well with the Foley’s nonprofit, San Benito Bounty.
“Tim and I moved out into the country about seven years ago,” Foley said, of their Quicksilver Farm. “Our goal was to make our little five-acre parcel economical – not that it would support us, but that we would make enough off it to pay for itself.”
She joked that it hasn’t happened “because Tim keeps adding horses.”
But the idea led them to production of apricots, their own wool and other items. They found, however, that they didn’t have any place to sell their products.
“We began attending small farm conferences,” she said. “And learning about niche marketing – getting involved in those at a state level.”
They came back with their ideas to San Benito County. The goal of San Benito Bounty has been to brand the region to increase eco and agritoursim.
“I grew up in San Mateo and spent my young adulthood in San Francisco,” she said. “I never knew San Benito was here. I would go to the gold country, or Napa Valley, or even Carmel. But San Benito never crossed my mind.”
The ideas of sustainable agriculture and getting more locally-grown foods into classrooms just go together for the Foleys.
“Tim and I have a passion for San Benito County,” she said. “And Tim, with his education background, has a heart for kids. It is such an incredible issue.”
Foley is the former superintendent of schools for San Benito County.
This year, the nonprofit received a grant from the Community Foundation of San Benito County so they are soliciting matching donations for the cause.
“We want to bring economic revitalization to our county in a way that supports and makes viable our agrarian ways,” she said. “We can’t expect people – young people – to stay farming if it is not viable.”
Time For Lunch
Join Tim and Nants Foley for a potluck picnic, Monday, Sept. 7, at noon, at the Quicksilver Farm, 141 McMahon Road, in Hollister. Guests are asked to bring a dish to share, a picnic blanket, flatware and plates. Lunch will be followed by a discussion of how to get local foods into schools, and how to influence national policy around school lunches.
For more information on Time For Lunch or San Benito Bounty, or to RSVP, call Nants Foley at 801-5110 or e-mail na********@gm***.com or call Tim Foley at 245-5799.
