~ The following was published in The Floyd Press on May 20, 2010

About 35 Blue Mountain School (BMS) students, along with several BMS teachers and parent volunteers, spent a recent morning planting potatoes as part of Floyd’s Farm to School Program (FTS).  The planting, supervised by the Five Penny Farm farmers at their fields on Shooting Creek Road, was the latest step in building on last year’s FTS pilot program, in which students from Floyd Elementary School and BMS harvested potatoes that were later prepared and served countywide at Floyd public schools.

FTS is a nationwide initiative that, according to their webpage (farmtoschool.org), “connects schools (K-12) and local farms with the objectives of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student nutrition, providing agriculture, health and nutrition education opportunities, and supporting local and regional farmers.”   Floyd’s FTS programs are being organized by SustainFloyd, a grassroots citizen’s group working to support resiliency in the local community.

SustainFloyd director Mike Burton said that public school students weren’t able to attend the potato planting because they were busy taking SOL tests but that they will participate in the harvest in the fall.   Burton foresees the growth the FTS program, with more locally grown food – such as potatoes, cabbages, and apples – being incorporated into public school lunch menus each year.  Although the programs are supported by the state and the local school system, they are currently under-funded.  One of Burton’s jobs as director is to pursue grants and other support for Floyd’s FTS efforts.

“It’s all organic and safe to touch,” Five Penny farmer Brett Nichols told BMS students, pointing out the fertilizer sprinkled furrows where 200 pre-cut seed potatoes would be planted.  After being instructed to plant potatoes a foot apart, the students got to work, getting down on their hands and knees or dropping potatoes in the ground.

The morning’s event also included a race between the students and Nichols’ tractor.  It took team effort for the students to prevail, covering up rows of planted potatoes faster than Nichols tractor could.  “Kid power!” one youngster triumphantly shouted.

Once the planting was done and the races were won, the students happily headed over to Five Penny Farm on Thomas Farm Road.   “We’ll have lunch by the pond and the kids can tour the greenhouse,” Five Penny farmer Johanna Nichols said.      ~ Colleen Redman blogs daily at looseleafnotes.com.