Made in NY: November school lunch menu came from New York sources

 

Students around the Red Hook Central School District were treated to a Thanksgiving meal eight days early.

Turkey. Roasted potatoes with gravy. Stuffing. Salad. Apple Crisp. Milk.

The turkey came from Northwind Farms in Tivoli. The rest of the ingredients were likewise sourced from around New York. And, of course, the milk was Hudson Valley Fresh.

The special meal was the centerpiece of an ambitious month for Larry Anthony’s food service department. Throughout November, all five components of the lunch menus have been composed of entirely – or 99% of it, Anthony said – New York products.

The project was the product of four months of planning and an outgrowth of Red Hook surpassing the New York State Farm-to-School Initiative in which it encourages schools to have at least 30% of its lunch menu consist of New York-sourced items. The idea of the initiative is to promote healthy, locally grown foods while increasing awareness of regional food systems.

All three of the school districts Anthony coordinates, Red Hook, Rhinebeck and Pine Plains, have met that standard. That qualifies the districts for a roughly 325% increase in state lunch reimbursement funding, from 5.9 cents per meal to 25 cents.

In Red Hook, the menu last year was closer to 40% New York products, the Red Hook food service director said.

When the concept of filling an entire month with Empire State foods crossed his mind, Anthony said he thought, “I have enough products that I think I can pull this off.”

As snags in the supply chain can occur, he began reaching out to vendors in July to lock in his products and made orders in August and September.

He compared those initial calls to an automated external defibrillator. “I’m sending a jolt through all the vendors: ‘Here’s what November’s looking like and here’s the food I’ll need.’”

The letters “NY” show up 66 times on November’s printed menu signifying the food item is from New York, including local products such as beans and cheese from Hudson Harvest in Germantown, eggs from Feather Ridge Farm in Elizaville, and fruits and vegetables from such places as Highland, New Paltz and, yes, Red Hook. That’s in addition to more specifically credited foods, like steelhead trout from Hudson Valley Fisheries, Niagara grapes, Issa’s Pita Chips from Buffalo, and the turkeys from Tivoli.

The menu drew praise from parents and students alike. This week, Anthony received two handwritten letters from Mill Road students thanking the department for the food, with both highlighting the fish. "I love the trout it was the best school lunch me and my friends both agreed," one letter read.

While the month’s menu features dozens of nutritious meals, Anthony said November will go a long way toward making sure Red Hook surpasses the 30% plateau again in 2024-25. That was a secondary concern, though, considering how efficiently Anthony has been satisfying the initiative since 2022-23.

“Last year we needed to purchase $37,000,” in New York products, he said, having done the math for the total amount spent. “We purchased $43,900.”