Atlanta, Ga. — October 22, 2018: Carrollton City Schools won Platinum recognition and the Outstanding District Award at the 2018 Golden Radish Awards held at the Georgia Freight Depot. The Golden Radish Award publicly recognizes Georgia school districts for best practices in farm to school programs, such as local food procurement and exposing students to new foods through taste tests, gardening, and cooking activities.
The Outstanding District Award was presented to Carrollton City Schools for their comprehensive farm to school program. Carrollton City Schools has an established model that includes STEM focused school gardening, an after school culinary club, consistent local sourcing from local farms, and extensive collaborations that include USDA Certified Organic farmer Bryan Hager and Tanner Health System among many community stakeholders.
Carrollton City Schools received kudos for:
- Providing over 220 total taste tests of over 80 different foods (120 of those taste tests included locally grown foods!). Many tested items were “Trojan Grown foods” from the district’s 27 school gardens.
- Procuring produce from over 25 local farmers through their distributor including 12 Georgia farmers: Jaemor Farms, Baker Farms, Southern Valley, Moore & Porter, Hillside Gardens, Pero Farms, Genuine Georgia, Ken Corbitt, Southern Press & Pack, F&R Farms, L&M, and L&R Farms.
- Including farmers and farm field trips in the nutrition education program on eight different occasions. Bryan Hager of Crager-Hager Certified Organic Farms visited classes to talk with students about organic farming.
Carrollton City Schools was one of 84 Georgia School Districts recognized at the awards. Collectively, these districts served more than 1.3 million students a whopping 109 million school meals with locally grown food items during the 2017-18 school year!
This year, the Golden Radish partners (Georgia Organics, Georgia’s Departments of Agriculture (GDA), Education (GaDOE) and Public Health (GDPH), the Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) and University of Georgia Cooperative Extension (UGA Extension) awarded 17 new school districts and inaugurated five new Innovation Awards.
- Georgia Organics presented an Organic Radish Award to Warren County Public Schools for including certified organic food in the meals program and teaching organic growing practices to students.
- GaDOE presented an award to farmer Lisa Dojan of Fisheads Aquaponics for her exemplary work with Georgia students.
- DPH presented an Innovative Partnership Award to Clarke County School District for their partnerships and programs with local restaurants, Americorps, UGA “Grow It, Know It” and UGA Extension, local farmers, and the local food bank.
- GDA presented a Georgia Grown Award to teacher Diana Cole from Barrow County.
- UGA Extension presented the Outstanding Extension Farm to School Program Award to Warren County Public Schools to recognize the comprehensive school garden plan, complete with harvest parade and-3 acre production garden, as a model for our state.
- Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) presented the inaugural Baby Golden Radish Award to the Bleckley County School District for creating an innovative and exemplary Farm to Early Care and Education Program that advances the learning and development of its Pre-K and Head Start students.
Statements from Golden Radish Partners
“School gardens introduce new generations to the world of agriculture. They build a broader understanding of where our food comes from and what it takes to get it to the table, and they prepare future farmers to produce food innovatively, in ways that maximize resources and nurture our environment,” said Associate Dean for UGA Extension at the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Dr. Laura Perry Johnson.
“At the Georgia Department of Education we’re focused on expanding opportunities for Georgia’s kids, and farm to school is a perfect example of that,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “When students have access to fresh, local foods they’re better prepared to learn – and they can connect with Georgia agriculture, one of our state’s largest industries.”
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“Feed My School For a Week, Georgia Grown Test Kitchen and the Golden Radish Awards are all great examples of success thanks to the strong partnership that has been cultivated between our Georgia producers and our school nutrition directors. We are proud of the accomplishments of Georgia’s farm to school efforts and excited to see what current and future award winners will further achieve as we work toward our 2020 Vision for School Nutrition in Georgia.”
—Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary W. Black
“Farm to school teaches our children the importance of food that helps bodies grow healthy and strong and food that promotes learning,” said J. Patrick O’Neal, M.D., commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health. “When children learn as early as possible where their food comes from, they are more likely to eat fresh, nutritious foods that will sustain healthy choices that spread to families and communities.”
“Georgia Organics is delighted to recognize the innovative Farm to School initiatives that prepare our future farmers for economic prosperity. We are proudly celebrating certified organic food procurement, the teaching of organic growing methods and the involvement of Certified Organic farmers in programs throughout the state. We know that Farm to School and organic education is a great way to increase access to good food for all,” said Alice Rolls, President and CEO of Georgia Organics.
“We believe that Farm to Early Care and Education activities enhance early childhood education and build a foundation for learning and development across all domains. As we continue to work with our partners to create more support for these initiatives, we applaud the 53 school districts that submitted entries for this first-ever Baby Golden Radish Award competition. Together, their Farm to Preschool Programs reach over 23,000 children in Pre-K and 11,000 in Head Start and Early Head Start,” said DECAL Commissioner Amy M. Jacobs.
The 2017-18 school year was a record breaking year of farm to school growth in Georgia, and all participants were thrilled to celebrate at the Golden Radish Awards.
The 84 school systems being recognized are:
Platinum
Baldwin County School District
Barrow County School System
Bartow County School System
Bleckley County School District
Burke County Public School System
Carrollton City Schools
Cherokee County School District
Clarke County School District
Dade County Schools
Effingham County Schools
Elbert County School District
Fannin County School System
Fulton County Schools
Gainesville City School System
Henry County Schools
Jackson County Schools
Laurens County Schools
Paulding County School District
Sumter County Schools
Tift County Schools
Valdosta City Schools
Warren County Public Schools
Gold
Atlanta Public Schools
City Schools of Decatur
Clayton County Public Schools
Cobb County School District
Coweta County School System
DeKalb County School District
Dougherty County School System
Fayette County Public Schools
Floyd County Schools
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Hart County Charter System
Marietta City Schools
Morgan County Charter School System
Newton County Schools
Rockdale County Public Schools
Savannah-Chatham County Public School System
Treutlen County Schools
Trion City Schools
Wayne County School System
Silver
Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School
Brantley County School System
Carroll County Schools
Columbia County School District
Douglas County School System
Forsyth County Schools
Lee County School System
Lowndes County School District
Lumpkin County School System
Madison County School District
Muscogee County School District
Polk School District
Toombs County Schools
Bronze
Bibb County School District
Buford City Schools
Butts County School System
Calhoun City School System
Coffee County School System
Dalton Public Schools
Dawson County School System
Dublin City Schools
Emanuel County School System
Glascock County School System
Glynn County School System
Habersham County Schools
Hall County Schools
Harris County School District
Irwin County School System
Johnson County Schools
Lincoln County School District
Pickens County Schools
Richmond County School System
Stephens County School System
Wilkinson County Board of Education
Honorary
Dooly County School System
Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice
Grady County Schools
Griffin-Spalding County School System
Scintilla Charter Academy
DODEA Americas Southeast District
Union County Schools
Ware County School District
Wilcox County Schools
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