“I am a farmer and a mother of three. In my own experience, my three boys would get their breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks from their schools. At that time, the school meals weren’t as nutritious or healthy. There is a huge opportunity to change this and really impact students with fresh, organic, nutritious meals. …
A Meal for Change: Empowering Schools with Organic Choices Read More »
Turning Green’s summer interns have had the exceptional pleasure of learning about sustainability and environmental justice from a new guest speaker every week, and now we’ve been given a virtual farm tour! This tour was led by our most recent guest speaker, the legendary Farmer Al Courchesne of Frog Hollow Farm in Brentwood, California. With …
All across the nation, garlic scapes are popping up in droves at farmer’s markets. Upon seeing these clusters of spiraling verdant bulbs, one might ask: “What on earth are these and how do I even eat them?” While perhaps visually strange and unfamiliar, garlic scapes are an excellent way to get more use out of …
Garlic Scapes: Getting More Out of the Garlic Plant Read More »
Why do we love Earth Day? Because the day calls on us to reflect upon the most wonderful gift we have received—the earth, our home. This year, we celebrated with California’s First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom and many like-minded champions of the state’s Farm to School initiatives, local leaders who are dedicated to transforming school …
Earth Day: Expanding Organics Through Farm to School Read More »
What better way to spend spring break than conducting on-the-ground research to build food systems that support the health and wellbeing of people and planet? That’s exactly what Conscious Kitchen did with our Organic Farm to School Mapping Project and a passionate cohort of six local college and university students this spring. This cohort came …
We are always proud of our work with Conscious Kitchen! What a joy to share our organic school food program in person with top leaders across our country for National School Breakfast Week. USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Congressman John Garamendi, and State Superintendent Tony Thurmond joined Conscious …
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture & CA First Partner Pay Conscious Kitchen a Visit Read More »
When you want to make change, it can be hard to know where to begin. In the complex world of increasing organic and local procurement for school meals, being able to draw upon inspiration and guidance from leaders, peers, and experts is critical. With this in mind, Conscious Kitchen organized the Central Coast Organic School …
“Good healthy food is good for the earth and the people, it’s what makes you thrive.” Paul Kolling has been practicing this through organic farming for the past four decades. We recently interviewed Paul, the owner of Nana Mae’s Organics, to learn more about his journey and experiences along the way. Paul grew up in …
Rows of organic lettuce and potatoes stretched as far as the eye could see at Pinnacle Farms, our classroom for the day. Our Conscious Kitchen team was busy learning about experimental mulching techniques, water conservation, how hedgerows support native pollinators, and increasing organic soil matter through regenerative farming practices when a van pulled up to …
As Conscious Kitchen continues to honor, highlight and interview farmers, we chatted with Javier Zamora and learned about his incredible journey to owning a successful organic farm. In 2012, Javier started JSM Organics with little more than an acre and a half of land and a mobile home. Now, 10 years later, he drives through the 200 acres of …
