MEDIA ADVISORY: Get Ready Kids’ Fresh, Local Lunches Are Coming to Your School Cafeteria!

ANNAPOLIS, MD (September 7, 2010) – School lunches are getting a makeover this fall with more interesting and more nutritious foods.  School children in hundreds of public schools across Maryland will get a taste of fresh, Maryland-grown and produced food in their lunches during the third annual Maryland Homegrown School Lunch Week, September 13-17.  A kick-off celebration with special classroom educational activities and local lunch with students, farmers, and federal, state and local officials will take place at Edgewood Elementary School in Harford County from 11:00 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. on Friday, September 10.

The Homegrown School Lunch Week, an element of the Jane Lawton Farm to School Program, was created during the 2008 Session of the Maryland General Assembly when SB 158 Farm-to-School Program – Activities and Promotional Events, sponsored by Senator Jamie Raskin and Del. Sheila Hixson of Montgomery County, was signed into law by Governor Martin O’Malley.  The program is designed to help educate students about where their food comes from, how it is produced, and the benefits of a healthy diet as well as to expand markets for Maryland farmers.  More information:  www.marylandfarmtoschool.org.

WHAT:    Maryland Homegrown School Lunch Week Kick-Off Celebration

WHERE:  Edgewood Elementary School, 2100 Cedar Drive, Edgewood, MD

WHEN:    Friday, September 10, 2010; 11:00 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.

NOTE:    Please confirm attendance by calling 410-841-5889 or 410-841-5888.

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