SPRINGFIELD- Not far from the bustling hub of urban neighborhoods in Eugene and Springfield is a thriving agricultural area. The outskirts of Lane County are scattered with family farms working to feed their community. But besides farm stores and farmers markets, these farms do not always have the opportunity to sell all their produce.



For example, Annette Pershern, pictured above, is the owner of River Bend Farm in Pleasant Hill, and has had seasons when she had thousands of pounds of pears she could not distribute to her community.
This is where the Farm to School program comes in to help.
October was Farm to School month, and this year was the first year Springfield Public Schools participated in Oregon’s annual CRUNCH event. On this day, students nationwide can bite into a locally grown fruit or vegetable for a simultaneous crunch.

At Maple Elementary School in Springfield, students in each grade were able to take a bite of an Asian pear grown at River Bend Farm.
“We’ve been introduced to the Farm to School program, which has helped us immensely because keeping the cash flow is really important for farmers, and money and savings for the off months,” Pershern said. River Bend Farm has supplied the 4J School District for Farm to School events for the past four years and Springfield Public Schools for the first time this year.
“Most of the kids probably have never had [an Asian pear],” Pershern said.
She was right that some Maple students had not tried one before. Still, the cafeteria echoed with giggles, and a collective “yum” after lunch aide Mary Knight counted down for the kindergarten class to bite into their pears simultaneously.

Mary Knight captures the attention of the cafeteria to do a countdown for their group crunch.
BOB WILLIAMS / CHRONICLE PHOTO
Knight and Martha Mateo, a fellow Maple lunch aide, said they love finding fun ways to encourage their students to try fruits and vegetables. They both explained that many students have been enjoying tajin on their cucumbers and trying new vegetables like jícama.
Knight said the pears were delivered to the elementary school from River Bend Farm that morning.


Nyal and Serenity, above, pictured from left, are both five years old and in kindergarten at Maple, said they loved the juicy pear they had for lunch.
“I tried a green pair at home,” Malachi, another kindergartener, said, but he had never tried this kind of pear before.
Connecting farms and schools doesn’t happen overnight, and the Willamette Farm & Food Coalition is at the center of Farm to School Month.
“Our job in our communities is to engage with school districts, school nutrition staff, and farmers to try to provide and facilitate building those relationships so that [students] can have the greatest access to fresh local produce as possible,” said Patrick Newson, Willamette Farm & Food Coalition Farm to School Coordinator.
The food coalition has existed for over 20 years, which is why the statewide Farm to School event was created. Newson said he and his team provide community resources such as their yearly local farm magazine.
“Our goal as an organization is to make sure farmers are well compensated and supported in the work that they do,” Newson said, but at the same time, they are working to make local nutritious food more accessible.
Newson explained that schools regularly receive funding from the Oregon Department of Education for local produce purchases. Then, Newson works with the schools to find what fruits local farms could supply.

However, they are a nonprofit organization that relies on grant funding to do most of their work, so Newson is always looking for community support to help spread the word on local farms.
One goal for the organization is to reach those more rural areas and school districts because although they tend to dominate, there is not always a variety in nutritious crops or access.
“Creswell is a thriving agricultural area, but no grocery store or farmers market exists. So, people who live in the town of Creswell or the immediate vicinity must travel past dozens of farms to purchase food,” Newson said.
This is why Willamette Farm and Food Coalition is working to expand into smaller communities and collaborate with local farms to make their crops more accessible to places like Creswell.

Martha Mateo has served the students at Maple Elementary for 10 years.
BOB WILLIAMS / CHRONICLE PHOTO
Many schools have responded to the call to sustainability and fresh produce by having farms that provide for their school or district.
In Al Kennedy High School’s case, the school’s on-campus garden supplies students with lunch when on off-campus trips or produce to take home to their families.
For the Springfield School District, there is a farm tucked into a neighborhood that sends fresh produce to its schools and creates opportunities for student engagement.


“We’re trying to build that culture of Farm to School and have our district bring more local produce into the cafeteria,” said Joyce Douglas, Springfield Public Schools Urban farmer.
Douglas explained that having a farm accessible to students inspires them to think about nutrition and sustainability with hands-on experiences.
“I’ve seen kids get excited about eating kale because they grew it,” Douglas said.
The farm is in its second year of functionality after being dormant during the pandemic, so Douglas hopes that the more it progresses, the more students will be able to interact with it.