Wenatchee Schools Celebrate Taste Washington Day
A collaboration between the Washington Department of Agriculture and the Washington State Nutrition Association is bringing a special menu of healthy, regionally produced foods to the Wenatchee School District today, October 13.
Taste Washington Day has been celebrating the local farm-to-school connection for over half a decade now. Mike Louisell (LEW-iz-sell) is with the WDA and explained to KOHO News how the partnership began and what might be found on the cafeteria reader board for this year’s annual occasion.
Most of the school districts who participate statewide had their Taste Washington Day last week on October 5th, however the Wenatchee School District chose today to serve their students a farm-to-tray meal. Kent Getzin is the outgoing Food Services Director at the district and he says this year’s menu features a wide variety of items, including a fish which is indigenous to the southern hemisphere that was raised right here in Washington by a student at Wenatchee High School.
Getzin says the district partnered with a dozen area farms within a 60 mile radius in order to craft this year’s Taste Washington Day. And students at Wenatchee schools have loved the regional eats so much they have even become the first district in the state to offer a second helping later in the school year by offering a Mid-Winter Taste Washington Day in January.