Monte Vista Elementary Celebrates California Foods

April 04th, 2019

Following up on last month’s popular visit of blender bikes, the Monte Vista Elementary Bobcats welcomed us back for a special California Thursdays photo day. These events allow us to talk with students about the growing number of California grown and produced foods that are served not just on Thursdays, but every day in WaveCrest Cafes across the Vista Unified School District. 

 

Happy diners packed their trays with tamales, avocados, strawberries, lettuce, and many other California food items, not to mention our own homemade salsa and low fat buttermilk ranch dressing.

 

Vista Unified was one of the first school districts in the state to join the #CaliforniaThursdays initiative when it expanded in 2014 as a project of the Center For Ecoliteracy, a non-profit organization “dedicated to cultivating education for sustainable living.” The program has since expanded its scope from a single day to a broader, California Food For California Kids emphasis, which WaveCrest has practiced from the start of the relationship. 

 

The photo days are an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of greater sourcing of foods from California, including many local farms and producers that supply fresh, seasonal foods, including several organic farms. The primary benefits of this approach include:

1) The closer the source of the food, the tastier, fresher, and more nutrient-dense it is. That’s a win-win-win!

2) Sourcing food closer to our schools reduces pollution.

3) This approach supports and benefits our local and statewide economy; California is the largest agriculture producing state in the nation.

4) It allows ALL of our students to have equal access to the freshest, tastiest, healthiest food available.

 

Take a few minutes to scroll through the gallery of images from this celebration.