HAGERSTOWN, Md. — State dignitaries, as well as a visiting farm calf, will be at Ruth Ann Monroe Primary School Monday to mark “homegrown school lunch week.”
Kevin M. Atticks, state secretary of agriculture; Dr. Julie Fletcher, executive director, Maryland Department of Education School and Community Nutrition Program; Dr. Gary Willow, Washington County school superintendent; and Jamie Hade, principal of Monroe Primary School, all will be present for remarks starting at 9:30 a.m.
Maryland Dairy Princesses will be present, along with dairy farmers Chris and Jamie Derr of Valley Ho Farm, Middletown, Maryland, who will bring perhaps the most popular guest for the primary students — a calf.
The event is designed to give students a firsthand look at where their food comes from and to celebrate the farmers who help put nutritious food on their plates.
The calf will give students an up-close look at dairy farming and how farmers care for their cows and produce fresh milk. Students will then rotate through interactive stations highlighting other Maryland agricultural sectors during an outdoor activity fair that will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The school is at 1311 Yale Drive.
Maryland Homegrown School Lunch Week, Sept. 28-Oct. 2, is an annual statewide celebration encouraging public schools to serve locally grown and produced foods while connecting students with the farmers and watermen who help feed their communities.
Maryland was the first state in the nation to have every public school system participate in its Homegrown School Lunch program, making it a national leader in connecting students with local agriculture, state officials said.
