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Back to School Night at Viroqua Elementary School on Wednesday, Aug. 27, included some culinary highlights.

Students and their parents had an opportunity to sample ratatouille and learn about the new Farm-to-School Program which will incorporate local foods in school lunches. In addition, there was a showing of the animated Disney movie, "Ratatouille."

Ratatouille is a vegetable stew, usually made with eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and onions, seasoned with herbs and garlic.

Chef Monique Hooker of De Soto, who is involved with the project, said ratatouille was chosen as the first dish because at this time of year, garden produce is at its peak.

"I freeze a lot of it myself," Hooker said. She said the movie was a tie-in "and the word makes people smile."

"All Mediterranean countries have similar dishes with different names," Hooker said.

Farm-to-School at the Back to School Night was presented by the Valley Stewardship Network Food and Farm Initiative and Viroqua Food Cooperative.

Jessica Luhning, projects coordinator with Valley Stewardship Network (VSN), said the nonprofit organization formed the Food and Farm Initiative in November of 2007.

"We were invited to sit in on a Farm to School program meeting with AmeriCorps," Luhning said. "Our goal was to develop a Farm to School program. This summer it fell in place."

Wisconsin State Ameri-Corps awarded Vernon and Crawford counties grants to start Farm to School programs with the goal of bringing more fresh, locally-grown foods to area schools.

As part of a statewide Farm to School initiative, AmeriCorps will provide two part-time volunteers to work with teachers, parents, PTOs, food service staff and local farmers, to procure foods for schools and develop school-based education programs with teachers.

Luhning, Hooker, Marilyn Volden, VAS food service supervisor, and Sara Tedeschi, are members of the committee in charge of hiring the volunteers in Vernon County.

Volden said the volunteers could start Sept. 1 if the positions are filled right away. The volunteers would remain in their positions until the end of August 2009.

"I expect fun events throughout the year — maybe farmer visits to the schools or trips to farms, cooking classes, thing like that," Volden said.

Hooker said her mission to change school menus from La La Crosse to Prairie du Chien began six years ago. During that time she has visited with teachers and parents and given cooking demonstrations in schools.

"What we are creating is a template of a program we hope to share with other schools and build up on this," Hooker said.

Luhning said VSN's Food and Farm Initiative is a way to build connections between farmers and their markets.

"It's healthy and creates a market for the farmers and money flows in the local economy," Luhning said.

"In our area we are blessed with so many local foods, why not incorporate them into school lunches," Luhning continued.

Volden said district food service staff, under the guidance of Hooker, came together Aug. 25 to prepare the ratatouille for Back to School Night and freeze the remainder, as part of the district's 5th Season Harvest Project.

"Monique was instrumental, providing the recipe and guidance," she said. "The big goal was to put away enough for the rest of the school year."

Based on funds available and the amount of produce needed, Hooker ordered vegetables from Organic Valley.

"We used a lot of seconds," Volden said. "You didn't have to have a perfect zucchini. That saved money and Organic Valley gave us a good price on 500 pounds of produce."

In the end, 100 gallons of the healthy, roasted vegetable dish was prepared by food service staff.

"Monique helped every step of the way," Volden said. "It was a hands-on project for the staff; I they could now make it themselves at home. It was awesome to have Monique here to help us."

Volden said ratatouille can be used on pizza (it was served this way at Back to School Night), pasta, rice, in soups or as a side dish.

"We hope to have it districtwide," Volden said. "We'll definitely have pizza at the high school and elementary school."

Volden said with Back to School Night it would have been difficult to have sampling stations at both the elementary school and middle/ high school.

"With the video it was geared toward the elementary-age level," she said.

"We certainly want to include the high school and middle school," Volden continued.

Other ways for the school district to use local produce may include grating carrots and freezing them for use in muffins and soup.

"There are a lot more ideas," Volden said. "This (ratatouille) is a starting point. We'll see how it is accepted and go from there.

"We'll work to expand it next year and how to expand it with small steps and work with federal regulations," Volden continued.

Alice in Dairyland, Ashley Huibregtse of Madison, attended Wednesday's event.

Huibregtse mingled with the students, encouraging them to try the ratatouille-topped pizza.

She was also spreading the word about the 2008 Wisconsin Eat Local Challenge, scheduled for Sept. 5-15. The challenge encourages consumers to spend at least 10 percent of their food budget on local food for 10 days.

"It's really exciting to eat local," Huibregtse said.

Volden said Wednesday's event at VES was well received and many positive comments were shared by parents, students and younger siblings.

To get involved with the Farm to School Program, contact Volden at 637-1645 or Luhning at 637-3615.