PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (WCAX) – Many North Country students are treated to fresh-made meals with local ingredients. Now, an effort is underway to expand the program and put more local food on students’ plates.
Administrators at Champlain Valley Educational Services are looking to beef up their school meals operation.
“It’s essential that we help teach our students how to eat well and also to prepare to be healthy for the rest of their lives,” said Mark Davey, the superintendent of CVES BOCES.
Davey says they’ve received a $5 million state grant which will go toward the future creation of a new CVES building at the former Clinton County Airport. Inside, he says there would be culinary classrooms, career and technical education, and a regional food hub. The goal is to expand the food-from-scratch service.
“We have a team of chefs who are cooking the food on a daily basis that have home-cooked meals being delivered to our component school districts. So, we would do a lot of the heavy work,” said Eric Bell, the assistant superintendent of management services at CVES.
Bell says so far, the district has partnered with seven out of 16 school districts in the region. That includes school districts like Plattsburgh. Bell says the districts pay for what they use and it ends up becoming a cheaper, healthier alternative.
“When transitioning to homemade from scratch food, they are actually money in their cafeterias and are no longer having to have their regular budgets support their cafeteria fund,” Bell said.
He says for thousands of students getting access to local food, the program is a way to ensure nutrition needs are met.
“More high-quality nutritious food we can get to students and families to meet the nutritional needs of kids impacts our student’s growth, physically, mentally, emotionally every single day,” Bell said.
He says the grant also means the addition of new equipment for cafeterias at partnering schools and the expansion of CDL training. Bell says they hope to have the new food hub constructed by 2026.