Put Local On Your Tray is a Connecticut farm-to-school program that helps source, serve, and promote local food in school districts. The program features a different locally grown product each month and assists schools with building farm connections, sourcing produce, recipe development, cafeteria promotions, and taste tests. Participating schools strengthen their local economies, educate students about food sources, and create healthier school environments. The program is currently working with five school districts during the 2015-2016 academic year.

1. Put Local On Your Tray: A
farm-to-school program
helping Connecticut school
districts source, serve, and
celebrate local food
Put Local On Your Tray is Connecticut’s
“harvest of the month” program. We offer
services and promotional materials to support
school districts in featuring one locally grown
product each month.
We help participating school districts:
• Build connections with local farms
• Source local produce
• Find & implement kid-friendly recipes
• Ensure staff have what they need to
process fresh produce
• Facilitate cafeteria “taste-tests”
• Supply promotional materials such as
newsletters, posters, and stickers
“Are those kale chips? I
LOVE kale chips!”
- Winthrop Middle School 7th grader,
Deep River
Harvest of the month: Programs like Put Local
On Your Tray help food service departments
acquire and incorporate regionally grown food
into school meal plans, and assist local farmers
in supplying schools with fresh, nutritious
produce.
Pilot: Put Local On Your Tray is currently
working with five districts during this inaugural
2015/16 academic year: Windham, East
Hartford, Middletown, RSD 4 (Deep River) and
Norwalk.
Local Tray Days: Each month we work with
participating school districts to select a date for
cafeteria taste tests, and a second date on
which the sampled local item will then be
incorporated into the menu.
Why Participate: We all know fresh food tastes
better and we enjoy it more. Students do too!
When schools source locally, they strengthen
local food economies, educate students about
where their food comes from, and create
healthier school environments overall.

2. Find Us!
Office
UCONN Sustainable Food Systems
Tolland County Extension Center
24 Hyde Ave. Vernon, CT 06066
Email
dana.putlocalonyourtray@gmail.com
Online
www.putlocalonyourtray.uconn.edu
Facebook
www.facebook/putlocalonyourtray.com
Get Involved!
We are always looking to connect with:
• School districts that want to participate
• Farms interested in selling to schools
• Volunteers for cafeteria taste-tests
• Others interested in supporting farm-to-
school projects.
“This program has proved to
be an invaluable component
of our educational efforts at
Middletown Public Schools to
connect our students to local
farms and agriculture while
promoting overall wellness to
enhance and maximize
student achievement”
-Ava McGlew, MS, RD, CD-N
Food Service Director
Middletown Public Schools