News Release                                                                                                                                        October 6, 2014
APS Receives 2014 Golden Radish Award at State Capitol for Farm to School Achievements
ATLANTA— Atlanta Public Schools (APS) was recognized with the Golden Radish Award, a prestigious state-wide farm to school distinction which acknowledges the outstanding leadership of school representatives building comprehensive farm to school programs.
APS was one of 30 school districts honored today at the state capitol by State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge, Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black, Public Health Commissioner Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, and Georgia Organics Board Chair Mandy Mahoney.
The 2014 Golden Radish Award recognizes school districts for all aspects of farm to school—from local food procurement to hosting taste tests to gardening with students. Golden Radish gives awards at Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honorary recognitions to districts with varying levels of farm to school programs.
Atlanta Public Schools was recognized at the Gold level for their accomplishments, which include:
- Locally grown food items featured in school meals 177 times this year. Local items included: romaine lettuce, carrots, strawberries, and apples. All schools also offered locally grown food two to three times a week as part of the reimbursable meal plan.
- Fifty-three edible school gardens evenly distributed throughout the district, including one high school garden with a greenhouse on school grounds.
- Students who participated in 3,396 taste tests of 85 different locally grown fruits and vegetables this year, including grapefruit, muscadines and green bell peppers.
School districts across Georgia are using farm to school programs to teach core curriculum, support their local economies, fight obesity and other preventable, food-related diseases, and to increase the amount of local food they serve to their students.
The award publicly recognizes and honors school districts for their hard work in the variety of farm to school programs they offer students. Districts were evaluated on their work in 10 different farm to school activities.
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Atlanta Public School students and representatives from the district’s Nutrition Department, Atlanta Board of Education member Leslie Grant (District 1), and representatives from Sodexo received the 2014 Golden Radish Award from the Georgia Department of Education, Georgia Department of Agriculture and Georgia Organics.
