Somerville Corn Shucking in the News

Check out the Globe article about corn shucking in Somerville!  Groundwork Somerville works to make this event possible along with partners at Somerville Public Schools Food Services and UMass Extension.  Thanks to all who are volunteering for Groundwork Somerville to help staff this event!

Thanks to local farmers, Somerville students will be all ears

By Michael Prager, Globe Correspondent / September 21, 2011

For a few frenzied minutes tomorrow morning, Somerville’s elementary schools will be all ears – more than 3,000 of them. Students will shuck a shipment of local corn as part of Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week, and later get to eat some.

“It’s an opportunity for a lot of kids to have fun while learning where corn comes from, that it doesn’t come from a can or a bag,’’ says Charlotte Stephenson, nutrition outreach coordinator.

Coordinated with help from the UMass Extension program and volunteers from Groundwork Somerville, a nonprofit group that promotes sustainable communities, the event is one of dozens during Harvest Week in which students go to farms or farm produce is served to students. The goal is to promote ties – and sales – from state farmers to nearby schools, from preschools to colleges.

Other events include former White House chef Roland Mesnier preparing desserts with local ingredients for students at UMass-Amherst today and the gala opening of a salad bar tomorrow at Morse Elementary School in Cambridge.Click here for the full article.