By: Yaza Sarieh & Alissa Pantuosco
Yaza Sarieh is the Community Collaborations Coordinator at Georgia Organics
Alissa Pantuosco is a Farm to School Contractor at Georgia Organics.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s October Farm to School Month (OFTSM) campaign with Georgia Organics! ParSLAY the Day was a statewide initiative designed to get kids eating, growing, and engaging in parsley-themed activities, and thanks to your efforts, we parSLAYed!
We are excited to share that over 530,000 teachers, students, and cafeteria staff across 117 Georgia counties and 49 school nutrition departments took part in the celebration this October. For nearly 382 participants, this was their first time joining us for October Farm to School Month. We were also thrilled to have Governor Brian Kemp officially declare October as Farm to School and Farm to Early Care & Education Month!
Throughout Georgia, early care centers and elementary, middle, and high schools sprinkled a little parsley magic into their classrooms with our parsley-themed resources, inspiring hands-on learning activities for students of all ages. Participants joined the ParSLAY the Day social media contest, sharing their parsley-inspired activities with the hashtag #parslaytheday. Our grand prize winner was the Bartow County School Nutrition Department! Nearly ten schools in the district grew organic parsley in their school gardens and used it to prepare fresh, scratch-cooked meals for cafeteria lunches. They conducted parsley taste tests, experimented with new recipes, started composting projects, and even harvested enough parsley to feed entire schools!
Throughout Georgia, early care centers and elementary, middle, and high schools sprinkled a little parsley magic into their classrooms with our parsley-themed resources, inspiring hands-on learning activities for students of all ages. Participants joined the ParSLAY the Day social media contest, sharing their parsley-inspired activities with the hashtag #parslaytheday. Our grand prize winner was the Bartow County School Nutrition Department! Nearly ten schools in the district grew organic parsley in their school gardens and used it to prepare fresh, scratch-cooked meals for cafeteria lunches. They conducted parsley taste tests, experimented with new recipes, started composting projects, and even harvested enough parsley to feed entire schools!
The month of October was seasoned with friendly competition, adding extra flavor to our Farm to School activities. Eighteen Georgia FCCLA Chapters competed to create the best ParSLAY the Day initiatives, and Ware County High School FCCLA parSLAY-ed first place! Culinary arts students hosted a parsley-themed week at their student-run Gator Bistro, serving parsley dishes and promoting the campaign with fun posters, trivia, and a tasting booth. Georgia Organics was proud to sponsor this FCCLA competition, recognizing the hard work of the advisors and members. Read more about this year’s FCCLA competition in this blog post.
Every school needs delicious food—and our GA School Nutrition departments brought the flavor! Many sourced fresh parsley from local farmers or school gardens and served parsley-packed dishes in the school cafeterias. Bartow and Polk School Nutrition Departments were honored by Georgia Organics for incorporating parsley into their menus at least once a week throughout October, creating vibrant dishes like Tabbouleh, Spicy Mean Green Sauce, and Chimichurri to spice up the lunch experience for students.
Six Georgia farmers partnered with us on the ParSLAY the Day campaign, gaining valuable exposure and strengthening connections with local schools and early learning centers. Through blogs, newsletters, and social media, we promoted these farms and their businesses to folks around the state. There was a clear interest among ParSLAY the Day participants to leverage the campaign to connect students with their local food system – 90% of campaign participants expressed their intention to promote and/or serve locally grown produce, and 69% planned to engage with a local farmer during this year’s OFTSM celebrations!
This year, we were excited to connect the OFTSM campaign with our Family Farm Share program, a low-cost, local produce subscription program designed for families with young children. Even in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene’s devastation, Family Farm Share partners in Southeast Georgia came together to ParSLAY the Day. Farmer Andy Douglas of Crossroad Farm and Garden generously provided parsley seedlings for WayGreen to distribute to the 50 families participating in the weekly subscription program. In West Georgia, Farmers Fresh CSA included fresh bundles of local, organically grown parsley in the weekly shares going home with their Family Farm Share members. Looking ahead, we’re excited to build on the success of the OFTSM campaign, creating even more opportunities for local sourcing to support farmer prosperity.
The celebration doesn't have to stop here! National Farm to School Month is in October, but we hope you continue celebrating good food, local farmers, community, and engaged learning throughout the year. The ParSLAY the Day resources will be archived on this webpage within the next few weeks. This year, more than ever, OFTSM participants requested our Spanish-language resources. On our website, you can find resources in English and Español and past campaign materials to help integrate Farm to School into your programs!
A big thank you to everyone who sprinkled a little extra green into their October Farm to School Month celebrations! Your efforts truly added flavor to Georgia’s farm to school celebrations, inspiring students of all ages to grow, cook, eat, and learn about fresh, healthy foods. The joy you cultivated has been a refreshing boost, and we are so grateful for the vibrant, leafy enthusiasm you've shared throughout this campaign!
Go forth and ParSLAY your day!