WESTMINSTER-Harley Sterling, director of the Windham Northeast food program, which runs during the school year from the end of August to the beginning of June and provides breakfast and lunch to students, always aims to "push the limits of what's possible."
Sterling, with his team of 12 cooks, do the best from-scratch cooking they can with local ingredients at a time for the six schools in WNESU - elementary schools in Westminster, Bellows Falls, Saxtons River, and Athens; Bellows Falls Middle School; and Bellows Falls Union High School.
Their efforts are reaching more students than ever.
Just last year, Vermont state legislators passed Act 64, Vermont's Permanent Universal School Meals program.
Since Universal School Meals was first implemented in 2019, student consumption of school breakfast has risen by 40%, as well as a 29% increase in consumption of school lunch. The new law will ensure that Vermont students will have continuous access to free meals.
Going into the 2024–25 school year, 91% of free meals in the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union (WNESU) will be paid for by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, instead of relying on local property taxes or the Vermont Education Fund. Federal funding will also cover 100% of free summer meals for kids.
Five kitchens, limited budgets
Sterling said he cares about people and about trying to make a difference, and he believes the nation's school lunch system has room for improvement.
Sterling can't speak too much for other states - "Each area of the country has different challenges and different circumstances," he said - but he believes that "school lunch is not really revered. I think it's safe to say that it's the epitome of American unexceptionalism."
Growing up in the '90s, in the era of "clear Pepsi, Lunchables, and purple ketchup," Sterling described school food of his generation as "kind of the worst of the worst."
"For too long, school food in America has been really mediocre at best," he said.
Sterling said things have gotten better, particularly in Vermont, where farm-to-plate programs have taken hold.
"It's about education," said Sterling. "It's important to introduce kids to different cuisines."
Sterling's group engages students "every opportunity they get." All the Windham Northeast schools have gardens. Students harvest the food, and it's put in the meals. It's a point of pride for Sterling that the meals served in his school kitchens are locally sourced whenever possible.
"[Students are] way more connected with the story, they're way more engaged. They try things they wouldn't try otherwise," Sterling said, adding that he doesn't know how much it connects to the school culture in general.
"It really comes down to talented and motivated educators," he said. " There's very little that isn't connected to food. We try to set a high bar and push the envelope of what's possible."
Feeding everybody
Sterling said he particularly wants to help people who don't necessarily have enough to eat. He said he would much rather put his energy toward helping people get adequate nourishment than work in a restaurant for people who can afford to eat whatever they want.
He is very enthusiastic about permanent free meals.
"There's no more sincere cause than providing food to children in school. I think it's just about as ethical as you get, when it comes to what our federal government spends money on."
Instituting a universal school meal program in Vermont "has been massively successful," Sterling said. It not only ensures students are fed, it reduces the stigma for lower-income students that often came under the old system.
Sterling said he has a lot of gratitude for the Vermont lawmakers taking this action.
"They get slapped around when people aren't happy with them," he said. "They did the right thing for Vermont kids."
This News item by Siri Harrison was written for The Commons.