School chef brings farms to kids in Connecticut
BLOOMFIELD, CONNECTICUT--Timothy Cipriano calls himself the "local food dude." Luckily for the parents of Bloomfield, Connecticut, he is also the food service director (aka Chef Tim) of all the town's public schools. He has gotten kids to eat their root vegetables--and like it. He has published a book of child-friendly recipes, a favorite being what he calls "squapple crisp."
Chef Tim succeeded in serving beets, kohlrabi, parsnips, turnips, onions and winter squash to the students by slow roasting them to bring out the sweetness and splashing on balsamic vinegar as they came out of the oven.
He secured the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program for his school, one of just 350 participants in the country. The revolution is simple: he sent fresh fruits and vegetables to the students homeroom's to snack on during morning announcements.
Chef Tim also partnered with Michael Buchanan , a local Jamaican immigrant Farmer to grow calaloo (a leafy green) for Bloomfield schools. With the large West Indies population in Bloomfield Chef Tim wanted to work with a farmer that the students would recognize.
