WINDSOR—Students from Isle of Wight County joined a statewide chorus of crunches on Oct. 8, simultaneously biting into Virginia-grown Honeycrisp apples to celebrate the 10th annual Crunch Heard ‘Round the Commonwealth.
More than 320,000 Virginia students participated in the event. It was held during Virginia Farm to School Week, which highlights programs that bring locally grown food into school cafeterias while teaching students about agriculture, nutrition and the environment.
Smithfield High School, Windsor Elementary School and Windsor High School students carried out the Crunch at the Agricultural Land Lab, a working farm operated by high school students through the division’s career and technical education program.
“It was an opportunity for our students to show off what farm-to-school actually looks like,” said farm manager Daniel Judkins, a Surry County Farm Bureau leader. “The produce growing at the Land Lab is used in our nine school cafeterias. And students have admitted they are likely to eat more lunches with lettuce as an ingredient—knowing they were the ones who grew it.”
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jenna Conway said farm-to-school programs improve student health and engagement while teaching vital agricultural and environmental literacy.
“When students are well nourished, they are ready to learn,” she said.
State and local leaders learned about students’ efforts to sustain Isle of Wight County’s farm-to-school initiative. Judkins urged public officials to consider similar initiatives scaled to fit their own communities.
“Maybe seeing this firsthand will spark a passion or interest in looking at how more divisions could possibly get involved,” he said. “And I hope local and state leaders could potentially open more grant opportunities for school divisions across the state to help with startup costs for a farm-to-school initiative.”
Virginia’s Farm to School Program connects schools with farmers and food producers, expanding access to fresh food and creating markets for agriculture. Virginia school and community nutrition program operators purchased more than $24.2 million in local food during the 2025-26 school year, according to the Virginia Department of Education.
Supporting local agriculture through local schools creates a win-win for Virginians, said Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Katie Frazier.
“It provides reliable markets for our farmers, ensures students have access to fresh, nutritious meals, and drives growth in our regional agricultural economies,” she said.
Schools also represent an expanding market for producers, noted Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Green.
“Virginia’s farms are actively looking for new markets,” he said. “And it’s clear that Virginia’s child nutrition programs are a growing opportunity.”
Media: Contact Judkins at 757-630-8806; or Sara Hazan, VDOE farm-to-school specialist, at 804-418-4686.
