New Vista High School’s Earth Task Force (or ETF), held a successful (and delicious!) second annual Local Lunch on May 6th, 2011.  This special event, put on for New Vista’s 300 students, had been planned for months and turned out to be great!  ETF collaborated with the staff at The Kitchen Restaurant to create an all-local meal that raised awareness about the importance of eating local and supporting local farms and restaurants.  ETF’s intent was to educate their peers on food miles through a fun and approachable event, and nothing grabs people’s attention like excellent food!

“This is a great way to create community through the sharing of food, to connect people with the food they eat and all the hands and hearts that helped create it, and a great opportunity for high school students to collaborate with local food producers and local chefs,” said Paige Doughty, Earth Task Force Mentor.

In addition to having a locally-grown-and-made meal, students were asked to bring or rent re-usable plates and utensils to further the pro-environmentalism atmosphere of the event.  This year’s meal featured locally raised pork as a main course, beets and goat cheese, wheat-berry salad, and locally roasted and crafted chocolate…Yum!  Everyone went back to class with full bellies and good spirits, wondering what next year’s Local Lunch will be like.

A big thanks to all the producers, growers, and chefs who donated to make this event a success: The Kitchen Restaurant (we couldn’t have done it without you!!!), Farmer John’s Butte Mill Flour Company, Haystack Goat Farm, Cure Organic Farm, Whole Foods, and A Spice of Life.

The Earth Task Force (ETF) is a Cottonwood Institute-sponsored program at New Vista High School in Boulder, CO designed to give students an opportunity to take the lead to implement sustainability initiatives at their school.

This article was written by Kelly Muller and edited by Lindsey Quakenbush.