Autumn Taste Washington Day

Taste Washington Day - Wednesday, October 4, 2023

WSDA Farm to School and the Washington School Nutrition Association (WSNA) with support from Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Child Nutrition (OSPI), partner to sponsor Taste Washington Day, an annual celebration of Washington grown foods served in school meals during the fall harvest season. Schools connect with local farms to make the most of our bountiful fall harvest, and use Taste Washington Day to kick-off Farm to School Month in October.

Schools and farms around the state participate in all sorts of ways including:

• Serving a locally-sourced lunch or breakfast with Washington grown ingredients
• Buying ingredients directly from a local farm
• Highlighting Washington farms on school lunch menus
• School garden activities, such as a lesson or visit, or serving school garden produce in a meal
• Doing the Washington Apple Crunch
• Local food taste tests
• Providing education and activities about the region's agricultural bounty
• Inviting farmers to lunch
• Having Future Farmers of America or other community partners to be a part of the day

Share any of your activities on social media with the hashtags #TasteWADay and #WAfarmtoschool

Sign up for Taste Washington Day 2023!

• Schools Taste Washington Day 2023 Sign-up Form

• Farmers Taste Washington Day 2023 Sign-up Form

 

Find out which fruits and vegetables are in season from Washington farms this fall:

• Washington Grown Seasonality Chart - Vegetables | Spanish Version - Vegetales
• ​Washington Grown Seasonality Chart - Fruit and Herbs | Spanish Version - Fruta y Hierbas

Below are recipe cards featuring local ingredients, educational materials, and other free resources developed by WSDA, WSNA and OSPI Child Nutrition Services to display or send home with students for your Taste Washington Day celebrations!

• ​"Taste Washington Day" food item and recipe cards to print:​​

  • Apples - Apple slaw  [PDF] [Powerpoint]
  • Broccoli - Broccoli salad  [PDF] [Powerpoint]
  • Butternut Squash - Squash & chicken curry  [PDF] [Powerpoint]
  • Chickpeas - Roasted red pepper hummus [PDF] [Powerpoint]
  • Cucumber -Tzatziki sauce  [PDF] [Powerpoint]
  • Kale - Squash & chicken curry  [PDF] [Powerpoint]
  • Lentils - Chili roasted lentils  [PDF] [Powerpoint]
  • Milk - Very berry overnight oats, Apple pie overnight oats, Peaches 'n cream overnight oats, 11 Recipe Collection
  • Potatoes - Rosemary red potatoes  [PDF] [Powerpoint]
  • Spinach - Greek turkey pita  [PDF] [Powerpoint]
  • Tomato - Tabouleh salad  [PDF] [Powerpoint]
  • Winter squash - Roasted winter squash [PDF] [Powerpoint]

 

• Taste Washington Day Postcard for half-sheet printing with facts about Washington agriculture [PDF]

  
   

• Washington Harvest posters for 23 different fruit, vegetables, and dairy products

   
 

• WSDA Washington Grown Food Kit with handouts, flyers, activities, and more for 40+ food items

 

• Farmer and food item flyers to add your farm suppliers to and print

 

• Click to download a sample TWD Menu Template             

 

• Check out at-home school garden and agriculture education activities from Oxbow Farm & Conservation Center, WSU Extension 4-H Learning Links, Learning in Places Learning Tools for Families, and more at the Washington State Farm to School Network's resource lists.

Let’s make a noise that can be heard across the state to celebrate Washington agriculture!
Apples are a big deal in Washington – we grow more apples than any other state! More than half of all apples in the US for fresh eating come from orchards in Washington State. 

How to do a "Washington Apple Crunch": 

1. Order Washington apples and serve them to students as part of lunch or snack.
2. Have everyone bite into their apple and CRUNCH across Washington at noon on Wednesday, October 4, or at any time that works for your school schedule.
3. Celebrate the moment everyone bites into their Washington-grown apple. Take a photo and post in on social media using the hashtags #WAapplecrunch, #TasteWADay, and #WaFarmToSchool.

Publicize the event with families and school administrators to encourage participation!

Free materials for the Washington Apple Crunch:

Washington Apple Crunch Filer 2023
Print and send home with students with info about how to do the apple crunch, and Washington apple facts!




Taste Washington Day & Apple Crunch Packet
This packet includes a handout on Taste Washington Day, the Washington Apple Crunch, a factsheet on apple facts, a baked apple recipe kids can make at home, apple trivia and other resources.
Thanks to Tori Sorenson and Mariah Brown-Pounds at WSU Extension SNAP-Ed for developing and translating the packet! Download in English | Descarga en Espanol   
 

Apple Farmer Flier
Ready to edit to add your farm suppliers for your apples and print to send home with students.

 

"Taste Washington Day offers our kids a chance to establish a deeper connection and develop a better understanding of our state's food system, from farm to fork and each step in between. The more opportunities our children have to learn about the people, time effort and resources necessary to turn a seed into a crop, the more they will appreciate the food on their plates. As the next generation, it will be up to them to continue our state's agricultural heritage and history."

Excerpted from the Congressional Record of the 111th Congress introduced by Hon. Jay Inslee. September 29, 2010 [link to full text]