3 questions: Kathryn Spencer

Kathryn Spencer, a farm-to-school specialist for San Diego Unified School District, connects with farmers to secure at least 15 percent of the produce for salad bars and menu items from local sources. And it’s no small feat.

Q. Considering that SDUSD is the second-largest school district in California, what are some of the challenges in supplying such a large district?

Sometimes [farmers’ ability] to scale can be a challenge. So when we’re featuring an item [say, for a Harvest of the Month promotion], we look for growers who can have items that would work well with our salad bar model, can be served raw and would be minimally processed through our kitchens. In general, if we communicate what our needs are and they can actually meet them, we haven’t had a problem in terms of matching our needs with the right kind of farm.

Q. How are you affected by Southern California’s drought?

Environmental issues like the drought and heat are always going to be a big deal with the overall quality of a product, but I think communication and the ability to be nimble is important. We still want to be providing the most visually appealing products that we can to our students.

Q. What advice do you have for other school districts that want to incorporate more local produce into their meals?

If they are just getting started, usually they can start with the lowest hanging fruit, which is hand-held fruit. So start small, and feature it maybe once a month.