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Local farmers provide weeks worth of food to Wauka Mountain school
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Cornmeal donated to Wauka Mountain Multiple Intelligences Academy comes from the grist mill operated by Hugh Stowers Jr. - photo by Tom Reed | The Times
A North Hall school passed the “dinner table test” this week after working in collaboration with local farmers to provide students with Georgia-grown products all week for lunch.This past week, Wauka Mountain Multiple Intelligences Academy participated in “Feed My School for a Week,” a collaboration between the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the Georgia Department of Education to get locally grown products into school cafeterias.And at week’s end, organizers say the program could not have gone any better.“(The students) really did enjoy the Georgia-grown products,” said Jo Dinnan, Wauka Mountain principal. “They really love knowing that the products were from Georgia and were fresh.”Throughout the week, local growers like Dawsonville’s Hugh Stowers Jr., who provided stone-ground cornmeal, supplied the school with fresh products that cafeteria workers turned into homemade meals.“Anything I can contribute for those children to eat better, I want to do it,” said Stowers. “I just like to contribute what I can so they learn what I’ve done for many years.”The program was not just about feeding the students; it was about educating them.Throughout the week, students went on trips to farms, held an ag day and saw a cow being milked.“We really did try to make it educational,” Dinnan said.