Senator Jamie Eldridge (left) listens as Chef Paul Correnty points out the local fruits and vegetables served in the cafeteria, Sept. 29. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Once or twice a week, Paul Correnty, known locally as Chef Paul, makes the rounds of several area farms, loading 50-pound bags of onions, potatoes, winter squash, or carrots into the school’s truck. Picking up vegetables at the farm saves the cost of delivery, he explains.
As director of food services for the Harvard School District, Correnty looks for local suppliers whenever possible for the food that Harvard students find in their cafeteria. With so much bounty locally available, he says, he sees no reason to buy the same vegetables from California.
From the Wilkins family farms in Pepperell, Correnty gets staples like carrots, onions, and potatoes, as well as beets, broccoli, and—yes—parsnips. From Springdell Farm in Littleton, he buys lots of green vegetables—everything from green beans and zucchini to herbs and heirloom tomatillos. From Westward Orchards in Harvard, he purchases nectarines, yellow watermelons, plums, pears, honeydew melons, and, of course, many varieties of apples.
“Seriously, nobody has better fruit than Westward,” Correnty said.
Correnty said he also enjoys the chance to talk with the growers when he does his pick-up runs. They often tell him what produce will be coming along in a week or two, so that he and his staff can plan their menus ahead.
The relationship between the school district and local farms is mutually beneficial, Correnty explained. Often he is able to buy produce that is less than perfect for the consumer market—apples that are on the small side or carrots that are oddly shaped but fine for grating into salads. The schools get a price break, and farmers are able to sell vegetables that might otherwise go unused.
Some of those vegetables are not ones that usually appear on students’ top-ten lists. Take those parsnips, for example. Correnty roasts them to bring out their sweetness, chops them, and mixes them with carrots that have also been roasted. He tosses the combo with a little maple syrup and balsamic vinegar, and voila! Carrots and parsnips have become one of the best-selling vegetable dishes at Bromfield.
While the staff serves out the main course in portions, other lunch items are served family style so that students can help themselves. Correnty maintains that this approach minimizes waste, because students can try a small serving of something that is new to them, rather than being forced to take a full-size portion, most of which might end up in the garbage if they didn’t like it.
“Our rule is, please take as much as you want, but please don’t waste food,” Correnty summed up.
Working in a school environment, Correnty sees himself and his staff as teachers, helping students learn about good nutrition through a wide variety of foods.
“We educate the kids,” he said. “They will try things because they trust us. We have an open kitchen, and they can see how the food is prepared.”
Correnty speaks in superlatives about his staff, praising their willingness to do the extra work of cooking food from scratch with fresh ingredients from the farms. He also lauds their cooking skills and inventiveness, making the most of what is in season and plentiful.
As Correnty sees it, quality food attracts customers, which is why the lunch program has been able to give money back to the schools during 11 of the past 12 years. (Last year, the food service went over budget by installing a professional-quality stove in the Hildreth Elementary School, so that cooks could do “from-scratch” preparation there, too.)
Correnty also generates income for the school lunch program by selling his popular soups at the Farmers’ Market and by catering food for a wide variety of local events and civic programs.
Lunch sales were down somewhat during the first month of this school year, which Correnty attributes to the price increase for Bromfield lunches. But he reports that sales are beginning to pick up recently. As the weather gets cooler, he said, a hot lunch is a lot more appealing than a ham sandwich.
One formative experience that led to Correnty’s interest in being a chef was a seven-year stay in France. His family moved there from Florida when he was 14 years old.
“I was homesick for about half a day,” Correnty recalled, “and then I saw my first dessert cart.”
Correnty has managed the food preparation for Harvard’s schools for the past 12 years. Before that, his experience included several years working in restaurants in the food-loving city of San Francisco and a longer stint with his own family’s restaurant in Westford. His father, mother, and siblings all shared in that venture.
One of the rewards for the focus on food quality and variety, Correnty said, is seeing some of Bromfield’s former students take up careers in nutrition.
Quality is the best argument for buying locally, according to Correnty.
“You can’t get better quality any other way . . . We have never compromised on that,” he said. “And we could not do it if the community didn’t see it the same way.”
