A Bowl of Good, one of Harrisonburg’s first “farm-to-table” restaurants, celebrated HCPS’s Farm to Table Week by serving free samples to the students of Keister Elementary School on Tuesday.

A Bowl of Good’s rotating menu of international and ethnic dishes is made exclusively with local ingredients. Jan Henley is the catering and procurement coordinator at the restaurant. This means that among other duties, it is her responsibility to develop relationships between local farmers and A Bowl of Good.

“I know where all our food comes from,” Henley said. She stood behind a table in the hallway, scooping vegetable soup and beef chilli into cups, and cutting loaves of freshly-baked bread into bite-sized squares. 90% of the vegetables used at A Bowl of Good, and most of their grains, are locally grown. Henley says there are many advantages to using local ingredients.

“You know what you’re eating… and it’s important to support our local farmers. It keeps our money local,” Henley said. She adds that eating fresh, local ingredients can make people feel better, and healthier. Plus, when A Bowl of Good develops relationships with farmers, there are business advantages. For example, A Bowl of Good can request certain crops from the farmers. It’s also easier to plan the restaurant’s specials when Henley and her coworkers know exactly what ingredients are available. It’s the valuable relationship between local farmers and A Bowl of Good, however, that Henley emphasizes most.

“It’s a very beautiful thing… Why would we not support the gorgeous farmers right here in our backyard?” Henley said.

As the KES students emerged from the cafeteria after a lunch also made from local ingredients, they were greeted by the thick scent of homemade bread. Classes of elementary schoolers gathered around Henley’s table to listen to her explain A Bowl of Good, and the importance of local ingredients. She explained the offerings laid out in front of her sometimes in English, and sometimes in Spanish. All the while her hands were moving as she poured more soup into plastic cups.

“At A Bowl of Good, we make 300 loaves of bread per day. We have someone that only makes bread and cookies,” she said. Then she described the “happy cows and big, fat tomatoes” that had helped make the food in front of her. The kids lined up to take bread and soup. A boy in a bright blue t-shirt waited impatiently in line, singing the word “chilli” over and over again. He danced to the beat of his improvised song, grinning.

Within minutes of receiving their food, boys and girls sported smiles on their lips and bread-crumbs on their chins. Two kindergarteners clinked their plastic cups of soup together in a toast. A boy tasted his chilli and shouted in surprise and gratitude, “This is really good! Miss, this is really good!”

Henley said A Bowl of Good came to KES in order to let students experience fresh, organic, “homemade” food that had been grown in the community. Her efforts were met with appreciation; classes left Henley’s table with enthusiastic thank you’s, and faint red soup-mustaches above their upper lips.