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Agriculture

Wednesday, Sep. 30, 2009

Home economics classes get welcome boost

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Students in home economics classes will get cooking with ingredients donated by several processors.

About 900 pounds of ground beef, eggs, almonds and canned goods were donated to help teachers deal with budget cuts at 14 schools in Stanislaus County.

"You would be amazed when you are cooking with 200 students how fast it adds up," said Jennifer Dal Parto, a Davis High School teacher who plans to start using the eggs in pancakes today.

She was among the middle and high school teachers who picked up the food Wednesday at the county Office of Education.

The donations supplement what's being purchased this year for about 2,200 students.

The items include:

• Eggs from J.S. West & Cos. in Modesto

• Almonds from Scott and Sharalee Sanders of Hilmar

• Canned peaches and tomatoes from Pacific Coast Producers in Lodi

• Frozen beef from Valley Meat Co. in Modesto and the San Joaquin-Stanislaus Cattlemen and Cattlewomen.

The effort was organized by the cattle groups, the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau and the county chapter of California Women for Agriculture.

Theresa Becchetti, a member of the cattlewomen's group, said one teacher told her that she has only $10 per student to spend on food this year.

Becchetti said the students will get not only food, but information on how it is produced in the area.

"These eggs were all laid by local chickens, probably in the last 24 hours," said Jim West, vice president of J.S. West, who delivered them.

Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at jholland@modbee.com or 578-2385.