Food usually travels about 1,500 miles before it arrives on our plates. But today at

 The students had a few things to say about the fresh dinner rolls…

“I thought the bread was really good!”

“The bread was good.”

“It’s very very good and it’s really cool the process of when it comes from the flour…into bread!”

This is not the first time locally grown and produced food has landed on their plates, thanks to the Farm To School program.

Farm To School Consultant with the U of MN Regional Partnerships, Lynn Mader says, the program is a “win-win” situation for everyone.

“It helps us be connected to our food, we value how it’s produced…the affect it

has on the environment. We know the people who produce it so we know  they’re doing it in healthy ways and I think we appreciate…it makes us value more the hard work that goes into agriculture and making food,” Mader says.”  “It really creates a “win-win” situation to support local farms and also help the health of the kids in the long term.”

 The key here is the long term health benefits for the kids. Juvenile obesity and diabetes are reaching dangerously high levels and schools like this one are fighting back by bringing the classroom into the lunchroom.

Willmar Public Schools Director of Food and Nutrition Services Annette Derouin says, “It just allows us to introduce some new food items for the students and to… I think create excitement and educate them on: where does food come from? And why is it important for them to eat healthy?”

 

“It becomes very meaningful when we talk about good nutrition and the different components of good nutrition and then they have that opportunity to explore that and try that in our lunchroom,” said Patti Dols, principal at Roosevelt Elementary School.

Many times, the farmers and producers of the goods will make an appearance in the lunch room. You’ll often find them teaching the kids how flour is made, where certain meat comes from and sharing the food’s journey from the farm, to the lunchroom.

This year some of the menu items included, locally grown apples, tomatoes, squash, bison and today whole wheat from Dry Weather Creek Farm.

So, we can see the benefit for the kids but what about the local farmers in the program?

Dry Weather Creek Farm owner, Wendy Lange says, “It has affected the income of course because you’re selling a little more product locally but it’s also a sense of pride that you have.”

Pride. Just like the farmers have, the kids have pride knowing they're making healthy choices.

Just before taking the last bite of her dinner roll, one student said, “it’s good and it’s healthy for you and it tastes good!”

In a nutshell, Farm to School has proven to be a “win-win” situation for the kids, the school and the farmers.

More than 1,000 similar programs exist in more than 30 states in the U.S., schools in Montevideo and Morris have also implemented the programs.

Willmar School District is in the works of producing a tool kit that other school districts can use to implement similar programs.

Farm to School Information