Revolutionizing the Cafeteria: Farm to School Impacts Student Well-being and Local Agriculture

We’re going back to school—to the school cafeteria, that is. And although I do ask about good ol’ square school lunch pizza, and the pairing of cinnamon rolls & chili, my guests, Karla Sawvell and Amanda Reilly are spilling the beans on how the Huron South Dakota School District is implementing Farm To School.

In addition to being one of the very few public school nutrition programs that cooks from scratch AND bakes all of their own bread, they are striving to serve fresh and local foods to 2,200 students each day.

You’ll come to the end of this episode knowing:

1. How to champion your school district to cultivate a farm to school initiative if it isn’t already.

2. If you’re a farmer, rancher or producer, you can help revolutionize school lunch in your area.

3. How many pounds of cheese, and the secret mixture of cheeses they use, to make 132 commercial-sized sheet pans of pizza in one day.

So grab your pencil box and sharpener, because it’s time to learn how local agriculture and school nutritionists are positively impacting student well-being and benefiting the community. The seasoned turnip fries with herb dipping sauce is on randomsweets.com.

National Farm To School Network

The Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program

Farm to School Planning Toolkit from USDA

Find the network in your state https://www.farmtoschool.org/our-network

Facebook: National Farm to School Network

Contact Amanda Reilly, Nutrition Director or Karla Sawvell, Farm2School Coordinator: [e-mail] and [e-mail].

#agriculture #food #schoolnutrition #farming #FarmToSchool

Staci Mergenthal:

Randomsweets.com

#ourSweetMidwestLife

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