BOONE, Iowa — Who doesn’t want our students to eat fresh, local food in schools? The argument most often heard against it is that local food is too expensive. But we found from the hard work going on at the Boone Community School District (BCSD) that this is not always the case.
Lori King, the director of food services for BCSD, has done a terrific job increasing awareness of local food in the district. And she also has increased her procurement of local foods for the school district.
BCSD has 2,010 students. Lori and her staff serve an average of 1,200 lunches and 290 breakfasts every school day.
A majority of the food comes from Martin Brothers Distributing Company, based in Cedar Falls. BCSD uses a web-based ordering platform hosted by a buying co-op, the Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies.
The majority of fresh fruits and vegetables served in Boone schools come from the USDA Department of Defense (DOD) Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. This program allows schools to use federal commodity entitlement dollars to buy fresh produce.
BCSD’s purchases for fresh fruits and vegetables for 2017-18 school year totaled $65,000. Of that, 0.5 % was spent on local food. That’s an increase of 50% from prior years. This progress is supported by a grant awarded to the ISU Extension and Outreach Local Foods Program team.
LFP received a $24,000 Specialty Crop Block Grant in late 2017 from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the USDA.
The intent of the two-year grant is to increase procurement of local foods in 10 schools across Iowa by 10 percent. As part of the grant award, BCSD participated in the first-ever Iowa Local Food Day on October 11, 2018.
“The kids and staff really enjoyed our participation in this event,” said Lori.
Breakfast included yogurt from Country View Dairy in Hawkeye and apples from Deal’s Orchard in Jefferson. At lunchtime, BCSD served cabbage from the Wallace Centers of Iowa farm, and red potatoes sourced through the DOD that were locally grown.
Lori said, “The Local Foods Program team helped me tremendously by exposing me to food co-ops and growers who have fresh fruits and vegetables available for purchase. Prior to my experience with ISU, I had limited producer contacts. And they helped me define what ‘local’ really means.”
She added that LFP also helped solve the “procurement puzzle” on local foods. This challenge was holding her back from expanding her local foods program.
“I plan to continue to grow our local foods program each year as I develop relationships with more local growers,” said Lori.
The Local Foods Program team, the students and staff, parents and guardians applaud the work Lori and the BCSD staff have done. Increased procurement of local foods is improving meal quality and nutrition for students. And it’s lighting the path for others in the greater Boone community to understand how and why to purchase local foods.
— Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
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