Ash Grove R-4 kicks off MO Beef for MO Kids lunch program

The Ash Grove School District held their MO Beef for MO Kids Kickoff on Wednesday, March 28. The event officially marked the district’s participation in the MO Beef for MO Kids program, which is dedicated to increasing the amount of local beef used in school lunches. About 60 people attended the event.
During the kickoff, guests dined on steak sandwich dinners which were prepared by volunteers and served by officers from the Ash Grove Future Farmers of America.
While guests ate, they heard from several guest speakers. One was Mark Russell, director of the Missouri Beef Industry Council. Russell spoke about how increasing the amount of beef can help kids perform better in school.
“It’s not just about a change of pace, but it’s about nutrition,” he said. “It’s about getting some food in their stomachs that we know has some power behind it.”
In addition to increasing the amount of beef kids eat, MO Beef for MO Kids also strives to educate children about where beef comes from and why it’s good for them. Russell said it’s important that kids be educated about beef in school.
“We provide a lot of programming that helps teachers and helps the schools in actually providing some educational programing into the schools,” he said. “I can tell all of the superintendents, ‘It’s great that we’re getting more beef into the … lunchrooms, but truly what I want is more education in the classroom, because we’re losing the battle to the people who are anti-agriculture and people who are anti-beef in the schoolrooms, in the classrooms, in the schools today. So, we have got to be proactive in getting that information out.”
Russell encouraged the cattle producers who were present to sign up to donate at least one cow a year. The cows which are used in the program, he said, are retired cows which no longer breed or produce milk, and so their usefulness to the farmers have ended anyhow. In return, he said, the farmers can get a letter of contribution which they can use when they file their taxes.
Russell was not the only speaker at the kickoff. Ash Grove ag instructor Nathan Isakson spoke about how agriculture has changed over the past 100 years, and FFA President MaKenna Johnson spoke about bottle-feeding calves. Special guest Danny McCurry, one of America’s top cowboy poets and the first cattle producer to donate a cow towards Ash Grove’s Mo Beef program, recited some of his poetry, including “The Hitch,” “Cowboy Image,” and “Cowboy Rap.” He also encouraged guests who could do so to donate cattle to the MO Beef for MO Kids Program.
After the program, Dr. Aaron Gerla, superintendent of schools, said he is excited for the district to be taking part in MO Beef for MO Kids.
“We’re looking forward to all the benefits that MO Beef for MO Kids can give each one of our kids (and) our faculty,” he said. “Any time that we can get more beef into our daily school lunches, it’s a benefit for all of us. We’re trying to double the amount of beef that we provide, and in reality, our costs are going to go down, so it’s a win-win for all of us.”
Ash Grove is the 15th school district to take part in MO Beef for MO Kids since it debuted last year.

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Lawrence County Record

312 S. Hickory St.
Mt. Vernon, MO, 65712
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