Ash Grove schools source fresh food with newly acquired grant

Ash Grove School District will now have access to local produce after receiving the Local Farm to School (LFS) Grant from the state of Missouri. 

The newly received grant allows the school to construct partnerships with local producers in order to supplement school lunches with fresh, locally produced food. 

The grant promises $1,000 to the school with the ability to reapply for more in the future, according to Laura Craig, director of Nutrition Services at Ash Grove Schools. With the money, the school has already built partnerships with multiple local producers, including Trio Labs in Mt. Vernon and Kingdom Harvest from Springfield.

Through these partnerships, the school has already purchased red and green butter lettuce, microgreens and carrots. These vegetables were brought in utilizing only a $1,000 grant, but according to Craig, more could be on the way. 

“Basically, the state wants to see if you can set up a successful partnership with local farmers to acquire food for school lunches,” said Craig. “They start you off with a small amount of funding to see if you can set up a mutually beneficial working relationship as a test run to receive additional funding in the future. If proven at the state level, the school would be more likely to receive a federally funded USDA Farm to School (F2S) grant in the fall, so this money, it's a starting point to bigger things to come.”

Proof in the pudding

In order to apply for the $1,000 state grant, the school had to show that they had a plan for bringing this harvest into the fold. According to Craig, the school had to be in good standing with the state, submit a written proposal detailing how they would obtain the crops from farmers, and be up-to-date on insurance requirements. The school would also have to schedule their meals with crop rotations, ensure that all purchased food was within a 200-mile range, and optionally, incorporate an educational aspect regarding the items being served. 

Craig said that scheduling the crops in correlation with menu items was easy, as specific fruits and vegetables are not usually listed on the monthly menu. 

“Since I've taken over as director I've been focused on serving either fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables instead of canned items by reallocating a larger portion of the school's entitlement money to the DoD Fresh Program which is also offered by the state,” said Craig. “Another reason I don't list a specific fruit or vegetable on the menu is because the students are offered a variety of fruit and vegetable selections to choose from, allowing them to build their own tray and reduce food waste (salad bars are offered grades 4-12). So, the LFS grant was easy to incorporate into the menu with a quick prep and turnaround time.”

Marketing the market

Craig has also taken to heart the optional requirement to educate students on what they are eating. She has done this by providing educational posters in the lunch line and supplying classrooms with kits to purchase their own micro greens. These kits were not covered by the grant and so were purchased by Craig to support the program. 

None of this would have been possible, however, if not for Jasmine LeBlanc, owner of Root and Harvest in Ash Grove. 

“[She] was willing to act as a liaison between her network of local farmers and the school,” said Craig. “She's assumed the responsibly of managing crop rotation and availability of products while providing an avenue to purchase. Jasmine definitely has a passion to provide healthy foods to our local community and truly cares about the well-being of our children in Ash Grove.”

The grant may have only provided a small amount of money for the school, but, in conjunction with the school’s other food programs, big things and even better meals could be in store for students. 

“It starts off small but hopefully leads to bigger things in the future,” said Craig. “Between Ash Grove's MO Beef Program, the DoD Fresh Program, the LFS Grant and hopefully the USDA F2S grant in the future we should have happy, healthy Pirates which is always the goal,” Craig said.