Farm Tidbits- Farm to School Tours

A few weeks ago, we were happy to host two different groups of people passionate about getting more local food into schools. There has been a push recently to improve the quality of food that kids are eating in schools and the federal government has actually given some funding to schools to shift their purchases away from conventional food and towards local proteins, produce, etc.

Food service directors have said that in addition to better reviews from students, staff, and parents about the food quality, they've also seen significantly less food waste and are therefore happier that they feel like kids are getting more nutrition.

We hosted representatives from the Indiana Department of Health, Indiana Department of Education, local K-12 schools, value chain coordinators, local food distributors, dieticians, Indiana University, and Indiana Grown for Schools.

It was a great day showing them not only our operation but also the other local producers we work with and brainstorming as a group about what barriers we need to overcome to make local food more available to students.

The next day we hosted the Animal Agriculture from nearby Shoals High School. The students were not only able to tour parts of Sander Processing, they were also given a tour of our farm to connect the food on their lunch tray with where it often comes from- our farm!

We are always happy to host folks for a tour - please let us know if you would be interested!