La Crosse County: Early Farm-to-School Successes

Since the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year, the La Crosse County Communities Putting Prevention to Work program has already coordinated the purchase, processing and distribution of more than 6,000 pounds of fresh local produce for more than 9,300 students in four La Crosse County school districts.

By the end of 2010, the four school districts will have served the following local, minimally-processed products:

• 3,700 ½-cup servings of fresh carrot sticks
• 4,200 ½-cup servings of frozen carrot slices
• 4,500 ½-cup servings of frozen, ready-to-roast multi-colored potato mix
• 2,200 ¼-cup servings pre-roasted, heat-and-serve Red Kuri winter squash wedges
• 3,500 ½-cup servings of broccoli florets

“We’ve always served fruits and vegetables," said Joni Ralph, La Crosse School District nutrition supervisor. "What this is bringing them is local, seasonal produce. Kids will get to experience a lot more choices of different produce they may not have tried before."

The CPPW Farm to School Coordinator, Josh Miner, built a network of new partnerships between more than a dozen area producers, local food wholesale distributors, and a new community access kitchen based in Mineral Point (http://www.wi.innovationkitchen.org/) to handle food processing.

Challenges remain, but by the end of the Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant period in March 2012, La Crosse County hopes to have demonstrated that a coordinated, local supply chain that delivers locally-produced, minimally-processed, heat-and-serve produce products to school districts is healthy for students and staff, the local economy, and the community at large.

For more information about La Crosse County's F2S efforts, contact Sara Tedeschi at the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems or Amy Alvig at the Department of Health Services.

Photo: Students in the La Crosse School District's Franklin Elementary after-school program taste test apples. Photo courtesy of La Crosse County Public Health Department.