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October 20, 2004Effort brings local food to schoolThe goal is to include other area schoolsByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Seven-year-old Aiden Schieber not only liked the grapes he munched for lunch, he also enjoyed learning about where they came from. The second-grade student at Central Grade School and hundreds of his school mates have dined this year on potatoes grown in Leelanau County and apples picked in Elk Rapids. On Tuesday, the fare was Marquis table grapes from the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station. So far, the homegrown foods have received rave reviews. "I like the grapes because they're good and squishy and juicy," 8-year-old Alex English said. The school is working with the Michigan Land Use Institute on a pilot project funded by the Kellogg Foundation to bring fruit and vegetables directly from local farms into the school's lunch program. The hope is to eventually expand the program to dozens of area schools as part of a larger Entrepreneurial Agriculture Project aimed at creating new markets for locally-grown farm products. Nationally, the institute said about 400 schools in 22 states participate in similar programs involving an estimated 500,000 students. But the effort is in its infancy, and there's an opportunity for significant growth as it tackles obstacles like food delivery and storage on a local level, project coordinator Patty Cantrell said. "The schools are just one piece of fulfilling the demand," Cantrell said. "There's a lot of potential for growth, but there's a lot of development that needs to happen." School food service personnel say the Traverse City district spends close to $250,000 a year on fresh produce. So far, only a few hundred dollars has been spent in the program, but school officials hope to expand the local buying effort into more of the schools. Parents also are excited about the partnership. Dana Goodwin, the mother of two Central students, is part of the school's nutrition advisory council. She said most parents want more fresh food available for their kids. "Helping to get the children to choose the fresh things is really important to them," Goodwin said. "Kids develop their tastes early on." Area agriculture officials said getting more locally grown fruits and vegetables into schools, restaurants and farm markets eventually will strengthen the region's farm economy and local communities. "It builds community spirit," said Duke Elsner, agriculture agent for Grand Traverse County. "Farmers like to see the community involved in what they're growing."
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