LONE TREE, Iowa (KCRG) - School is back in session and with that comes school lunches. This year, the Iowa Food Purchasing Program is helping schools feed students local food.“The biggest thing is just not taking things out of the bag and putting them on a tray. It’s adding a little bit of love,” said Erik Isenhour, Lone Tree Food Services Director.The Lone Tree Community School District is one of 33 schools across Iowa to receive a matching $1,000 food purchasing grant from the state.That $2,000 total ...
LONE TREE, Iowa (KCRG) - School is back in session and with that comes school lunches. This year, the Iowa Food Purchasing Program is helping schools feed students local food.
“The biggest thing is just not taking things out of the bag and putting them on a tray. It’s adding a little bit of love,” said Erik Isenhour, Lone Tree Food Services Director.
The Lone Tree Community School District is one of 33 schools across Iowa to receive a matching $1,000 food purchasing grant from the state.
That $2,000 total helps schools purchase fresh food from local growers.
“Food is so processed right now. And so we’re trying to really create things back from scratch. So this year, we kind of updated our menu. We’re making, on average, three scratch items a week, which is a huge task for us, but it also adds value to our students. Less, less fillers, less things that aren’t good for your bodies in there,” said Isenhour.
Isenhour said Lone Tree Partners with food hub Field to Family in Iowa City for its produce.
He said this grant makes up for some of the loss after cuts to USDA programs. Something that’s impacted not only the schools, but the food hubs and the farmers who grow and distribute the food as well.
“The USDA funding cuts did impact our food hub as well as our farms, who have been planning and building their infrastructure and their crop land to do more supply. So with that funding cut, it did leave them unsure of where their food was going to be served, so this Choose Iowa Grant does provide some consistency for farms who are growing and whose target is to serve schools,” said Jessica Burt Fogarty, Field to Family Operations Manager.
From apples to cheese curds, Isenhour said bringing fresh, local produce in for meals encourages students to lead a healthy lifestyle.
“We could serve chicken strips and mashed potatoes and those things every single day. But this is a great way for them to try new foods to get out of their comfort zone. To try a Kiwi Berry, to try something new that they maybe would never try. Field to Family has granted those possibilities for us, and we couldn’t be ever so thankful,” said Isenhour.