On Oct. 13, the lunch trays at Winona Area Public Schools were filled with turkey and wild rice brats, delicata squash and crisp Minnesota apples, all sourced from local farms. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture stopped by as part of National Farm to School Month, and the cafeteria hummed like a farmer’s market with students, lawmakers and local food champions sampling the fruits (and brats) of state investment.
The visit was part of MDA’s monthlong celebration highlighting its Agricultural Growth, Research and Innovation (AGRI) Farm to School and Early Care Grant program. The grants help schools serve Minnesota-grown foods while opening new market doors for the state’s farmers.
Jennifer Walters, Winona Area Public Schools’ nutrition director, hosted lawmakers, farmers and representatives from the Minnesota departments of Agriculture and Education to show how state investment has helped to transform school meals in their district. She used AGRI Urban Ag Grant funds to help purchase hydroponic towers for growing lettuce and is a recipient of AGRI Farm to School Grant funds to reimburse her for qualifying local food purchases, which included the turkey and wild rice brats, delicata and apples that were on the lunch line during the visit.
“These grants have really transformed our meals,” Walters says. “We’re able to put nutritious, local food on the menu and show students exactly where it comes from.”
MDA Farm to Institution Coordinator Kate Seybold joined Jayme Anderson, the farm to school and early care project consultant for the Minnesota Department of Education, and Walters to showcase the district’s growing local food program.
During a Q&A with guests, Walters said delivery was one of the barriers to sourcing local. Sourcing from many smaller producers to serve her district is a logistical challenge, Walters says, and is mitigated by working with her local Farmers Market Food Hub in Red Wing, Minn.
Sara George, farmer-focused program manager with Renewing the Countryside, has been working to make that process smoother. Her team runs a network of Farmers Market Food Hubs — including the one in Red Wing that supplies Walters’ school meals.
“Schools and wholesale buyers want to buy local, but who has the time to call John, text Jane and email Joe just to get ingredients for next week’s menu?” George says. “That’s when we came up with the idea for a farmers market food hub. Think of it as the Amazon of local foods.”
Through these hubs, farmers list their products online and buyers like school nutrition directors can order with one click. The result? Hundreds of thousands of dollars in local food sales — and a stronger connection between farms and schools statewide.
“The relationships our seven hub managers have built with farmers and institutional buyers have really moved the needle on local foods throughout Minnesota,” George says.
As students lined up for lunch, the event underscored how local food isn’t just a passing trend; it’s a movement that’s nourishing communities, supporting farmers and giving school lunch a fresh twist.
