Pride of Dakota School Lunch Day features food straight from ND farms
Posted On: September 26, 2018
“This afternoon, over 44,000 students from 185 schools filled their lunch trays with food straight from North Dakota farms for Pride of Dakota School Lunch Day.
Third Grade Teacher Pam Baker says, ‘It’s just down the road, kids know about cows, they know about dairy, but it’s that farm to table kind of discussion.’
The day was all about teaching kids how their food is raised and produced, right here in North Dakota.
Third Grade teacher Beth Romfo adds, ‘They were really amazed at the things we produce the most of.’
Will-Moore Elementary School students were full of farm facts:
Fifth Grader Amani Njeru shares, ‘A 1,250 pound steer, fully grown, is big enough to provide 2,250 people a quarter pounder.’
On the menu at Will Moore Elementary was pasta made from wheat grown in the state, garlic bread straight from Dickinson, and then of course, beef sauce because North Dakota is one of the largest beef producers in the nation.
Kitchen Manager Allison Grabow explains, ‘Anything that we can purchase locally from the farmers and the ranchers is going to help the economy because it’s putting the money right back into the state, and then they spend the money here too.’
Grabow says it’s important for the kids to understand just how many farmers and ranchers we have in the state, and how much food they contribute not only to North Dakota tables, but to tables across the country.
Fifth Grader Kimberley Rand adds, ‘Because this is where we live, and if it comes from here, it’s native to here so it tastes better because we’re from here.’
We didn’t talk to a single kid who was disappointed with their meal.
Grabow says Will-Moore Elementary has a rotating menu of 20 different meals for the year. She says when they come up with the menu each year, the school works to incorporate more and more local products.”
