FOODSERVICE OPERATION OF THE MONTH Monnet R-1 School District: From Farms and Greenhouses to Students’ Plates
FRESH CONTENT FROM QUARTERLY
Local beef, fresh greenhouse greens and other local ingredients are fixtures on the menu.
BY JULIANNE PEPITONE
T he farm-to-table movement has been permeating schools from C&U to elementary for a few years. But at Monett R-1 School District in Monett, Mis- souri, students’ meals aren’t just local farm-to- school. They’re also on-campus-greenhouse-to-school, cattle-ranch-to-school and so much more. For Food Service Director Ralph Meredith, it’s the only way to attain the true meaning of “fresh.” “I can order fresh vegetables from my supplier, but when you open up the box, the cucumbers are coated in in wax so they’ll last longer,” Meredith says, “That’s the process, and it can never be quite as fresh as we really wanted.” Spurred by this shortfall, the Monett foodservice team has employed several initiatives to bring truly fresh produce and meat to students’ plates: a district-owned greenhouse, participation in a program that connects local ranchers with schools for beef donations, and soon possibly buying bulk produce from local Missouri farmers. LESSONS FROM THE GREENHOUSE The greenhouse is the newest of these programs, and its evolution is still ongoing. Meredith and his team have learned several lessons about the process since FSD reported on the greenhouse’s launch last May . Built by Amish artisans in Arkansas, the structure was built with help from a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant worth about $15,000. The district chipped in an extra approximately $5,000. One team member runs the greenhouse and the raised beds outside, which grow largely tomatoes and cucumbers in addition to lettuce, squash, zucchini, jalapenos, bell peppers and pumpkins. “We reasoned that we’d be able to offset some of our costs when it comes to the meal offerings at different school levels,” Meredith says. The team serves about 1,800 meals to Monett’s preschool through high school students.
The greenhouse has provided leafy lettuce for Monett’s ever-popular chicken wraps, slicing tomatoes for burgers and cherry tomatoes for chef’s salads, jalapenos for taco day, and lots of miscellaneous variety for staff salad bars. “We’ve saved probably a couple thousand dollars, easily,” Meredith says. “In our middle school and high school level, I don’t think they bought lettuce for probably six months.” Amid the successes, the team has also learned hard- won lessons. For example: The greenhouse is built such that any excess water flows out of the structure. But this first winter, the team found that this setup allowed too much cold to seep in—and plants that weren’t as close to the single heater, like some lettuce heads and a squash plant, were lost. The team quickly blocked the cold and purchased a second heater. Other investments have helped streamline time- consuming tasks. “Instead of standing out there trying to water everything,” Meredith says, they installed a digital timer system that can water four zones according to the unique schedules needed for those plants. “We’re also creating spreadsheets and tracking systems to better understand what we grow, how much we grow and what’s going out where,” Meredith says. Some of the initial plans—like a partnership with vocational school students to harvest produce, and recruiting graphic design students to create signage for use when greenhouse items are served in the cafeterias— haven’t yet come to pass. But as the program evolves, Meredith hopes to involve more students in the process. “My best advice, other than exploring the many tools and technologies out there, is to start small,” he says. “You can always add on as you master something or learn more. Our first water timer allowed us to program only one or two zones—and then we expanded, so we now have one that waters four. As you grow, you’ll learn what works best.”
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