Jefferson City schools offer produce from regional farms

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- When feeding 9,000 students on a semi-daily basis, it's more difficult to serve local produce than one might think.

For one, Jefferson City Public Schools have menus and strict nutrition regulations they have to follow, so the ability to buy what they need in bulk and receive it on time is essential.

Also, school starts at the tail end of the harvest season, so local produce is only available in the first few months of school.

The district, like many others, has been interested in offering fresher, locally-grown fruit and vegetables to its students for years, but until recently, it wasn't really an option, said Terri Ferguson, JCPS director of school nutrition services.

Their family-owned distributor, Kohl Wholesale, started a program this year that works in partnership with Capital City Fruit -- a family-owned produce shipper, repacker and distributor based in Norwalk, Iowa -- that allows schools to order produce from regional farms. The program was perfect since it already runs through their distributor, Ferguson said.

Jefferson City and Columbia public schools are the two piloting the program before Kohl opts to expand and offer it to more districts, said Aaron Kerkhoff, director of sales for Kohl.

Even though they're based in Illinois, the majority of Kohl's school district clientele are in Missouri, and they've had a strong relationship with JCPS for years, which is why they offered the program here first. They receive food products from all over the nation, Canada, Mexico and some countries abroad -- as does Capital City Fruit -- but the new program works with 16 farms in Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois to bring fresh products to the schools. Of that total, three farms are in Missouri.

Capital City Fruit serves as the middle-man between the farmers and Kohl Wholesale. It works with farmers to ensure they have the proper certification to sell to school districts and retailers that have a high standard for the grade of products they receive, said Curtis Turner, account manager for Capital City.

"Local is big for us," Turner said. "There's a sense of pride in communities using their own stuff. Local is definitely a growing trend, and it's growing very strong from retail to restaurants to institutional businesses to schools."

Price-wise, buying local averages out to costing about the same as something that came from farther away, Turner said. The produce market is volatile; prices fluctuate up and down. One week a local product could be more expensive and the next it's less; it all depends on the market, he said.

The No. 1 reason Ferguson wanted to have local options is because of the quality and taste, she said.

"It's so much better," she said. "It's fresher, and I hope the kids appreciate the difference in taste. The closer it is to you, the fresher it'll be when it gets to you. We're entering the orders the week before; the orders get in, they let the farmers know and hopefully we're talking about getting watermelon that was out in a field less than a week ago. Otherwise, when you order watermelon, it's coming from who knows where. Who knows how long it's been sitting on a truck or in a refrigerator. There's so much difference in taste."

The schools have primarily been ordering vine-ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, onions, potatoes, peppers, zucchini, corn, green beans and, recently, squash. In October, school cafeteria managers have 21 options from which to choose.

Watermelons have been the biggest hit with students, and they've been coming, in part, from Beggs Melon -- a farm in Sikeston, Missouri, about 250 miles from Jefferson City.

Donnie Beggs, part owner of Beggs Melon, is a fourth-generation farmer. The farm has just wrapped up its 121st consecutive year growing watermelons. Beggs said 95 percent of their melons stay within 500 miles of the farm. If it's going to take two days to get where it's going, he's not really interested in selling there.

They're one of the largest watermelon farms in Missouri, with 150 acres dedicated to watermelons. While they do raise some corn, beans and pumpkins, it's marginal in comparison.

"Watermelon is my big deal. I really enjoy doing that," he said. "I grew up in a watermelon field. I can still remember the first year when I was 5 years old and got $5 for the whole season."

People like having a connection with the farmer who raised their food, which is partly why more people are gravitating toward local. It's going to be a better quality product, he said.

Ferguson said of their total produce being served, about 20 percent of it comes from the regional farmers -- and that figure is plumped slightly because they serve a lot of watermelon.

Come November, all the local produce will be gone, and they'll go back to serving what's available nationally and internationally.

In the future, Kerkhoff anticipates the program could be expanded to the hundreds of schools they service. The product is there, he said; retailers have been offering local in their grocery stores for years. And they purchase among the largest quantities of produce.

Ferguson said it's not that schools don't want to buy local; it's working out all the kinks with distribution and finding partners.

Information from: Jefferson City News Tribune, http://www.newstribune.com