REAP and MMSD team up to bring fresh food to school cafeterias

Access to fresh healthy food has been challenging for schools in Madison, but important strides are being made.

REAP Food Group, a Madison non-profit organization devoted to support food sustainability and local business, teamed up with the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) and Wisconsin farmers to serve over 2,300 pounds of locally grown carrots and kohlrabi to schools during February and March.

This two-week initiative is a part of REAP’s Farm to School program to educate students on food sustainability and provide economic opportunities for local growers.

“It’s important to teach our next generation of eaters,” said Natasha Smith, the director of Farm to School program.

While Madison has a quality-conscious and pro-local population in Madison, Smith said that industrialized and commodity foods - often highly processed and nutrient-poor - have become the norm for school cafeterias. With the success of a variety of programs and the long-term relationship with MMSD, REAP resolved to take one step further to bring local healthy fresh products to Madison schools, despite many challenges.

Sourcing locally grown food in public school meal service means bypassing the normal corporate channel and requires diligent coordination and arrangement.

“We tried to develop all these relationships to get the food out of the ground, from the farmers, to the processing company, now to the MMSD Food Services and then out to the schools,” said Smith.

The carrots and kohlrabi were respectively grown by the non-profit agriculture organization Growing Power in Milwaukee and the farm Mammoth Produce in Randolph. After they were harvested, they were transported to Wisconsin Innovation Kitchen, a commercial kitchen in Mineral Point, to be processed. According to a press release by REAP, the establishment of a path from producer to processor to school district is “a major milestone.”

“We enjoyed the process and were proud to help get local produce into schools year-round,” said Rick Terrien, the founder of the Innovation Kitchen. 

The problem of seasonality has posed another barrier for the program.

“We are fortunate that we are able to make this happen in February,” said Smith, referring to the effects that a dreadful everlasting winter has on farms in Wisconsin. But when the summer comes along, schools are closed.

Even so, REAP still strives to support the local agriculture by providing a market for small growers that use sustainable methods. Both the Mammoth Produce and Growing Power program have long track records of cooperation with educational institutions. The Mammoth Produce has been supplying kohlrabi for REAP’s snack program for years; the Growing Power has sold carrots to Chicago public schools, although it had not had collaborated with REAP before.

The feedback from the community were positive, those involved said.

“This program holds great promise for our area farms and creating jobs in our region,” said Terrien. “The major significance of this collaboration is that we are able to prove that local foods can be supplied to MMSD year-round.”

As the community steps up efforts to improve food quality in the school district, serving local items on a regular basis is not far from reality.