By The Aberdeen Public School District has stepped up its promotion of eating fresh fruits and vegetables this year.
That includes purchasing local produce and participating in the South Dakota Crunch Off, an effort to encourage students to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.
Any group or organization can form a team. The group is then tasked with sourcing locally grown fruits or vegetables and posting photos or videos on social media of people enjoying them with the hashtag #SoDakCrunch.
Anna Tvedt, nutrition and extension field specialist with South Dakota State University Extension, said the Crunch Off is a facet of the Farm to School program, which encourages the use of locally sourced products in school lunch programs. The promotion runs from mid-September to mid-October.
Lincoln Elementary student Kendrick Monterroso enjoys a slice of cucumber for the South Dakota Crunch Off. Courtesy photo from the Aberdeen Public School District
This is her third year promoting the program, and Tvedt estimates about 30 to 40 groups have historically participated. She said 3,000 people participated this year compared to 2,000 in 2022.
She said the Aberdeen Public School District team had the third-largest crunch event behind Huron and Belle Fourche. All three teams had more than 200 participants.
Aberdeen’s Food Service Director Jason Albert said he registered a team after hearing about the Farm to School program earlier this year.
“When we saw this it was right up our alley,” he said. “Next year, our hope is to grow and expand this.”
Through the program, he said, the district was able to purchase locally grown products like cucumbers, carrots, watermelon and cantaloupe.
Albert said the goal is to get people excited about eating fresh fruits and vegetables and noted that there are unlimited fruit and vegetable bars during lunch at all Aberdeen public schools.
The bars offer five to nine options a day, and he said he’s amazed at the vegetables students select.
Albert said he’s open to buying other locally sourced food, too.
Farm to School Network encouraging locally grown produce, meat
Much like the South Dakota Crunch Off encourages eating fruits and vegetables, Tvedt said the South Dakota Farm to School Network helps groups through the process of obtaining locally grown produce or meat.
Tvedt
She said meat has to be processed in a U.S. Department of Agriculture facility, but there are fewer restrictions on the sale of fruits and vegetables as long as they are sold whole and not processed. Processing must be done in a commercial kitchen, she said.
The Farm to School program was established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2010.
Tvedt said that anecdotally, it feels like interest in the program is growing, but she won’t know for sure until the USDA completes its Farm to School census.