Minnesota Resources & Publications
Case Studies & Feasibility Analysis
Making the Farm / School Connection: Opportunities and Barriers to Greater Use of Locally-grown Prodby JoAnne Berkenkamp University of Minnesota January 2006
Report explores the feasibility of expanding fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables in Minnesota's public K-12 schools.
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Minnesota School Foodservice Survey - Farm to School
by Minnesota School Nutrition Association & Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy December 2008
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Buying & Selling Local Foods
Dollars, Calories, and the Reinvention of the Lunch Ladyby Julie Kendrick The Heavy Table April 2009
"The jiggly arms. The hanky corsages. The hair nets. One dry scoop of mashed potatoes thunked onto a Melmac plate, followed by the barked order: ?Keep the line moving!? Most of us have an image of lunch ladies that harks back to the antediluvian days of our childhood. But times have changed, and the lunch ladies of old are now known as food service directors. Often responsible for multi-million dollar budgets, they are empowered to feed everyone at school ? the picky eaters, the clean plate club, the chronically obese, and the habitually underfed ? all within the tightest of budget allocations...."
MN School Food Service Director Survey: Farm to School
by Minnesota School Nutrition Association and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy December 2008
This survey was developed by the Minnesota School Nutrition Association (MSNA) and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy?s (IATP) Local Foods Program to gauge the interest of Minnesota?s K‐12 Food Service Directors in serving locally grown food. The results, summarized below, will inform the work of the MSNA Farm to School Task Force. A joint effort of IATP and MSNA, the Task Force was launched in fall 2008 to advance Farm to School efforts in Minnesota.
The online survey was conducted over a one‐month period from mid‐November to mid‐December 2008. Roughly 20 percent of the School District Food Service Directors in Minnesota (69 out of 335) responded. For the purposes of this survey, ?local? was defined as food that is grown or raised in Minnesota. Throughout the survey, respondents were asked to use a 1‐7 rating scale and the values are defined for each question.
How to Get Started
Minnesota Toolkit Farm to Schoolby University of Minnesota University of Minnesota