Montana Profile

Farm to School programs come in many shapes and sizes unique to the communities that build them. After exploring the resources and existing programs on the left, contact your state Farm to School lead for additional information and assistance specific to Montana:
Mary Stein
406-994-5640
mstein@montana.edu

Farm to School activities and initiatives are emerging across the 147,046 square miles of Montana. This geographically vast state is rooted in agriculture and great interest is growing around strengthening Montana’s food system and assuring that all citizens have access to affordable, healthy foods.

Partnerships are occurring throughout Montana communities, where school nutrition programs, community non-profit organizations, school administrators, teachers, parents, farmers, ranchers, policy makers and state agencies are coming together to explore the many strategies for connecting children to the sources of their food.

These programs vary across the state, and range from schools that highlight seasonal Montana foods through special meal events to school districts that contract with farmers to purchase large volumes of their harvest. In-class Farm to School activities as well as garden-based education are completing more and more of these programs, and include everything from local food taste tests, cooking demonstrations, and farmer classroom visits, to on-site orchards, composting, as well as numerous schools with heated greenhouses or season extending hoophouses.

Still, Montanans face significant challenges in redeveloping our local food system. Sixty years ago, seventy percent of the food Montanans ate was produced in state; today that number is down to about ten percent. Over this time period, Montana has lost much of the local infrastructure needed to serve the school market with local food. But the benefits of Farm to School are broad, and resonate deeply with most of us, which is why we continue to make strides towards developing Farm to School programs.