PEP invited officials from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) to present USDA’s Producer Training, “Bringing the Farm-to-School.” Below is the Local Farm Food VISTA’s takeaway to start bringing your farm to schools in the Big Horn Basin.
Background on Farm-to-School
Farm-to-School began in the late 1990’s, as a movement from the USDA to connect small farms with school meal programs. Since then, Farm-to-School has grown (and flourished) to create healthier environments for students to learn and grow across the nation.
There are economic benefits for communities as well. Local sourcing supports local farmers by increasing their market access and decreasing travel costs. Robust Farm-to-School programs can stimulate economic growth by creating new jobs and keeping local money local. All while putting nutritious, fresh local foods onto kids’ plates.
Every program can look different for each community. The image below briefly describes different activities which can be a part of a Farm-to-School program. USDA Mountain Plains Regional Specialist, Andrea Alma said, “[Farm-to-School] is bit of a choose-your-own-adventure as opposed to a program you’d sign-up for.” Ultimately, Farm-to-School will connect your community with local farmers and ranchers through the three core components to Farm-to-School: local sourcing, education, and edible gardens.
The Three Core Components of Farm-to-School:
- Local Sourcing: Schools and childcare centers providing local food for their students as part of either a meal or snack. It is also important to showcase the product. This ties into the educational aspect of Farm-to-School because showcasing the food provides educational context, while explaining it’s relevance to the community.
- Education: Teaching kids where food comes from allows children to have opportunities to learn about local agriculture practices. This could give rise to new passions and interests at a young age. In addition, children begin to develop healthy eating habits and learn about proper nutrition.
- Edible Gardens: Gardens can provide students with hands-on learning opportunities to be a part of their local food system. Food grown in these gardens can be donated to the school, and then processed by either staff, students, or volunteers in a licensed kitchen.
Who all is involved in Farm-to-School?
- Schools: Food Service Directors (FSDs) are responsible for food purchasing, creating menus, managing the kitchen and staff, and serving meals. While their jobs include a lot of heavy lifting, other staff passionate about local foods can create connections outside of the cafeteria. Such as introducing a local product during snack time, an educational agricultural activity, or advocating for a school garden.
- Childcare Centers: Consider childcare centers as small school districts. Most are unable to fill large contracts since they have a smaller capacity than schools. As a result, they have more leeway to purchase from small and medium sized farmers. Farm-to-School programs are a great way to start introducing new foods and healthy eating habits to young students.
- Local Farmers and Ranchers: Any farmer or rancher who has an interest in expanding their market to schools. Equally important, they can provide agriculture education by inviting a class to tour their farm or volunteer time to share one’s expertise in the school garden.
- Parents and Families: Parents who are passionate about local foods and have some free time on their hands could always volunteer to process local foods, especially on Farm-to-School events, like the Regional Crunch-off or National Farm-to-School Day.
- Community Members: Anyone who is passionate about local foods! Some schools may offer volunteer programs to help process food or help with local food events.
Farm-to-School in Wyoming
Farm-to-School is not new to Wyoming, and neither is growing quality food products. However, in the past Wyoming has struggled to overcome common challenges within the local food system. Over time Wyoming has slowly increased their Farm-to-School activities. According to the 2011-2012 Farm-to-School Census, 17% of school districts reported participating in Farm-to-School activities. In the 2023 Farm-to-School Census, 64% of school districts participated in Farm-to-School activities. This indicates Wyoming has slowly been increasing their Farm-to-School activities. Then in November 2023, the WDE hired Bobby Lane as their Farm-to-School Coordinator. Bobby got the show on the road. (Literally, he drives around the state visiting farmers and schools). Since starting his role, Bobby has made great strides for more local food connections between farmers and schools. Currently, about 92.7% of school districts are participating in Farm-to-School to some degree.
Wyoming’s school districts are the largest restaurant chain in the state, with 6.17 million school lunches being served yearly. Nine months out of the year, Powell serves 1,100 lunches daily, and Cody serves 700-800 daily. Since schools are going through such a high volume of food, farmers should take advantage of this market to keep their products local and reduce shipping costs.
Wyoming Farm-to-School Success
Despite the challenges FSDs face when purchasing local foods, their passion and drive does not stop them from providing fresh, nutritious, and quality food to students. Due to their determination, they’ve had some major wins. Most recently in October 2024, Wyoming competed against seven other states (Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota) in the USDA Mountain Plains Regional Crunch-off. The goal of the Crunch-off is to have the most bites, or “crunches,” of local food by students. The competition lasts for the entire month of October, and in 2024, Wyoming won with 39,982 crunches. That was a 2000% increase from 2023!
Challenges to Farm-to-School in Wyoming
Procurement
Schools are restricted to purchasing 80% within their USDA contracts, which leaves them 20% for small purchases. One option for using the latter 20% is for local food purchases. The process of purchasing food, or food procurement, is regulated to ensure a fair and competitive market. Currently, FSDs procure food from USDA contracts via an online forum, which is more convenient than searching for local products. PEP is in the process of compiling an online “Direct-to-Consumer” resource through the USDA Local Food Directory. We hope this resource could be used for by FSDs (and for personal use) to find local products they need.
Below, the table briefly describes Wyoming’s Food Safety Regulations which schools must follow during procurement. Farmers can use this as a guideline before reaching out to school to ensure their products are within school’s regulations.
| Wyoming Food Safety Regulations from Purchasing Resource Guide for Farm-to-School in Wyoming (information provided by WDE) | |
| Meat | –Wyoming raised beef slaughtered at WDA inspected facility. –USDA inspected facility. |
| Poultry | –Wyoming raised poultry at WDA inspected facility. –WDA inspected grower. — USDA inspected facility. |
| Eggs | –Grade B or higher. –Local producer with egg-grader license from WDA. |
| Dairy | –Milk must be pasteurized. |
| Produce | –No regulations on fresh WHOLE, UNCUT RAW produce. –Minimally processed, and processed produce must come from a WDA licensed manufacturer in a licensed and inspected facility. –USDA licensed/inspected facility. |
Planning
Planning for both farmers and FSDs can be on different timelines. FSDs are typically bidding on USDA commodity contracts in early February for the following school year in August. Small and medium-sized farmers who are new to Farm-to-School can have a hard time predicting what crops are best for schools, and how much of those crops are needed. For this reason, we recommend starting small and then increasing the volume as needed.
Pricing
Pricing is tricky with Farm-to-School, but with some negotiating it can be done. There are a couple of strategies to find common ground for pricing. A strategy could be to increase volumes to reduce prices. Farmers can work together to fill the volume needed for schools. Or they can have another business, such as a Food Hub, aggregate their products for them. We also recommend asking your local FSD what their prices are for certain products; this can help farmers find good price points for themselves and the school.
Limited staff capacity
When it comes to processed foods, local or not, the food MUST BE processed in a licensed kitchen; therefore, Wyoming Food Freedom Products cannot go into a school. This is non-negotiable. However, the schools can acquire unprocessed fruits and vegetables, which they can process themselves or have a third-party licensed kitchen process the produce.
Due to these requirements, it can put additional work onto kitchen staff who are already short-handed. Along with purchasing, FSDs are responsible for creating menus, preparing and serving meals, and managing other kitchen staff. Finding time to purchase local foods can be put on the backburned very quickly. During the Farm-to-School month, Savannah Layland, FSD for PCSD #1, said she spent extra time on the weekend to process local foods. This is one example of how dedicated Wyoming’s FSDs are to providing quality food to students. However, community members and parents can volunteer to help staff process the raw produce to alleviate some of their workload.
Transportation
Since kitchen staff have limited time, they are not able to pick up food, so it is important for local sources to deliver to the school. Most recently, Savannah worked with Bobby Lane to connect her to WyoFresh. WyoFresh is a local food program which delivers directly to schools (and other consumers) around the state. They also have online ordering which is convenient for FSDs. Another solution to transportation could be a Food Hub, which would collect products from various farmers to deliver to fill one order.
Childcare Centers
Childcare facilities have a smaller capacity than school districts, so they can have a difficult time filling large contracts. In the past, some childcare centers have come together to purchase community supported agriculture (CSAs) and share the contents.
Starting Small
Don’t fret if the hurdles to Wyoming Farm-to-School are overwhelming. While it may not be ideal for most farmers, there is always the option of starting small. This allows FSDs to figure out new ways to incorporate your product into their menus. Since FSD do not have time to look for farmers selling products they need, it is important for interest farmers to reach out to FSDs. When doing so, make sure you introduce yourself, your farms’ mission and values, and what products you can provide.
Easy Access points:
- Salad Bars: For produce farmers, schools require vegetables and fruits for each meal, making salad bars an easy avenue to start selling to schools.
- Ground Beef: Schools go through large amounts of meat throughout the school year, and they cycle through it on a regular basis. Schools can give your ground beef a home, so you have more space for higher price cuts.
- Harvest of the Month: The Harvest of the Month program is a great way to get your foot in the door at schools. Specially if your products are not what schools would traditionally purchase. Each month schools will pick a local food to celebrate and encourage students to try. There may be an educational activity to go along with the food.
- Mountain Plains Crunch-off: During Farm-to-School Month, the USDA Mountain Plain Regional has a “Crunch-off” between the eight states in the region. FSDs will be looking for local foods to increase the number of crunches for the month.
- Farm-to-School Day: October 3rd is National Farm-to-School Day. FSD are especially looking for products to serve on this day. This past year, PCSD #1 showcased a menu loaded with local foods. The kids loved knowing their food was grown right where they live.
- Food Refuge: Sometimes your yield is higher than expected, and you need to find a home for your bumper crop before it spoils. Scott Richards at Shoshone River Farms had this exact scenario. He needed to find a home for produce, so he called the FSD at PCSD #6 to see if they could work out a deal for the produce. From there they developed a relationship with the school and were able to supply them with produce on a regular basis for about seven years before a change in FSDs.
Building Farm-to-School Connections within the Community
Farm-to-School is more than the relationship between schools and farmers; it should get the whole community involved. And the more the better. Farm-to-School is happening in Wyoming due to the passionate and determined FSDs who are creative with finding local food to service students. Chris Dalin, FSD at Big Horn School District #3, got the school board involved through a community BBQ. Which educated them on the importance of Farm-to-School and how much better the food tastes. Now those same school board members help serve local food at the Community BBQ every year, nor do they question why he spent a little extra for Greybull Valley lettuce instead of the USDA commodity lettuce.
Additionally, developing relationships between schools and other food businesses can help relieve some of the workload off kitchen staff. When Gen Sheets was the FSD at PCSD #6, she collaborated with Albertson’s in Cody to process her raw produce. In a pinch during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gen was able to partner with Legacy Meats to use their refrigerated truck and deliver (local) produce boxes.
Lastly, community gardens can grow food for schools. Along with eating the food grown, educational programs can teach kids the basics of growing their own food. Since Wyoming’s growing season hardly overlaps with the school year, community gardens can engage kids in Farm-to-School during the summer.
Next Steps to Farm-to-School
To continue building strong Farm-to-School connections, PEP plans to continue having conversations similar to those had at the “Bringing the Farm-to-School Training.” PEP plans to hold more Farm-to-School trainings in the future. Which is crucial to continue educating and advocating for local foods in schools.
If you’re a farmer and interested in Farm-to-School in your area, you can contact your local FSD or Bobby Lane, who be happy to connect you with resources and FSDs.
Another one of PEP’s local food initiatives is to develop a Local Food Hub. The hope is the Food Hub will provide the community with a licensed kitchen to process their produce for schools. As well as for small and medium-sized producers to aggregate their products to be able to meet schools’ volumes.
We recorded the training and posted it on YouTube. Feel free to watch both the presentation and panel discussion.
Share your interest in Wyoming grown foods by taking our short Producers* and Consumer** Surveys. They take less than five minutes to complete!
*Individuals/businesses interested in providing local foods through a new marketing avenue.
**Individuals/businesses who are interested in purchasing local foods for their families or business (ie. restaurants, hotels, etc.)
- Building Strong Farm-to-School Connections in the Big Horn Basin - April 8, 2025
